1Now shalt thou be laid waste, O daughter of the robber: they have laid siege against us, with a rod shall they strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.2And 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.3Therefore will he give them up even till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth: and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel.4And he shall stand, and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the height of the name of the Lord, his God: and they shall be converted, for now shall he be magnified even to the ends of the earth.
1Now you will be devastated, you daughter of a robber. They have placed a blockade against us, with a rod they will strike the jaw of the judge of Israel.2And you, Bethlehem Ephrata, are a little one among the thousands of Judah. From you will go forth he who shall be the ruler in Israel, and his landing place has been set from the beginning, from the days of eternity.3Because of this, he will provide for them, even until the time in which she who bears him gives birth. And the remnant of his brothers will be converted to the sons of Israel.4And he will stand firm and feed on the strength of the Lord, according to the sublime name of the Lord his God. And they will be converted, for now he will be magnified, even to the ends of the earth.
1Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.2But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.3Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.4And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
1Now shalt thou be laid waste, O daughter of the robber: they have laid siege against us, with a rod shall they strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.2And 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.3Therefore will he give them up even till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth: and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel.4And he shall stand, and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the height of the name of the Lord, his God: and they shall be converted, for now shall he be magnified even to the ends of the earth.
1Now you will be devastated, you daughter of a robber. They have placed a blockade against us, with a rod they will strike the jaw of the judge of Israel.2And you, Bethlehem Ephrata, are a little one among the thousands of Judah. From you will go forth he who shall be the ruler in Israel, and his landing place has been set from the beginning, from the days of eternity.3Because of this, he will provide for them, even until the time in which she who bears him gives birth. And the remnant of his brothers will be converted to the sons of Israel.4And he will stand firm and feed on the strength of the Lord, according to the sublime name of the Lord his God. And they will be converted, for now he will be magnified, even to the ends of the earth.
1Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.2But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.3Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.4And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
2Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth3Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might, and come to save us.15Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard:16And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.18Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.19And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name.
2The One who reigns over Israel: Be attentive. For you lead Joseph like a sheep. The One who sits upon the cherubim: Shine forth3in the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Awaken your power and draw near, so as to accomplish our salvation.15Turn back, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard;16and complete what your right hand has planted, and look upon the son of man, whom you have confirmed for yourself.18Let your hand be over the man on your right, and over the son of man, whom you have confirmed for yourself.19For we do not depart from you, and you will revive us. And we will invoke your name.
2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.3Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.15And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.16It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.18So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.19Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
2Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth3Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might, and come to save us.15Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard:16And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.18Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.19And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name.
2The One who reigns over Israel: Be attentive. For you lead Joseph like a sheep. The One who sits upon the cherubim: Shine forth3in the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Awaken your power and draw near, so as to accomplish our salvation.15Turn back, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard;16and complete what your right hand has planted, and look upon the son of man, whom you have confirmed for yourself.18Let your hand be over the man on your right, and over the son of man, whom you have confirmed for yourself.19For we do not depart from you, and you will revive us. And we will invoke your name.
2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.3Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.15And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.16It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.18So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.19Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
The reading repeats itself, and the repetition is a scribe's fingerprint. Verse 16 and verse 18 both end and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself, and Haydock records the reason: the phrase "of man" is not in the Hebrew at v. 16, only at v. 18. What sits behind the doubled line is a question about who is being asked for. The Chaldean paraphrase, Calmet notes, renders the appeal of v. 16 as "look down upon the Messias," reading the vineyard here against the true vine of John 15; and at v. 18 Challoner takes the man of thy right hand to be Christ outright — where he sits, says Calmet, being as man in the highest place of heaven. Zorobabel, Haydock adds, was only a figure of him. The last verse turns on a smaller variant still: we will call upon thy name in the Vulgate's invocabimus, but Jerome and Symmachus read the Hebrew as "shall be called by thy name," thy people — either we invoke him, or he owns us.
Augustine reads the psalm through the names. Joseph, whom the shepherd leads like sheep, signifies increase — "He came indeed in order that the grain given to death might arise manifold." The three tribes of v. 3 are not a list but a sequence: Ephraim is fruit-bearing, Benjamin the son of the right hand, Manasses one forgetful, and so the prayer is appear before the fruitful, before the son of the right hand, and then "before one forgetful, in order that he may be no longer forgetful, but Thou mayest come into his mind." The cherubim are the fullness of knowledge, and Augustine will not leave that in heaven — if the cherub is God's seat and "the soul of a just man is the seat of wisdom," then a man may be one; and the way in is not study. "The amplitude of the branches doth terrify thee: hold by the root." Love is the fullness of the law, and knowledge follows it. Where Haydock's commentators read the tribes historically — Worthington notes these three followed the ark in the desert and might best see the majesty above it — Augustine hears the whole psalm as a single request, that the weakness which let the persecutor have power should now stir up thy might.
Augustine turns the closing verses on the reader's motive, and the charge is not unbelief but calculation. God is worshipped, he says, by many who want something from him — and everything they want, he already hands to men who do not worship him at all. "Money wilt thou have of God? Even a robber hath it. Wife, abundance of children, soundness of body, the world's dignity, observe how many evil men have." Anyone who serves God for those returns will find his feet tottering when he sees the returns going elsewhere. "All these things He giveth even to evil men, Himself alone He reserveth for good men." That is the exact form the failure still takes: religion kept as an arrangement for outcomes, dropped when the outcomes go elsewhere. The psalm's we depart not from thee is what remains once the arrangement is dead, and what follows it is not payment but life — "Thou wilt quicken us; for dead we were, when to earthly things we did cleave."
5Wherefore, when he cometh into the world he saith: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me.6Holocausts for sin did not please thee.7Then said I: Behold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me: that I should do thy will, O God.8In saying before, Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin thou wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law.9Then said I: Behold, I come to do thy will, O God: He taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth.10In the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once.
5For this reason, as Christ enters into the world, he says: “Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you have fashioned a body for me.6Holocausts for sin were not pleasing to you.7Then I said, ‘Behold, I draw near.’ At the head of the book, it has been written of me that I should do your will, O God.”8In the above, by saying, “Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin, you did not want, nor are those things pleasing to you, which are offered according to the law;9then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,’ ” he takes away the first, so that he may establish what follows.10For by this will, we have been sanctified, through the one time oblation of the body of Jesus Christ.
5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.10By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
5Wherefore, when he cometh into the world he saith: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me.6Holocausts for sin did not please thee.7Then said I: Behold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me: that I should do thy will, O God.8In saying before, Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin thou wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law.9Then said I: Behold, I come to do thy will, O God: He taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth.10In the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once.
5For this reason, as Christ enters into the world, he says: “Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you have fashioned a body for me.6Holocausts for sin were not pleasing to you.7Then I said, ‘Behold, I draw near.’ At the head of the book, it has been written of me that I should do your will, O God.”8In the above, by saying, “Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin, you did not want, nor are those things pleasing to you, which are offered according to the law;9then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,’ ” he takes away the first, so that he may establish what follows.10For by this will, we have been sanctified, through the one time oblation of the body of Jesus Christ.
5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.10By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The letter puts a psalm in Christ's mouth when he cometh into the world (v. 5), and Haydock notes a textual difference at its centre. The line a body thou hast fitted to me follows the Septuagint, soma de katartiso moi, Latin corpus autem aptasti mihi. The Hebrew of the psalm reads instead aures perfodisti, and the Latin psalter (Psalm xxxix. 7) has perfecisti mihi. Haydock does not settle how the readings agree; he refers the reader to Estius and Cornelius a Lapide. A second phrase also gets a note. In the head of the book (v. 7) renders en kephalidi bibliou, and Haydock, citing Suidas, explains kephalis as the wrapping or roll of a book, so the expression means only "in the volume" itself, with no need to translate it "in the front of the book". The argument of verses 8 and 9 turns on order: the sacrifices are named first and refused, the will of God is named after, and he taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth (v. 9).
Witham, in Haydock, reads the refusal of verse 5 narrowly. God did not reject sacrifice as such, but the sacrifices offered under the former law could not please him, appease his anger, or make sufficient reparation for sin. The body fitted is the decree that the Son should become man in order to suffer and die on a cross, and the Behold I come is his willing acceptance of the work of redemption. The first that is taken away is the imperfect sacrifices of the law of Moses, and that which followeth is the sacrifice of Christ that succeeds them. On verse 10 Haydock distinguishes two causes of sanctification. Its source and primary cause is the will of God, who so loved the world as to give his only Son; its meritorious cause is the voluntary oblation of Jesus Christ on the cross. He uses that distinction to answer the charge, which he attributes to the Methodists of his day, that Catholics hope to be saved by their own merits rather than by Christ's. The verse itself supplies the decisive word: we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once, by the body prepared in verse 5 and offered by the will declared in verse 7.
39And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda.40And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth.41And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.42And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.43And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.
39And in those days, Mary, rising up, traveled quickly into the hill country, to a city of Judah.40And she entered into the house of Zechariah, and she greeted Elizabeth.41And it happened that, as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.42And she cried out with a loud voice and said: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.43And how does this concern me, so that the mother of my Lord would come to me?44For behold, as the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed are you who believed, for the things that were spoken to you by the Lord shall be accomplished.”
39And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;40And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.41And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:42And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.45And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
39And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda.40And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth.41And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.42And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.43And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.
39And in those days, Mary, rising up, traveled quickly into the hill country, to a city of Judah.40And she entered into the house of Zechariah, and she greeted Elizabeth.41And it happened that, as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.42And she cried out with a loud voice and said: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.43And how does this concern me, so that the mother of my Lord would come to me?44For behold, as the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed are you who believed, for the things that were spoken to you by the Lord shall be accomplished.”
39And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;40And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.41And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:42And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.45And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Luke reports the same event twice. The narrator says the infant leaped in her womb (v. 41); Elizabeth, repeating it, adds the words for joy (v. 44). The verb is eskirtese, which Haydock's note glosses as "to leap, or skip like lambs." Witham, in Haydock, says the interpreters generally hold that the motion "was not natural," and some think God gave John "a passing knowledge of the presence of his Redeemer." Ambrose marks the order of the scene: "Elisabeth first heard the word, but John first experienced the grace. She heard by the order of nature, he leaped by reason of the mystery." The journey that makes the meeting possible is long. Haydock, after the Bible de Vence, takes the city of Juda (v. 39) to be Hebron, about 120 miles from Nazareth, and Mary goes with haste.
What the leap meant divides the commentators. Lapide sets "all the Fathers" against Calvin's view that it was only a natural movement, citing Irenaeus, "He recognised the Lord in the womb," and Origen, "Then first Jesus made His forerunner a prophet," and holds that the leap showed "an active use of reason." His proof is Elizabeth's own for joy. Augustine reads the same words to the opposite effect. "She said not, 'The babe leaped in faith in my womb,' but leaped for joy," and children and even cattle leap for joy without faith. He calls the event a miracle worked "by Divine influences in the child, not in any human way by him," and adds that even granting the infant reason, it would belong among the miracles of Divine power. Both agree it was God's act; they differ on how much of it was John's. Origen carries the grace outward, holding that John was filled with the Spirit first and, leaping, "imparted the grace to his mother." Elizabeth's question, whence is this to me (v. 43), Ambrose takes as by what right of mine, and Origen hears the son in it, since John too would feel himself unworthy of the Lord's coming. Theophylact draws doctrine from the fruit of thy womb (v. 42). All fruit is of the same nature as the tree, which answers Eutyches and those who say Christ passed through the virgin "as water through an aqueduct."
Theophylact's aqueduct names an error that has never quite gone away, a Christ who touched human flesh without taking it, and Elizabeth's phrase answers it with a mother and her fruit. The visit also rebukes a devotion that keeps its graces at home. One catena comment puts the order plainly: "the higher went to the lower, that the lower might be assisted, Mary to Elisabeth, Christ to John." Ambrose extends Elizabeth's last blessing (v. 45) to every soul that has believed, which "both conceives and brings forth the word of God." The scene stays small: two pregnant kinswomen in the house of Zachary in the hill country, and a child who has not yet been born moving at the sound of a greeting.
1Now shalt thou be laid waste, O daughter of the robber: they have laid siege against us, with a rod shall they strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.2And 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.3Therefore will he give them up even till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth: and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel.4And he shall stand, and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the height of the name of the Lord, his God: and they shall be converted, for now shall he be magnified even to the ends of the earth.
1Now you will be devastated, you daughter of a robber. They have placed a blockade against us, with a rod they will strike the jaw of the judge of Israel.2And you, Bethlehem Ephrata, are a little one among the thousands of Judah. From you will go forth he who shall be the ruler in Israel, and his landing place has been set from the beginning, from the days of eternity.3Because of this, he will provide for them, even until the time in which she who bears him gives birth. And the remnant of his brothers will be converted to the sons of Israel.4And he will stand firm and feed on the strength of the Lord, according to the sublime name of the Lord his God. And they will be converted, for now he will be magnified, even to the ends of the earth.
1Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.2But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.3Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.4And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
The famous line about Bethlehem may not be a statement at all. Haydock records that v. 2 can be pointed either as "thou art a little one among the thousands of Juda" or as a question — art thou? — and notes that the second reading is what brings the Hebrew into agreement with the priests' citation in Matthew ii. 4, where Bethlehem is emphatically not least. The adjective itself is unstable in the same direction: tsahir, "little," is often rendered "considerable" in the Chaldean. And the "thousands" it is measured against are not populations but capital cities, on the parallel with Zacharias ix. 7, so the complaint is administrative — Bethlehem ranks too low in the register to be a place a ruler comes out of. The oracle opens, meanwhile, on an address nobody can identify with certainty. The "daughter of the robber" of v. 1, where the Hebrew has "daughter of troops," is Babylon to some, famous for the soldiers who would seize Sedecias, and Jerusalem to others, notorious in this same prophet for its rapine and oppression.
Two disputes hang on the citation in Matthew. Haydock observes that the priests quoting the text to Herod substituted "land of Juda" for "Ephrata," and that the evangelist reproduces their words as they said them, exposing their carelessness with Scripture. Jerome offers a more general principle — that in nearly all New Testament quotations the order of words, and sometimes the sense, is altered, since the apostles wrote from memory rather than from a book, and memory sometimes fails. Haydock will not have it, calling the principle dangerous and insisting the sacred writer could not mistake, so that the variation must be explained some other way. Kennicott adds a related suspicion of Jerome's, that certain towns were deliberately dropped from the list in Josue xv. 60, Bethlehem Ephrata among them. The larger question is who the ruler is. Calmet reports that the ancient Jews read the verse straightforwardly of the Messias and that later interpreters transferred it to Zorobabel, then closes the case on the grounds of register: the language is too grand for him. It certainly is by v. 2's last clause, where the going forth is from the days of eternity. Worthington's argument there is grammatical — such expressions taken singly need mean no more than a long time, but doubled in the Hebrew manner they can only mean an absolute eternity — and Challoner draws the conclusion the doubling forces, that the one born in Bethlehem as man was born of the Father before time. Origen took the clause more modestly, of a coming announced long in advance; Calmet judges the stronger sense the better one.
The passage keeps refusing the scale its readers want. A town too small to matter, a ruler whose credentials are a birth rather than an army, an interval in v. 3 during which God simply gives his people up until she that travaileth shall bring forth — read by Sanctius of the exile lasting until Babylon lets them go, by Jerome of the Jews holding the land until Christ comes, and in a third sense of a blindness permitted until the nations have received the gospel and there is one fold. What all three refuse is the assumption that a silence means nothing is being done. The promise in v. 4 is not that the ruler will conquer but that he will stand and feed, in the strength of the Lord, and that his greatness will be measured only afterwards, to the ends of the earth.
2Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth3Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might, and come to save us.15Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard:16And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.18Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.19And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name.
2The One who reigns over Israel: Be attentive. For you lead Joseph like a sheep. The One who sits upon the cherubim: Shine forth3in the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Awaken your power and draw near, so as to accomplish our salvation.15Turn back, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard;16and complete what your right hand has planted, and look upon the son of man, whom you have confirmed for yourself.18Let your hand be over the man on your right, and over the son of man, whom you have confirmed for yourself.19For we do not depart from you, and you will revive us. And we will invoke your name.
2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.3Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.15And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.16It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.18So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.19Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
The reading repeats itself, and the repetition is a scribe's fingerprint. Verse 16 and verse 18 both end and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself, and Haydock records the reason: the phrase "of man" is not in the Hebrew at v. 16, only at v. 18. What sits behind the doubled line is a question about who is being asked for. The Chaldean paraphrase, Calmet notes, renders the appeal of v. 16 as "look down upon the Messias," reading the vineyard here against the true vine of John 15; and at v. 18 Challoner takes the man of thy right hand to be Christ outright — where he sits, says Calmet, being as man in the highest place of heaven. Zorobabel, Haydock adds, was only a figure of him. The last verse turns on a smaller variant still: we will call upon thy name in the Vulgate's invocabimus, but Jerome and Symmachus read the Hebrew as "shall be called by thy name," thy people — either we invoke him, or he owns us.
Augustine reads the psalm through the names. Joseph, whom the shepherd leads like sheep, signifies increase — "He came indeed in order that the grain given to death might arise manifold." The three tribes of v. 3 are not a list but a sequence: Ephraim is fruit-bearing, Benjamin the son of the right hand, Manasses one forgetful, and so the prayer is appear before the fruitful, before the son of the right hand, and then "before one forgetful, in order that he may be no longer forgetful, but Thou mayest come into his mind." The cherubim are the fullness of knowledge, and Augustine will not leave that in heaven — if the cherub is God's seat and "the soul of a just man is the seat of wisdom," then a man may be one; and the way in is not study. "The amplitude of the branches doth terrify thee: hold by the root." Love is the fullness of the law, and knowledge follows it. Where Haydock's commentators read the tribes historically — Worthington notes these three followed the ark in the desert and might best see the majesty above it — Augustine hears the whole psalm as a single request, that the weakness which let the persecutor have power should now stir up thy might.
Augustine turns the closing verses on the reader's motive, and the charge is not unbelief but calculation. God is worshipped, he says, by many who want something from him — and everything they want, he already hands to men who do not worship him at all. "Money wilt thou have of God? Even a robber hath it. Wife, abundance of children, soundness of body, the world's dignity, observe how many evil men have." Anyone who serves God for those returns will find his feet tottering when he sees the returns going elsewhere. "All these things He giveth even to evil men, Himself alone He reserveth for good men." That is the exact form the failure still takes: religion kept as an arrangement for outcomes, dropped when the outcomes go elsewhere. The psalm's we depart not from thee is what remains once the arrangement is dead, and what follows it is not payment but life — "Thou wilt quicken us; for dead we were, when to earthly things we did cleave."
5Wherefore, when he cometh into the world he saith: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me.6Holocausts for sin did not please thee.7Then said I: Behold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me: that I should do thy will, O God.8In saying before, Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin thou wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law.9Then said I: Behold, I come to do thy will, O God: He taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth.10In the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once.
5For this reason, as Christ enters into the world, he says: “Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you have fashioned a body for me.6Holocausts for sin were not pleasing to you.7Then I said, ‘Behold, I draw near.’ At the head of the book, it has been written of me that I should do your will, O God.”8In the above, by saying, “Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin, you did not want, nor are those things pleasing to you, which are offered according to the law;9then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,’ ” he takes away the first, so that he may establish what follows.10For by this will, we have been sanctified, through the one time oblation of the body of Jesus Christ.
5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.10By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The letter puts a psalm in Christ's mouth when he cometh into the world (v. 5), and Haydock notes a textual difference at its centre. The line a body thou hast fitted to me follows the Septuagint, soma de katartiso moi, Latin corpus autem aptasti mihi. The Hebrew of the psalm reads instead aures perfodisti, and the Latin psalter (Psalm xxxix. 7) has perfecisti mihi. Haydock does not settle how the readings agree; he refers the reader to Estius and Cornelius a Lapide. A second phrase also gets a note. In the head of the book (v. 7) renders en kephalidi bibliou, and Haydock, citing Suidas, explains kephalis as the wrapping or roll of a book, so the expression means only "in the volume" itself, with no need to translate it "in the front of the book". The argument of verses 8 and 9 turns on order: the sacrifices are named first and refused, the will of God is named after, and he taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth (v. 9).
Witham, in Haydock, reads the refusal of verse 5 narrowly. God did not reject sacrifice as such, but the sacrifices offered under the former law could not please him, appease his anger, or make sufficient reparation for sin. The body fitted is the decree that the Son should become man in order to suffer and die on a cross, and the Behold I come is his willing acceptance of the work of redemption. The first that is taken away is the imperfect sacrifices of the law of Moses, and that which followeth is the sacrifice of Christ that succeeds them. On verse 10 Haydock distinguishes two causes of sanctification. Its source and primary cause is the will of God, who so loved the world as to give his only Son; its meritorious cause is the voluntary oblation of Jesus Christ on the cross. He uses that distinction to answer the charge, which he attributes to the Methodists of his day, that Catholics hope to be saved by their own merits rather than by Christ's. The verse itself supplies the decisive word: we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once, by the body prepared in verse 5 and offered by the will declared in verse 7.
39And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda.40And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth.41And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.42And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.43And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.
39And in those days, Mary, rising up, traveled quickly into the hill country, to a city of Judah.40And she entered into the house of Zechariah, and she greeted Elizabeth.41And it happened that, as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.42And she cried out with a loud voice and said: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.43And how does this concern me, so that the mother of my Lord would come to me?44For behold, as the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed are you who believed, for the things that were spoken to you by the Lord shall be accomplished.”
39And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;40And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.41And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:42And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.45And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Luke reports the same event twice. The narrator says the infant leaped in her womb (v. 41); Elizabeth, repeating it, adds the words for joy (v. 44). The verb is eskirtese, which Haydock's note glosses as "to leap, or skip like lambs." Witham, in Haydock, says the interpreters generally hold that the motion "was not natural," and some think God gave John "a passing knowledge of the presence of his Redeemer." Ambrose marks the order of the scene: "Elisabeth first heard the word, but John first experienced the grace. She heard by the order of nature, he leaped by reason of the mystery." The journey that makes the meeting possible is long. Haydock, after the Bible de Vence, takes the city of Juda (v. 39) to be Hebron, about 120 miles from Nazareth, and Mary goes with haste.
What the leap meant divides the commentators. Lapide sets "all the Fathers" against Calvin's view that it was only a natural movement, citing Irenaeus, "He recognised the Lord in the womb," and Origen, "Then first Jesus made His forerunner a prophet," and holds that the leap showed "an active use of reason." His proof is Elizabeth's own for joy. Augustine reads the same words to the opposite effect. "She said not, 'The babe leaped in faith in my womb,' but leaped for joy," and children and even cattle leap for joy without faith. He calls the event a miracle worked "by Divine influences in the child, not in any human way by him," and adds that even granting the infant reason, it would belong among the miracles of Divine power. Both agree it was God's act; they differ on how much of it was John's. Origen carries the grace outward, holding that John was filled with the Spirit first and, leaping, "imparted the grace to his mother." Elizabeth's question, whence is this to me (v. 43), Ambrose takes as by what right of mine, and Origen hears the son in it, since John too would feel himself unworthy of the Lord's coming. Theophylact draws doctrine from the fruit of thy womb (v. 42). All fruit is of the same nature as the tree, which answers Eutyches and those who say Christ passed through the virgin "as water through an aqueduct."
Theophylact's aqueduct names an error that has never quite gone away, a Christ who touched human flesh without taking it, and Elizabeth's phrase answers it with a mother and her fruit. The visit also rebukes a devotion that keeps its graces at home. One catena comment puts the order plainly: "the higher went to the lower, that the lower might be assisted, Mary to Elisabeth, Christ to John." Ambrose extends Elizabeth's last blessing (v. 45) to every soul that has believed, which "both conceives and brings forth the word of God." The scene stays small: two pregnant kinswomen in the house of Zachary in the hill country, and a child who has not yet been born moving at the sound of a greeting.
The complete public-domain commentary this reading's note draws from, unabridged. Every claim in the note traces to a passage here.
Robber. Some understand this of Babylon, which robbed and pillaged the temple of God; others understand it of Jerusalem, by reason of the many rapines and oppressions committed there. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "now assemble, O daughter of troops;" Babylon, famous (Haydock) for soldiers, who will seize Sedecias; (Jeremias xxxix. 6.; Calmet) or Jerusalem, noted for rapine, chap. iii. Thou shalt be spoiled, yet restored till Bethlehem bring forth Christ, the ruler of the world. (Worthington)
Ephrata. This was the ancient name (Haydock) of Bethlehem, (Genesis xxxv. 16.) though some think that it was so called after Caleb's wife, 1 Paralipomenon ii. 19. --- Art, or "art thou?" &c., which makes it agree with Matthew ii. 4. --- Little. Hebrew tsahir, (Haydock) is often rendered "considerable." (Chaldean) --- Thousands: capital cities, Zacharias ix. 7. Bethlehem seemed too mean to send forth a ruler over the rest. The ancient Jews clearly understood this of the Messias. The moderns explain it of Zorobabel: but the expressions are too grand for him. (Calmet) --- St. Jerome accuses the Jews of having designedly omitted some cities, (Josue xv. 60.) because Bethlehem Ephrata is one. It is nowhere else thus described. (Kennicott) --- The priests substituted land of Juda instead of Ephrata, Matthew ii. (Haydock) --- The evangelist recites their words, to shew their negligence in quoting Scripture. "Yet some assert, that in almost all quotations from the Old Testament the order or words are changed, and sometimes the sense,....as the apostles did not write out of a book, but trusted to memory, which is sometimes fallacious." (St. Jerome) --- This principle would he very dangerous, (Simon. Crit. i. 17.) and we should attribute the variation to other causes, as the sacred penman could not mistake. (Haydock) --- Bethlehem, though a little town, was rendered more illustrious than many others by the birth of Christ. (Worthington) --- Forth. That is, he who as man shall be born in thee, as God was born of his Father from all eternity. (Challoner) --- His coming was also long before announced. (Origen, contra Cels. i.) --- But the former sense is preferable. (Calmet) --- Eternity. These expressions singly imply a long time; (Exodus xxi. 6., and Psalm xiii. 7.) but when doubled, sæculum sæculi, &c., they must be understood of an absolute eternity, which Christ enjoyed with the Father and the Holy Ghost; though, in his human nature, he was born in time. (Worthington)
Forth, till Babylon let them go; (Sanct.) or the Jews shall enjoy the land till Christ come; (St. Jerome, exp. ii.) or he will leave them in their blindness till the nations shall have received the gospel, when there shall be one fold, John x. 16., and Romans ix. 25.
Earth, Christ shall be glorified, governing his Church. The Jews shall be respected as a people singularly favoured.
1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord , in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. 5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
Here, as before, we have,
I. The abasement and distress of Zion, v. 1 . The Jewish nation, for many years before the captivity, dwindled, and fell into disgrace: Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops! It is either a summons to Zion's enemies, that had troops at their service, to come and do their worst against her (God will suffer them to do it), or a challenge to Zion's friends, that had troops too at command, to come and do their best for her; Let them gather in troops, yet it shall be to no purpose; for, says the prophet, in the name of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, He has laid siege against us; the king of Assyria has, the king of Babylon has, and we know not which way to defend ourselves; so that the enemies shall gain their point, and prevail so far as to smite the judge of Israel —the king, the chief justice, and the other inferior judges— with a rod upon the cheek, in contempt of them and their dignity; having made them prisoners, they shall use them as shamefully as any of the common captives. Complaint had been made of the judges of Israel ( ch. iii. 11 ) that they were corrupt and took bribes, and this disgrace came justly upon them for abusing their power; yet it was a great calamity to Israel to have their judges treated thus ignominiously. Some make this the reason why the troops (that is, the Roman army) shall lay siege to Jerusalem, because the Jews shall smite the judge of Israel upon the cheek, because of the indignities they shall do to the Messiah, the Judge of Israel, whom they smote on the cheek, saying, Prophesy, who smote thee. But the former sense seems more probable, and that it is meant of the besieging of Jerusalem, not by the Romans, but the Chaldeans, and was fulfilled in the indignities done to king Zedekiah and the princes of the house of David.
II. The advancement of Zion's King. Having shown how low the house of David should be brought, and how vilely the shield of that mighty family should be cast away, as though it had not been anointed with oil, to encourage the faith of God's people, who might be tempted now to think that his covenant with David and his house was abrogated (according to the psalmist's complaint, Ps. lxxxix. 38, 39 ), he adds an illustrious prediction of the Messiah and his kingdom, in whom that covenant should be established, and the honours of that house should be revived, advanced, and perpetuated. Now let us see,
1. How the Messiah is here described. It is he that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, from the days of eternity, as the word is. Here we have, (1.) His existence from eternity, as God: his goings forth, or emanations, as the going forth of the beams from the sun, were, or have been, of old, from everlasting, which (says Dr. Pocock) is so signal a description of Christ's eternal generation, or his going forth as the Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, that this prophecy must belong only to him, and could never be verified of any other. It certainly speaks of a going forth that was now past, when the prophet spoke, and cannot but be read, as we read it, his outgoings have been; and the putting of both these words together, which severally are used to denote eternity, plainly shows that they must here be taken in the strictest sense (the same with Ps. xc. 2 , From everlasting to everlasting thou are God ), and can be applied to no other than to him who was able to say, Before Abraham was, I am, John viii. 58 . Dr. Pocock observes that the going forth is used ( Deut. viii. 3 ) for a word which proceeds out of the mouth, and is therefore very fitly used to signify the eternal generation of him who is called the Word of God, that was in the beginning with God, John i. 1, 2 . (2.) His office as Mediator; he was to be ruler in Israel, king of his church; he was to reign over the house of Jacob for ever, Luke i. 32, 33 . The Jews object that our Lord Jesus could not be the Messiah, for he was so far from being ruler in Israel that Israel ruled over him, and put him to death, and would not have him to reign over them; but he answered that himself when he said, My kingdom is not of this world, John xviii. 36 . And it is a spiritual Israel that he reigns over, the children of promise, all the followers of believing Abraham and praying Jacob. In the hearts of these he reigns by his Spirit and grace, and in the society of these by his word and ordinances. And was not he ruler in Israel whom winds and seas obeyed, to whom legions of devils were forced to submit, and who commanded away diseases from the sick and called the dead out of their graves? None but he whose goings forth were from of old, from everlasting, was fit to be ruler in Israel, to be head of the church, and head over all things to the church.
2. What is here foretold concerning him.
(1.) That Bethlehem should be the place of his nativity, v. 2 . This was the scripture which the scribes went upon when with the greatest assurance they told Herod where Christ should be born ( Matt. ii. 6 ), and hence it was universally known among the Jews that Christ should come out of the town of Bethlehem where David was, John vii. 42 . Beth-lehem signifies the house of bread, the fittest place for him to be born in who is the bread of life. And, because it was the city of David, by a special providence it was ordered that he should be born there who was to be the Son of David, and his heir and successor for ever. It is called Bethlehem-Ephratah, both names of the same city, as appears Gen. xxxv. 19 . It was little among the thousands of Judah, not considerable either for the number of the inhabitants or the figure they made; it had nothing in it worthy to have this honour put upon it; but God in that, as in other instances, chose to exalt those of low degree, Luke i. 52 . Christ would give honour to the place of his birth, and not derive honour from it: Though thou be little, yet this shall make thee great, and, as St. Matthew reads it, Thou art not the least among the princes of Judah, but upon this account art really honourable above any of them. A relation to Christ will magnify those that are little in the world.
(2.) That in the fulness of time he should be born of a woman ( v. 3 ): Therefore will he give them up; he will give up his people Israel to distress and trouble, and will defer their salvation, which has been so long promised and expected, until the time, the set time, that she who travails has brought forth, or (as it should be read) that she who shall bring forth shall have brought forth, that the blessed virgin, who was to be the mother of the Messiah, shall have brought him forth at Bethlehem, the place appointed. This Dr. Pocock thinks to be the most genuine sense of the words. Though the out-goings of the Messiah were from everlasting, yet the redemption in Jerusalem, the consolation of Israel, must be waited for ( Luke ii. 25-38 ) until the time that she who should bring forth (so the virgin Mary is called, as Christ is himself called, He that shall come ) shall bring forth; and in the mean time he will give them up. Divine salvations must be waited for until the time fixed for the bringing of them forth.
(3.) That the remnant of his brethren shall then return to the children of Israel. The remnant of the Jewish nation shall return to the spirit of the true genuine children of Israel, a people in covenant with God; the hearts of the children shall be turned to the fathers, Mal. iv. 6 . Some understand it of all believers, Gentiles as well as Jews; they shall all be incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel; and, as they are all brethren to one another, so he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Heb. ii. 11 .
(4.) That he shall be a glorious prince, and his subjects shall be happy under his government ( v. 4 ): He shall stand and feed, that is, he shall both teach and rule, and continue to do so, as a good shepherd, with wisdom, and care, and love. So it was foretold. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, shall provide green pastures for them, and under-shepherds to lead them into these pastures. He is the good shepherd that goes before the sheep, and presides among them. He shall do this, not as an ordinary man, but in the strength of the Lord, as one clothed with a divine power to go through his work, and break through the difficulties in his way, so as not to fail, or be discouraged; he shall do it in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, so as plainly to evidence that God's name was in him ( Exod. xxiii. 21 ) the majesty of his name, for he taught as one having authority and not as the scribes. The prophets prefaced their messages with, Thus saith the Lord; but Christ spoke, not as a servant, but as a Son— Verily, verily, I say unto you. This was feeding in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. All power was given him in heaven and in earth, a power over all flesh, by virtue of which he still rules in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, a name above every name. Christ's government shall be, [1.] Very happy for his subjects, for they shall abide; they shall be safe and easy, and continue so for ever. Because he lives, they shall live also. They shall lie down in the green pastures to which he shall lead them, shall abide in God's tabernacle for ever, Ps. lxi. 4 . His church shall abide, and he in it, and with it, always, even to the end of the world. [2.] It shall be very glorious to himself: Now shall he be great to the ends of the earth. Now that he stands and feeds his flock, now shall he be great. For Christ reckons it his greatness to do good. Now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, for the uttermost parts of the earth shall be given him for his possession, and the ends of the world shall see his salvation.
1. gather thyself in troops-- that is, thou shalt do so, to resist the enemy. Lest the faithful should fall into carnal security because of the previous promises, he reminds them of the calamities which are to precede the prosperity.
daughter of troops-- Jerusalem is so called on account of her numerous troops.
he hath laid siege-- the enemy hath.
they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek-- the greatest of insults to an Oriental. Zedekiah, the judge (or king, Am 2:3 ) of Israel, was loaded with insults by the Chaldeans; so also the other princes and judges ( La 3:30 ). Hengstenberg thinks the expression, "the judge," marks a time when no king of the house of David reigned. The smiting on the cheek of other judges of Israel was a type of the same indignity offered to Him who nevertheless is the Judge, not only of Israel, but also of the world, and who is "from everlasting" ( Mi 5:2 ; Is 50:6 ; Mt 26:67 ; 27:30 ).
2. Beth-lehem Ephratah-- ( Ge 48:7 ), or, Beth-lehem Judah; so called to distinguish it from Beth-lehem in Zebulun. It is a few miles southwest of Jerusalem. Beth-lehem means "the house of bread"; Ephratah means "fruitful": both names referring to the fertility of the region.
though thou be little among-- though thou be scarcely large enough to be reckoned among, &c. It was insignificant in size and population; so that in Jos 15:21 , &c., it is not enumerated among the cities of Judah; nor in the list in Ne 11:25 , &c. Under Rehoboam it became a city: 2Ch 11:6 , "He built Beth-lehem." Mt 2:6 seems to contradict Micah, "thou art not the least," But really he, by an independent testimony of the Spirit, confirms the prophet, Little in worldly importance, thou art not least (that is, far from least, yea, the very greatest) among the thousands, of princes of Judah, in the spiritual significance of being the birthplace of Messiah ( Joh 7:42 ). God chooses the little things of the world to eclipse in glory its greatest things ( Jud 6:15 ; Joh 1:46 ; 1Co 1:27 , 28 ). The low state of David's line when Messiah was born is also implied here.
thousands-- Each tribe was divided into clans or "thousands" (each thousand containing a thousand families: like our old English division of counties into hundreds), which had their several heads or "princes"; hence in Mt 2:6 it is quoted "princes," substantially the same as in Micah, and authoritatively explained in Matthew. It is not so much this thousand that is preferred to the other thousands of Judah, but the Governor or Chief Prince out of it, who is preferred to the governors of all the other thousands. It is called a "town" (rather in the Greek, "village"), Joh 7:42 ; though scarcely containing a thousand inhabitants, it is ranked among the "thousands" or larger divisions of the tribe, because of its being the cradle of David's line, and of the Divine Son of David. Moses divided the people into thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, with their respective "rulers" ( Ex 18:25 ; compare 1Sa 10:19 ).
unto me-- unto God the Father ( Lu 1:32 ): to fulfil all the Father's will and purpose from eternity. So the Son declares ( Psa 2:7 ; 40:7, 8; Joh 4:34 ); and the Father confirms it ( Mt 3:17 ; 12:18 , compare with Is 42:1 ). God's glory is hereby made the ultimate end of redemption.
ruler-- the "Shiloh," "Prince of peace," "on whose shoulders the government is laid" ( Ge 49:10 ; Is 9:6 ). In 2Sa 23:3 , "He that ruleth over men must be just," the same Hebrew word is employed; Messiah alone realizes David's ideal of a ruler. Also in Jr 30:21 , "their governor shall proceed from the midst of them"; answering closely to "out of thee shall come forth the ruler," here (compare Is 11:1-4 ).
goings forth ... from everlasting-- The plain antithesis of this clause, to "come forth out of thee" (from Beth-lehem), shows that the eternal generation of the Son is meant. The terms convey the strongest assertion of infinite duration of which the Hebrew language is capable (compare Psa 90:2 ; Pr 8:22 , 23 ; Joh 1:1 ). Messiah's generation as man coming forth unto God to do His will on earth is from Beth-lehem; but as Son of God, His goings forth are from everlasting. The promise of the Redeemer at first was vaguely general ( Ge 3:15 ). Then the Shemitic division of mankind is declared as the quarter in which He was to be looked for ( Ge 9:26 , 27 ); then it grows clearer, defining the race and nation whence the Deliverer should come, namely, the seed of Abraham, the Jews ( Ge 12:3 ); then the particular tribe, Judah ( Ge 49:10 ); then the family, that of David ( Psa 89:19 , 20 ); then the very town of His birth, here. And as His coming drew nigh, the very parentage ( Mt 1:1-17 ; Lu 1:26-35; 2:1-7); and then all the scattered rays of prophecy concentrate in Jesus, as their focus ( He 1:1 , 2 ).
3. "Therefore (because of His settled plan) will God give up to their foes His people Israel, until," &c.
she which travaileth hath brought forth-- namely, "the virgin" mother, mentioned by Micah's contemporary, Is 7:14 . Zion "in travail" ( Mi 4:9 , 10 ) answers to the virgin in travail of Messiah. Israel's deliverance from her long travail-pains of sorrow will synchronize with the appearance of the Messiah as her Redeemer ( Ro 11:26 ) in the last days, as the Church's spiritual deliverance synchronized with the virgin's giving birth to Him at His first advent. The ancient Church's travail-like waiting for Messiah is represented by the virgin's travail. Hence, both may be meant. It cannot be restricted to the Virgin Mary: for Israel is still "given up," though Messiah has been "brought forth" eighteen and a half centuries ago. But the Church's throes are included, which are only to be ended when Christ, having been preached for a witness to all nations, shall at last appear as the Deliverer of Jacob, and when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, and Israel as a nation shall be born in a day ( Is 66:7-11 ; Lu 21:24 ; Re 12:1 , 2, 4; compare Ro 8:22 ).
the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel-- (Compare Mi 4:7 ). The remainder of the Israelites dispersed in foreign lands shall return to join their countrymen in Canaan. The Hebrew for "unto" is, literally, "upon," implying superaddition to those already gathered.
4. he shall stand-- that is, persevere: implying the endurance of His kingdom [Calvin]. Rather, His sedulous care and pastoral circumspection, as a shepherd stands erect to survey and guard His flock on every side ( Is 61:5 ) [Maurer].
feed-- that is, rule: as the Greek word similarly in Mt 2:6 , Margin, means both "feed" and "rule" ( Is 40:11 ; 49:10 ; Eze 34:23 ; compare 2Sa 5:2 ; 7:8 ).
in the majesty of the name of the Lord-- possessing the majesty of all Jehovah's revealed attributes ("name") ( Is 11:2 ; Php 2:6 , 9 ; He 2:7-9 ).
his God-- God is "His God" in a oneness of relation distinct from the sense in which God is our God ( Joh 20:17 ).
they shall abide-- the Israelites ("they," namely, the returning remnant and the "children of Israel previously in Canaan) shall dwell in permanent security and prosperity ( Mi 4:4 ; Is 14:30 ).
unto the ends of the earth-- ( Mi 4:1 ; Psa 72:8 ; Zec 9:10 ).
1. ...If perchance things obscure demand the office of an interpreter, those things which are evident ought to require of me the office of a reader. The song here is of the Advent of the Lord and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His vineyard. But the singer of the song is that Asaph, as far as doth appear, enlightened and converted, by whose name ye know the synagogue to be signified. Lastly, the title of the Psalm is: "For the end in behalf of them that shall be changed;" that is, for the better. For Christ, the end of the Law, hath come on purpose that He should change men for the better. And he addeth, "a testimony to Asaph himself." A good testimony of truth. Lastly, this testimony doth confess both Christ and the vineyard; that is, Head and Body, King and people, Shepherd and flock, and the entire mystery of all Scriptures, Christ and the Church. But the title of the Psalm doth conclude with, "for the Assyrians." The Assyrians are interpreted, "men guiding." Therefore it is no longer a generation which hath not guided the heart thereof, but now a generation guiding. Therefore hear we what he saith in this testimony.
2. What is, "Thou that feedest Israel, hearken, Thou that conducteth Joseph like sheep"?
(ver. 1). He is being invoked to come, He is being expected until He come, He is being yearned for until He come. Therefore may He find "men guiding:" "Thou that conductest," he saith, "Joseph like sheep:" Joseph himself like sheep. Joseph himself are the sheep, and Joseph himself is a sheep. Observe Joseph; for although even the interpretation of his name doth aid us much, for it signifieth increase; and He came indeed in order that the grain given to death might arise manifold; that is, that the people of God might be increased...."Thou that sittest upon the Cherubin." Cherubin is the seat of the glory of God, and is interpreted the fulness of knowledge. There God sitteth in the fulness of knowledge. Though we understand the Cherubin to be the exalted powers and virtues of the heavens: yet, if thou wilt, thou wilt be Cherubin. For if Cherubin is the seat of God, hear what saith the Scripture: "The soul of a just man is the seat of wisdom." How, thou sayest, shall I be the fulness of knowledge? Who shall fulfil this? Thou hast the means of fulfilling it: "The fulness of the Law is love." Do not run after many things, and strain thyself. The amplitude of the branches doth terrify thee: hold by the root, and of the greatness of the tree think not. Be there in thee love, and the fulness of knowledge must needs follow. For what doth he not know that knoweth love? Inasmuch as it hath been said, "God is love." "Appear." For we went astray because Thou didst not appear. "Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasse"
(ver. 2). Appear, I say, before the nation of the Jews, before the people of Israel. For there is Ephraim, there Manasses, there Benjamin. But to the interpretation let us look: Ephraim is fruit-bearing, Benjamin son of right hand, Manasses one forgetful. Appear Thou then before one made fruitful, before a son of the right hand: appear Thou before one forgetful, in order that he may be no longer forgetful, but Thou mayest come into his mind that hast delivered him....For weak Thou wast when it was being said, "If Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross." Thou wast seeming to have no power: the persecutor had power over Thee: and Thou didst show this aforetime, for Jacob too himself prevailed in wrestling, a man with an angel. Would he at any time, except the angel had been willing? And man prevailed, and the angel was conquered: and victorious man holdeth the angel, and saith, "I will not let thee go, except thou shalt have blessed me." A great sacrament! He both standeth conquered, and blesseth the conqueror. Conquered, because he willed it; in flesh weak, in majesty strong....Having been crucified of weakness, rise Thou in power: "Stir up Thy power, and come Thou, to save us."
3. "O God, convert us." For averse we have been from Thee, and except Thou convert us, we shall not be converted. "And illumine Thy face, and we shall be saved"
(ver. 14). Although these things have been done, "Turn Thou nevertheless." "Look from heaven and see, and visit this vineyard." "And perfect Thou her whom Thy right hand hath planted"
(ver. 15). No other plant Thou, but this make Thou perfect. For she is the very seed of Abraham, she is the very seed in whom all nations shall be blessed: there is the root where is borne the graffed wild olive. "Perfect Thou this vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted." But wherein doth He perfect? "And upon the Son of man, whom Thou hast strengthened to Thyself." What can be more evident? Why do ye still expect, that we should still explain to you in discourse, and should we not rather cry out with you in admiration, "Perfect Thou this vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted, and upon the Son of man" perfect her? What Son of man? Him "whom Thou hast strengthened to Thyself." A mighty stronghold: build as much as thou art able. "For other foundation no one is able to lay, except that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus."
10. "Things burned with fire, and dug up, by the rebuke of Thy countenance shall perish"
(ver. 17). "And we depart not from Thee....Thou wilt quicken us, and Thy Name we will invoke"
(ver. 18). Thou shalt be sweet to us, "Thou wilt quicken us." For aforetime we did love earth, not Thee: but Thou hast mortified our members which are upon the earth. For the Old Testament, having earthly promises, seemeth to exhort that God should not be loved for nought, but that He should be loved because He giveth something on earth. What dost thou love, so as not to love God? Tell me. Love, if thou canst, anything which He hath not made. Look round upon the whole creation, see whether in any place thou art held with the birdlime of desire, and hindered from loving the Creator, except it be by that very thing which He hath Himself created, whom thou despisest. But why dost thou love those things, except because they are beautiful? Can they be as beautiful as He by whom they were made? Thou admirest these things, because thou seest not Him: but through those things which thou admirest, love Him whom thou seest not. Examine the creation; if of itself it is, stay therein: but if it is of Him, for no other reason is it prejudicial to a lover, than because it is preferred to the Creator. Why have I said this? With reference to this verse, brethren. Dead, I say, were they that did worship God that it might be well with them after the flesh: "For to be wise after the flesh is death:" and dead are they that do not worship God gratis, that is, because of Himself He is good, not because He giveth such and such good things, which He giveth even to men not good. Money wilt thou have of God? Even a robber hath it. Wife, abundance of children, soundness of body, the world's dignity, observe how many evil men have. Is this all for the sake of which thou dost worship Him? Thy feet will totter, thou wilt suppose thyself to worship without cause, when thou seest those things to be with them who do not worship Him. All these things, I say, He giveth even to evil men, Himself alone He reserveth for good men. "Thou wilt quicken us;" for dead we were, when to earthly things we did cleave; dead we were, when of the earthly man we did bear the image. "Thou wilt quicken us;" Thou wilt renew us, the life of the inward man Thou wilt give us. "And Thy Name we will invoke;" that is, Thee we will love. Thou to us wilt be the sweet forgiver of our sins, Thou wilt be the entire reward of the justified. "O Lord God of virtues, convert us, and show Thy face, and we shall be whole" (ver. 20).
Joseph. He mentions these two as persons dear to God. All the tribes were equally led away captives, and the distinction of kingdoms was not regarded. (Calmet) --- All Israel is denoted by Joseph, who composed two tribes, having a double portion; (Worthington; Menochius) and ruling in Egypt. (Bellarmine)
Manasses. These three tribes followed the ark in the desert, (Numbers ii. 18.) and might better see the majesty shining over it. (Worthington) (Calmet) --- Let all be united once more in the divine service. (Muis) --- Samaria, and Jerusalem in part, were in the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, (Menochius) and Manasses occupied both sides of the Jordan. (Haydock)
And look down upon "the Messias," (Chaldean) the true vine, John xv. 1., and Matthew xxi. 33. (Calmet) --- Of man, is not in Hebrew, only, ver. 18. (Haydock) --- Some perfection was wanting in the Church of the Old Testament.
The man of thy right hand. Christ, (Challoner) where he sits, (Calmet) being as man in the highest place of heaven, Matthew xxvi. 64., and xii. 32. (Haydock) --- Who else could redeem Israel? (Calmet) --- Zorobabel was only a figure of Him. (Haydock) --- Christ's birth was miraculous, (Menochius) and he was appointed by the right hand of God to do great things; and, as man, is moved to take compassion on the distresses of his people. (Berthier)
From thee. This is our fixed determination for the future. (Haydock) --- Will call. Hebrew, "Shall be called by thy name," (St. Jerome; Haydock) thy people. (Symmachus) (Calmet) --- But the Vulgate is equally correct, invocabimus. (Montanus) (Protestants) (Haydock)
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. 3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. 4 O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? 5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. 6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves. 7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
The psalmist here, in the name of the church, applies to God by prayer, with reference to the present afflicted state of Israel.
I. He entreats God's favour for them ( v. 1, 2 ); that is all in all to the sanctuary when it is desolate, and is to be sought in the first place. Observe, 1. How he eyes God in his address as the Shepherd of Israel, whom he had called the sheep of his pasture ( Ps. lxxix. 13 ), under whose guidance and care Israel was, as the sheep are under the care and conduct of the shepherd. Christ is the great and good Shepherd, to whom we may in faith commit the custody of his sheep that were given to him. He leads Joseph like a flock, to the best pastures, and out of the way of danger; if Joseph follow him not as obsequiously as the sheep do the shepherd, it is his own fault. He dwells between the cherubim, where he is ready to receive petitions and to give directions. The mercy-seat was between the cherubim; and it is very comfortable in prayer to look up to God as sitting on a throne of grace, and that it is so to us is owning to the great propitiation, for the mercy-seat was the propitiatory. 2. What he expects and desires from God, that he would give ear to the cry of their miseries and of their prayers, that he would shine forth both in his own glory and in favour and kindness to his people, that he would show himself and smile on them, that he would sir up his strength, that he would excite it and exert it. It had seemed to slumber: "Lord, awaken it." His cause met with great opposition and the enemies threatened to overpower it: "Lord, put forth thy strength so much the more, and come for salvation to us; be to thy people a powerful help and a present help; Lord, do this before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, " that is, "In the sight of all the tribes of Israel; let them see it to their satisfaction." Perhaps these three tribes are named because they were the tribes which formed that squadron of the camp of Israel that in their march through the wilderness followed next after the tabernacle; so that before them the ark of God's strength rose to scatter their enemies.
II. He complains of God's displeasure against them. God was angry, and he dreads that more than any thing, v. 4 . 1. It was great anger. He apprehended that God was angry against the prayer of his people, not only that he was angry notwithstanding their prayers, by which they hoped to turn away his wrath from them, but that he was angry with their prayers, though they were his own people that prayed. That God should be angry at the sins of his people and at the prayers of his enemies is not strange; but that he should be angry at the prayers of his people is strange indeed. He not only delayed to answer them (that he often does in love), but he was displeased at them. If he be really angry at the prayers of his people, we may be sure it is because they ask amiss, Jam. iv. 3 . They pray, but they do not wrestle in prayer; their ends are not right, or there is some secret sin harboured and indulged in them; they do not lift up pure hands, or they lift them up with wrath and doubting. But perhaps it is only in their own apprehension; he seems angry with their prayers when really he is not; for thus he will try their patience and perseverance in prayer, as Christ tried the woman of Canaan when he said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. 2. It was anger that had continued a great while: " How long wilt thou be angry? We have still continued praying and yet are still under thy frowns." Now the tokens of God's displeasure which they had been long under were both their sorrow and shame. (1.) Their sorrow ( v. 5 ): Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; they eat their meat from day to day in tears; this is the vinegar in which they dipped their morsel, Ps. xlii. 3 . They had tears given them to drink, not now and then a taste of that bitter cup, but in great measure. Note, There are many that spend their time in sorrow who yet shall spend their eternity in joy. (2.) It was their shame, v. 6 . God, by frowning upon them, made them a strife unto their neighbours; each strove which should expose them most, and such a cheap and easy prey were they made to them that all the strife was who should have the stripping and plundering of them. Their enemies laughed among themselves to see the frights they were in, the straits they were reduced to, and the disappointments they met with. When God is displeased with his people we must expect to see them in tears and their enemies in triumph.
8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. 9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. 10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. 11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. 12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? 13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. 14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; 15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. 16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. 17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. 18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. 19 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
The psalmist is here presenting his suit for the Israel of God, and pressing it home at the throne of grace, pleading with God for mercy and grace for them. The church is here represented as a vine ( v. 8 , 14 ) and a vineyard, v. 15 . The root of this vine is Christ, Rom. xi. 18 . The branches are believers, John xv. 5 . The church is like a vine, weak and needing support, unsightly and having an unpromising outside, but spreading and fruitful, and its fruit most excellent. The church is a choice and noble vine; we have reason to acknowledge the goodness of God that he has planted such a vine in the wilderness of this world, and preserved it to this day. Now observe here,
I. How the vine of the Old-Testament church was planted at first. It was brought out of Egypt with a high hand; the heathen were cast out of Canaan to make room for it, seven nations to make room for that one. Thou didst sweep before it (so some read v. 9 ), to make clear work; the nations were swept away as dirt with the besom of destruction. God, having made room for it, and planted it, cause it to take deep root by a happy establishment of their government both in church and state, which was so firm that, though their neighbours about them often attempted it, they could not prevail to pluck it up.
II. How it spread and flourished. 1. The land of Canaan itself was fully peopled. At first they were not so numerous as to replenish it, Exod. xxiii. 29 . But in Solomon's time Judah and Israel were many as the sand of the sea; the land was filled with them, and yet such a fruitful land that it was not over-stocked, v. 10 . The hills of Canaan were covered with their shadow, and the branches, though they extended themselves far, like those of the vine, yet were not weak like them, but as strong as those of the goodly cedars. Israel not only had abundance of men, but those mighty men of valour. 2. They extended their conquests and dominion to the neighbouring countries ( v. 11 ): She sent out her boughs to the sea, the great sea westward, and her branches to the river, to the river of Egypt southward, the river of Damascus northward, or rather the river Euphrates eastward, Gen. xv. 18 . Nebuchadnezzar's greatness is represented by a flourishing tree, Dan. iv. 20, 21 . But it is observable here concerning this vine that it is praised for its shadow, its boughs, and its branches, but not a word of its fruit, for Israel was an empty vine, Hos. x. 1 . God came looking for grapes, but, behold, wild grapes, Isa. v. 2 . And, if a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree so useless, so worthless, Ezek. xv. 2 , 6 .
III. How it was wasted and ruined: "Lord, thou hast done great things for this vine, and why shall it be all undone again? If it were a plant not of God's planting, it were not strange to see it rooted up; but will God desert and abandon that which he himself gave being to?" v. 12 . Why hast thou then broken down her hedges? There was a good reason for this change in God's way towards them. This noble vine had become the degenerate plant of a strange vine ( Jer. ii. 21 ), to the reproach of its great owner, and then no marvel if he took away its hedge ( Isa. v. 5 ); yet God's former favours to this vine are urged as pleas in prayer to God, and improved as encouragements to faith, that, notwithstanding all this, God would not wholly cast them off. Observe, 1. The malice and enmity of the Gentile nations against Israel. As soon as ever God broke down their hedges and left them exposed troops of enemies presently broke in upon them, that waited for an opportunity to destroy them. Those that passed by the way plucked at them; the board out of the wood and the wild beast of the field were ready to ravage it, v. 13 . But, 2. See also the restraint which these cruel enemies were under; for till God had broken down their hedges they could not pluck a leaf of this vine. The devil could not hurt Job so long as God continued the hedge round about him, Job i. 10 . See how much it is the interest of any people to keep themselves in the favour of God and then they need not fear any wild beast of the field, Job v. 23 . If we provoke God to withdraw, our defence has departed from us, and we are undone. The deplorable state of Israel is described ( v. 16 ): It is burnt with fire; it is cut down; the people are treated like thorns and briers, that are nigh unto cursing and whose end is to be burned, and no longer like vines that are protected and cherished. They perish not through the rage of the wild beast and the boar, but at the rebuke of thy countenance; that was it which they dreaded and to which they attributed all their calamities. It is well or ill with us according as we are under God's smiles or frowns.
IV. What their requests were to God hereupon. 1. That God would help the vine ( v. 14, 15 ), that he would graciously take cognizance of its case and do for it as he thought fit: " Return, we beseech thee, O Lord of hosts! for thou hast seemed to go away from us. Look down from heaven, to which thou hast retired,—from heaven, that place of prospect, whence thou seest all the wrongs that are done us, that place of power, whence thou canst send effectual relief,—from heaven, where thou hast prepared thy throne of judgment, to which we appeal, and where thou hast prepared a better country for those that are Israelites indeed,—thence give a gracious look, thence make a gracious visit, to this vine. Take our woeful condition into thy compassionate consideration, and for the particular fruits of thy pity we refer ourselves to thee. Only behold the vineyard, or rather the root, which thy right hand hath planted, and which therefore we hope thy right hand will protect, that branch which thou madest strong for thyself, to show forth thy praise ( Isa. xliii. 21 ), that with the fruit of it thou mightest be honoured. Lord, it is formed by thyself and for thyself, and therefore it may with a humble confidence be committed to thyself and to thy own care." As for God, his work is perfect. What we read the branch in the Hebrew is the son (Ben ), whom in thy counsel thou hast made strong for thyself. That branch was to come out of the stock of Israel ( my servant the branch, Zech. iii. 8 ), and therefore, till he should come, Israel in general, and the house of David in particular, must be preserved, and upheld, and kept in being. He is the true vine, John xv. 1 ; Isa. xi. 1 . Destroy it not for that blessing is in it, Isa. lxv. 8 . 2. That he would help the vine-dresser ( v. 17, 18 ): " Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, " that king (whoever it was) of the house of David that was now to go in and out before them; "let thy hand be upon him, not only to protect and cover him, but to own him, and strengthen him, and give him success." We have this phrase, Ezra vii. 28 , And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me. Their king is called the man of God's right hand as he was the representative of their state, which was dear to God, as his Benjamin, the son of his right hand, as he was president in their affairs and an instrument in God's right hand of much good to them, defending them from themselves and from their enemies and directing them in the right way, and as he was under-shepherd under him who was the great shepherd of Israel. Princes, who have power, must remember that they are sons of men, of Adam (so the word is), that, if they are strong, it is God that has made them strong, and he has made them so for himself, for they are his ministers to serve the interests of his kingdom among men, and, if they do this in sincerity, his hand shall be upon them; and we should pray in faith that it may be so, adding this promise, that, if God will adhere to our governors, we will adhere to him: So will not we go back from thee; we will never desert a cause which we see that God espouses and is the patron of. Let God be our leader and we will follow him. Adding also this prayer, " Quicken us, put life into us, revive our dying interests, revive our drooping spirits, and then we will call upon thy name. We will continue to do so upon all occasions, having found it not in vain to do so." We cannot call upon God's name in a right manner unless he quicken us; but it is he that puts life into our souls, that puts liveliness into our prayers. But many interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, apply this to the Messiah, the Son of David, the protector and Saviour of the church and the keeper of the vineyard. (1.) He is the man of God's right hand, to whom he has sworn by his right hand (so the Chaldee), whom he has exalted to his right hand, and who is indeed his right hand, the arm of the Lord, for all power is given to him. (2.) He is that son of man whom he made strong for himself, for the glorifying of his name and the advancing of the interests of his kingdom among men. (3.) God's hand is upon him throughout his whole undertaking, to bear him out and carry him on, to protect and animate him, that the good pleasure of the Lord might prosper in his hand. (4.) The stability and constancy of believers are entirely owing to the grace and strength which are laid up for us in Jesus Christ, Ps. lxviii. 28 . In him is our strength found, by which we are enabled to persevere to the end. Let thy hand be upon him; on him let our help be laid who is mighty; let him be made able to save to the uttermost and that will be our security; so will not we go back from thee.
Lastly, The psalm concludes with the same petition that had been put up twice before, and yet it is no vain repetition ( v. 19 ): Turn us again. The title given to God rises, v. 3 , O God! v. 7 , O God of hosts! v. 19 , O Lord (Jehovah) God of hosts! When we come to God for his grace, his good-will towards us and his good work in us, we should pray earnestly, continue instant in prayer, and pray more earnestly.
1-2. Joseph-- for Ephraim ( 1Ch 7:20-29 ; Psa 78:67 ; Re 7:8 ), for Israel.
Shepherd-- (Compare Ge 49:24 ).
leadest, &c.-- ( Psa 77:20 ).
dwellest ... cherubim-- ( Ex 25:20 ); the place of God's visible glory, whence He communed with the people ( He 9:5 ).
shine forth-- appear ( Psa 50:2 ; 94:1 ).
3. Turn us-- that is, from captivity.
thy face to shine-- ( Nu 6:25 ).
14-15. visit this vine-- favorably ( Psa 8:4 ).
16. it-- the "vine" or
they-- the "people" are suffering from Thy displeasure.
18. We need quickening grace ( Psa 71:20 ; 119:25 ) to persevere in Thy right worship ( Ge 4:26 ; Ro 10:11 ).
19. (Compare Psa 80:3 , "O God"; Psa 80:7 , "O God of hosts").
Corpus autem aptasti mihi; Greek: soma de katartiso moi; i.e. according to the Septuagint but in the Hebrew aures perfodisti, or as in the Latin, (Psalm xxxix. 7.) perfecisti mihi. How these different expressions agree, see Estius, Cornelius a Lapide, &c.
Therefore, Christ as it were, coming into the world, he saith, by the psalmist, (Psalm xxxix. 7. 8.) Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire, &c. That is, such sacrifices as were offered in the former law, they could not please thee, appease thy anger, nor make a sufficient reparation for sin. --- But a [2] body thou hast fitted to me. Thou didst decree I should be made man, to suffer and die upon a cross to redeem mankind. And I as willingly understood the work of man's redemption. --- Behold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me.[3] That is, in the volumes of the Scriptures. --- He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. That is, he taketh away what I first mentioned, the imperfect sacrifices of the law of Moses, that to them might succeed the sacrifice of Christ. (Witham)
In capite libri, Greek: en kephalidi bibliou. The Greek and Latin seems to signify no more than in the volume, or book itself; Greek: kephalis, says Suidas, Greek: oper tinos eilema, alicujus involucrum, ab Greek: eileo. No need of translating, in the front of the book.
The source and primary cause of our sanctification is the will of God, who so loved the world as to give us his only Son; the meritorious cause of our sanctification is the voluntary oblation of Jesus Christ, sacrificed for us upon the cross. Methodists shamefully misrepresent the tenets of Catholics, as if we excluded Christ from the work of our salvation, or hoped to be saved not by the merits of Christ, but by our own.
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Here the apostle, by the direction of the Spirit of God, sets himself to lay low the Levitical dispensation; for though it was of divine appointment, and very excellent and useful in its time and place, yet, when it was set up in competition with Christ, to whom it was only designed to lead the people, it was very proper and necessary to show the weakness and imperfection of it, which the apostle does effectually, from several arguments. As,
I. That the law had a shadow, and but a shadow, of good things to come; and who would dote upon a shadow, though of good things, especially when the substance has come? Observe, 1. The things of Christ and the gospel are good things; they are the best things; they are best in themselves, and the best for us: they are realities of an excellent nature. 2. These good things were, under the Old Testament, good things to come, not clearly discovered, nor fully enjoyed. 3. That the Jews then had but the shadow of the good things of Christ, some adumbrations of them; we under the gospel have the substance.
II. That the law was not the very image of the good things to come. An image is an exact draught of the thing represented thereby. The law did not go so far, but was only a shadow, as the image of a person in a looking-glass is a much more perfect representation than his shadow upon the wall. The law was a very rough draught of the great design of divine grace, and therefore not to be so much doted on.
III. The legal sacrifices, being offered year by year, could never make the comers thereunto perfect; for then there would have been an end of offering them, v. 1, 2 . Could they have satisfied the demands of justice, and made reconciliation for iniquity,—could they have purified and pacified conscience,—then they had ceased, as being no further necessary, since the offerers would have had no more sin lying upon their consciences. But this was not the case; after one day of atonement was over, the sinner would fall again into one fault or another, and so there would be need of another day of atonement, and of one every year, besides the daily ministrations. Whereas now, under the gospel, the atonement is perfect, and not to be repeated; and the sinner, once pardoned, is ever pardoned as to his state, and only needs to renew his repentance and faith, that he may have a comfortable sense of a continued pardon.
IV. As the legal sacrifices did not of themselves take away sin, so it was impossible they should, v. 4 . There was an essential defect in them. 1. They were not of the same nature with us who sinned. 2. They were not of sufficient value to make satisfaction for the affronts offered to the justice and government of God. They were not of the same nature that offended, and so could not be suitable. Much less were they of the same nature that was offended; and nothing less than the nature that was offended could make the sacrifice a full satisfaction for the offence. 3. The beasts offered up under the law could not consent to put themselves in the sinner's room and place. The atoning sacrifice must be one capable of consenting, and must voluntarily substitute himself in the sinner's stead: Christ did so.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Here the apostle raises up and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ, as high as he had laid the Levitical priesthood low. He recommends Christ to them as the true high priest, the true atoning sacrifice, the antitype of all the rest: and this he illustrates,
I. From the purpose and promise of God concerning Christ, which are frequently recorded in the volume of the book of God, v. 7 . God had not only decreed, but declared by Moses and the prophets, that Christ should come and be the great high priest of the church, and should offer up a perfect and a perfecting sacrifice. It was written of Christ, in the beginning of the book of God, that the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head; and the Old Testament abounds with prophecies concerning Christ. Now since he is the person so often promised, so much spoken of, so long expected by the people of God, he ought to be received with great honour and gratitude.
II. From what God had done in preparing a body for Christ (that is, a human nature), that he might be qualified to be our Redeemer and Advocate; uniting the two natures in his own person, he was a fit Mediator to go between God and man; a days-man to lay his hand upon both, a peace-maker, to reconcile them, and an everlasting band of union between God and the creature—" My ears hast thou opened; thou has fully instructed me, furnished and fitted me for the work, and engaged me in it," Ps. xl. 6 . Now a Saviour thus provided, and prepared by God himself in so extraordinary a manner, ought to be received with great affection and gladness.
III. From the readiness and willingness that Christ discovered to engage in this work, when no other sacrifice would be accepted, v. 7-9 . When no less sacrifice would be a proper satisfaction to the justice of God than that of Christ himself, then Christ voluntarily came into it: " Lo, I come! I delight to do thy will, O God! Let thy curse fall upon me, but let these go their way. Father, I delight to fulfil thy counsels, and my covenant with thee for them; I delight to perform all thy promises, to fulfil all the prophecies." This should endear Christ and our Bibles to us, that in Christ we have the fulfilling of the scriptures.
IV. From the errand and design upon which Christ came; and this was to do the will of God, not only as a prophet to reveal the will of God, not only as a king to give forth divine laws, but as a priest to satisfy the demands of justice, and to fulfil all righteousness. Christ came to do the will of God in two instances. 1. In taking away the first priesthood, which God had no pleasure in; not only taking away the curse of the covenant of works, and canceling the sentence denounced against us as sinners, but taking away the insufficient typical priesthood, and blotting out the hand-writing of ceremonial ordinances and nailing it to his cross. 2. In establishing the second, that is, his own priesthood and the everlasting gospel, the most pure and perfect dispensation of the covenant of grace; this is the great design upon which the heart of God was set from all eternity. The will of God centers and terminates in it; and it is not more agreeable to the will of God than it is advantageous to the souls of men; for it is by this will that we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, v. 10 . Observe, (1.) What is the fountain of all that Christ has done for his people—the sovereign will and grace of God. (2.) How we come to partake of what Christ has done for us—by being sanctified, converted, effectually called, wherein we are united to Christ, and so partake of the benefits of his redemption; and this sanctification is owing to the oblation he made of himself to God.
V. From the perfect efficacy of the priesthood of Christ ( v. 14 ): By one offering he hath for ever perfected those that are sanctified; he has delivered and will perfectly deliver those that are brought over to him, from all the guilt, power, and punishment of sin, and will put them into the sure possession of perfect holiness and felicity. This is what the Levitical priesthood could never do; and, if we indeed are aiming at a perfect state, we must receive the Lord Jesus as the only high priest that can bring us to that state.
VI. From the place to which our Lord Jesus is now exalted, the honour he has there, and the further honour he shall have: This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down at the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, v. 12, 13 . Here observe, 1. To what honour Christ, as man and Mediator, is exalted—to the right hand of God, the seat of power, interest, and activity: the giving hand; all the favours that God bestows on his people are handed to them by Christ: the receiving hand; all the duties that God accepts from men are presented by Christ: the working hand; all that pertains to the kingdoms of providence and grace is administered by Christ; and therefore this is the highest post of honour. 2. How Christ came to this honour—not merely by the purpose or donation of the Father, but by his own merit and purchase, as a reward due to his sufferings; and, as he can never be deprived of an honour so much his due, so he will never quit it, nor cease to employ it for his people's good. 3. How he enjoys this honour—with the greatest satisfaction and rest; he is for ever sitting down there. The Father acquiesces and is satisfied in him; he is satisfied in his Father's will and presence; this is his rest for ever; here he will dwell, for he has both desired and deserved it. 4. He has further expectations, which shall not be disappointed; for they are grounded upon the promise of the Father, who hath said unto him, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Ps. cx. 1 . One would think such a person as Christ could have no enemies except in hell; but it is certain that he has enemies on earth, very many, and very inveterate ones. Let not Christians then wonder that they have enemies, though they desire to live peaceably with all men. But Christ's enemies shall be made his footstool; some by conversion, others by confusion; and, which way soever it be, Christ will be honoured. Of this Christ is assured, this he is expecting, and his people should rejoice in the expectation of it; for, when his enemies shall be subdued, their enemies, that are so for his sake, shall be subdued also.
VII. The apostle recommends Christ from the witness the Holy Ghost has given in the scriptures concerning him; this relates chiefly to what should be the happy fruit and consequence of his humiliation and sufferings, which in general is that new and gracious covenant that is founded upon his satisfaction, and sealed by his blood ( v. 15 ): Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness. The passage is cited from Jer. xxxi. 31 , in which covenant God promises, 1. That he will pour out his Spirit upon his people, so as to give them wisdom, will, and power, to obey his word; he will put his laws in their hearts, and write them in their minds, v. 16 . This will make their duty plain, easy, and pleasant. 2. Their sins and iniquities he will remember no more ( v. 17 ), which will alone show the riches of divine grace, and the sufficiency of Christ's satisfaction, that it needs not be repeated, v. 18 . For there shall be no more remembrance of sin against true believers, either to shame them now or to condemn them hereafter. This was much more than the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices could effect.
5. Christ's voluntary self offering, in contrast to those inefficient sacrifices, is shown to fulfill perfectly "the will of God" as to our redemption, by completely atoning "for (our) sins."
Wherefore-- seeing that a nobler than animal sacrifices was needed to "take away sins."
when he cometh-- Greek, "coming." The time referred to is the period before His entrance into the world, when the inefficiency of animal sacrifices for expiation had been proved [Tholuck]. Or, the time is that between Jesus' first dawning of reason as a child, and the beginning of His public ministry, during which, being ripened in human resolution, He was intently devoting Himself to the doing of His Father's will [Alford]. But the time of "coming" is present; not "when He had come," but "when coming into the world"; so, in order to accord with Alford's view, "the world" must mean His PUBLIC ministry: when coming, or about to come, into public. The Greek verbs are in the past: "sacrifice ... Thou didst not wish, but a body Thou didst prepare for Me"; and, "Lo, I am come." Therefore, in order to harmonize these times, the present coming, or about to come, with the past, "A body Thou didst prepare for Me," we must either explain as Alford, or else, if we take the period to be before His actual arrival in the world (the earth) or incarnation, we must explain the past tenses to refer to God's purpose, which speaks of what He designed from eternity as though it were already fulfilled. "A body Thou didst prepare in Thy eternal counsel." This seems to me more likely than explaining "coming into the world," "coming into public," or entering on His public ministry. David, in the fortieth Psalm (here quoted), reviews his past troubles and God's having delivered him from them, and his consequent desire to render willing obedience to God as more acceptable than sacrifices; but the Spirit puts into his mouth language finding its partial application to David, and its full realization only in the divine Son of David. "The more any son of man approaches the incarnate Son of God in position, or office, or individual spiritual experience, the more directly may his holy breathings in the power of Christ's Spirit be taken as utterances of Christ Himself. Of all men, the prophet-king of Israel resembled and foreshadowed Him the most" [Alford].
a body hast thou prepared me-- Greek, "Thou didst fit for Me a body." "In Thy counsels Thou didst determine to make for Me a body, to be given up to death as a sacrificial victim" [Wahl]. In the Hebrew, Psa 40:6 , it is "mine ears hast thou opened," or "dug." Perhaps this alludes to the custom of boring the ear of a slave who volunteers to remain under his master when he might be free. Christ's assuming a human body, in obedience to the Father's will, in order to die the death of a slave ( He 2:14 ), was virtually the same act of voluntary submission to service as that of a slave suffering his ear to be bored by his master. His willing obedience to the Father's will is what is dwelt on as giving especial virtue to His sacrifice ( He 10:7 , 9, 10 ). The preparing, or fitting of a body for Him, is not with a view to His mere incarnation, but to His expiatory sacrifice ( He 10:10 ), as the contrast to "sacrifice and offering" requires; compare also Ro 7:4 ; Ep 2:16 ; Col 1:22 . More probably "opened mine ears" means opened mine inward ear, so as to be attentively obedient to what God wills me to do, namely, to assume the body He has prepared for me for my sacrifice, so Job 33:16 , Margin; Job 36:10 (doubtless the boring of a slave's "ear" was the symbol of such willing obedience); Is 50:5 , "The Lord God hath opened mine ear," that is, made me obediently attentive as a slave to his master. Others somewhat similarly explain, "Mine ears hast thou digged," or "fashioned," not with allusion to Ex 21:6 , but to the true office of the ear--a willing, submissive attention to the voice of God ( Is 50:4 , 5 ). The forming of the ear implies the preparation of the body, that is, the incarnation; this secondary idea, really in the Hebrew, though less prominent, is the one which Paul uses for his argument. In either explanation the idea of Christ taking on Him the form, and becoming obedient as a servant, is implied. As He assumed a body in which to make His self-sacrifice, so ought we present our bodies a living sacrifice ( Ro 12:1 ).
6. burnt offerings-- Greek, "whole burnt offerings."
thou hast had no pleasure-- as if these could in themselves atone for sin: God had pleasure in (Greek, "approved," or "was well pleased with") them, in so far as they were an act of obedience to His positive command under the Old Testament, but not as having an intrinsic efficacy such as Christ's sacrifice had. Contrast Mt 3:17 .
7. I come-- rather, "I am come" (see on He 10:5 ). "Here we have the creed, as it were, of Jesus: 'I am come to fulfil the law,' Mt 5:17 ; to preach, Mr 1:38 ; to call sinners to repentance, Lu 5:32 ; to send a sword and to set men at variance, Mt 10:34 , 35 ; I came down from heaven to do the will of Him that sent me, Joh 6:38 , 39 (so here, Psa 40:7 , 8 ); I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Mt 15:24 ; I am come into this world for judgment, Joh 9:39 ; I am come that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly, Joh 10:10 ; to save what had been lost, Mt 18:11 ; to seek and to save that which was lost, Lu 19:10 ; compare 1Ti 1:15 ; to save men's lives, Lu 9:56 ; to send fire on the earth, Lu 12:49 ; to minister, Mt 20:28 ; as "the Light," Joh 12:46 ; to bear witness unto the truth, Joh 18:37 . See, reader, that thy Saviour obtain what He aimed at in thy case. Moreover, do thou for thy part say, why thou art come here? Dost thou, then, also, do the will of God? From what time? and in what way?" [Bengel]. When the two goats on the day of atonement were presented before the Lord, that goat on which the lot of the Lord should fall was to be offered as a sin offering; and that lot was lifted up on high in the hand of the high priest, and then laid upon the head of the goat which was to die; so the hand of God determined all that was done to Christ. Besides the covenant of God with man through Christ's blood, there was another covenant made by the Father with the Son from eternity. The condition was, "If He shall make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed," &c. ( Is 53:10 ). The Son accepted the condition, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God" [Bishop Pearson]. Oblation, intercession, and benediction, are His three priestly offices.
in the volume, &c.-- literally, "the roll": the parchment manuscript being wrapped around a cylinder headed with knobs. Here, the Scripture "volume" meant is the fortieth Psalm. "By this very passage 'written of Me,' I undertake to do Thy will [namely, that I should die for the sins of the world, in order that all who believe may be saved, not by animal sacrifices, He 10:6 , but by My death]." This is the written contract of Messiah (compare Ne 9:38 ), whereby He engaged to be our surety. So complete is the inspiration of all that is written, so great the authority of the Psalms, that what David says is really what Christ then and there said.
8. he-- Christ.
Sacrifice, &c.-- The oldest manuscripts read, "Sacrifices and offerings" (plural). This verse combines the two clauses previously quoted distinctly, He 10:5 , 6 , in contrast to the sacrifice of Christ with which God was well pleased.
9. Then said he-- "At that time (namely, when speaking by David's mouth in the fortieth Psalm) He hath said." The rejection of the legal sacrifices involves, as its concomitant, the voluntary offer of Jesus to make the self-sacrifice with which God is well pleased (for, indeed, it was God's own "will" that He came to do in offering it: so that this sacrifice could not but be well pleasing to God).
I come-- "I am come."
taketh away-- "sets aside the first," namely, "the legal system of sacrifices" which God wills not.
the second-- "the will of God" ( He 10:7 , 9 ) that Christ should redeem us by His self-sacrifice.
10. By-- Greek, "In." So "in," and "through," occur in the same sentence, 1Pe 1:22 , "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit." Also, 1Pe 1:5 , in the Greek. The "in (fulfilment of) which will" (compare the use of in, Ep 1:6 , "wherein [in which grace] He hath made us accepted, in the Beloved"), expresses the originating cause; "THROUGH the offering ... of Christ," the instrumental or mediatory cause. The whole work of redemption flows from "the will" of God the Father, as the First Cause, who decreed redemption from before the foundation of the world. The "will" here (boulema) is His absolute sovereign will. His "good will" (eudokia) is a particular aspect of it.
are sanctified-- once for all, and as our permanent state (so the Greek). It is the finished work of Christ in having sanctified us (that is, having translated us from a state of unholy alienation into a state of consecration to God, having "no more conscience of sin," He 10:2 ) once for all and permanently, not the process of gradual sanctification, which is here referred to.
the body-- "prepared" for Him by the Father ( He 10:5 ). As the atonement, or reconciliation, is by the blood of Christ ( Le 17:11 ), so our sanctification (consecration to God, holiness and eternal bliss) is by the body of Christ ( Col 1:22 ). Alford quotes the Book of Common Prayer Communion Service, "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His body, and our souls washed through His most precious blood."
once for all-- ( He 7:27 ; 9:12 , 26, 28; 10:12 , 14 ).
Ver. 39.And Mary arose in those days. Not on the same day on which she was saluted by the angel, but after two or three days. What was the reason of her going away? 1. That she might announce the conception of the Word to others. For Christ having become incarnate in her, willed immediately to begin His mission as a Saviour, for which He had been sent by the Father. Whence S. Ambrose says, "She departed, not as disbelieving in the oracle, or as uncertain about the messenger, or doubtful of the example, but as rejoicing in the fulfilment of her wish, conscientious in the performance of her duty, and hastening on account of her joy."
2. To cleanse John from original sin, and to fill him and his mother Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit, and that so the honour and devotion of all to Christ might be increased.
3. To congratulate her kinswoman on the miraculous conception of John.
4. To give to all future ages a remarkable example of humility and charity which she showed in visiting Elizabeth, though she was now made Mother of God and Mistress of the world.
Wherefore, under the title of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, many congregations have been instituted for visiting the poor and the sick, and those in prison, and recently under this title S. Francis of Sales, Bishop of Geneva, has instituted a congregation of religious women, who are well known throughout France, for ministering to the sick.
To the hill country. That is Hebron, according to Baronius and others; or the hill country of Judæa.
Tropologically, the soul filled with God, as the soul of the Blessed Virgin was, ascends the mountain heights, i.e., toils up the steep paths of virtue. "The Word having been conceived in the mind," Bede says, "we must ascend to the heights of virtue along the way of love; and the city of Judah, i.e. of confession and praise, must be reached by us; and in the perfection of faith, hope, and love, we must abide there for three months."
With haste. S. Ambrose mentions as the first cause of her haste that she might not tarry long out of the house in the public ways. "Learn, ye virgins, not to loiter in the streets, nor mingle in any public talk." He also adds a second reason, because she was full of joy and the Holy Spirit; "the grace of the Holy Spirit knows nothing of slow endeavours."
Origen gives a third reason, because Christ in the womb of the Virgin was hastening to cleanse John from original sin, and to sanctify him. "For Mary," says S. Ambrose, "who before dwelt alone in the secret of her chamber, neither virgin modesty caused to shrink from the public gaze, nor the rugged mountains from fulfilling her purpose, nor the length of the journey from performing her duty."
To a city of Judah. Jerusalem, according to Albertus Magnus and S. Bonaventura; but Jerusalem is generally mentioned by name, Jerusalem also is in the tribe of Benjamin, not of Judah. It is better, therefore, with Toletus and Baronius, to suppose that Hebron is meant; for it was situated in the hill country of Judah.
It is very probable that the Blessed Virgin first went to Jerusalem, since the feast of the Passover was near, and then in the Temple returned thanks to God, and made an offering of herself and her child Jesus to Him.
And entered into the house of Zacharias. This house is thus described by Adrichomedus on the authority of Nicephorus in his description of the Holy Land, "It is one mile distant from Emmaus, near the hills. It was still inhabited in the time of Saligniacus, and travellers were accustomed to salute it reverently. There John was born and circumcised, and concealed in a cave that he might not be slain with the children of Bethlehem by Herod, &c.
And saluted Elizabeth, with the usual Hebrew salutation. Peace be to thee. God intended by means of Elizabeth, being a matron advanced in years, to make known to the world the conception of the Virgin, and the secret Incarnation of the Word that had taken place in her.
Elizabeth. Not Zacharias; both because he was deaf, and because it was not becoming that a man should be saluted by the Virgin. Moreover; S. Ambrose says, "She was the first to give her salutation; for the more chaste a virgin is, the more humble she ought to be, and the more ready to give way to her elders. Let her then be the mistress of humility in whom is the profession of chastity."
Ver. 41.And it came to Pass when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, &c. Notice with S. Ambrose, that Elizabeth was the first to hear the salutation of Mary but John was the first to perceive the spirit and effect of her salutation; for to him, as the future forerunner of Christ, this salutation of the Virgin, yea, even of Christ, was chiefly directed. Theophylact says, "The voice of the Virgin was the voice of God incarnate in her."
It is a question here whether the leaping of John for joy (Vulgate exultavit, Greek έσκίζτησε) was a natural or rational movement. Calvin thinks that it was only a natural one; but all the Fathers and Orthodox Doctors are of a contrary opinion. Origen says, "Then first Jesus made His forerunner a prophet," and Irenæus (lib. 3 c. 18) says, "He recognised the Lord in the womb, and leaping for joy saluted Him." And S. Gregory (lib. 3 Moral. c. 5). "In his mother's womb he was filled with the spirit of prophecy." So a1so S. Cyril, S. Ambrose, S. Chrysostom. All these maintain that this leaping of John was not only supernatural, but showed an active use of reason, and proceeded from true joyfulness of mind; and this is clear from the words of Elizabeth; The babe leaped in my womb for joy.
Secondly, this is clear, likewise, from the circumstance that John communicated his joy to his mother.
Thirdly, because in like manner the Blessed Virgin rejoiced when she sang the Magnificat, therefore also John rejoiced, who was the chief end and object of the visitation of the Blessed Virgin and of all these wonders.
John at this time received the gift of prophecy, as the Fathers already quoted show. He likewise received the extraordinary gifts which befitted the future forerunner of Christ. For this had been predicted by the angel when he said, "he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb." In John, therefore, that saying of S. Chrysostom (Hom. 30) is true, "his leaping was a sign of perfect soundness;" and also, of sanctity.
Hence some think that John was free from sinful desire, and never committed venial sin; but this privilege seems to have been peculiar to the Blessed Virgin, to whom John was inferior. He had, therefore, sinful desire, and did commit venial sin, falling into it unawares, but perhaps, never deliberately. For it is a rule of S. Augustine and of theologians, that whoever has or has had original sin, has also sinful desire, and consequently commits venial sin; but John had original sin, therefore he must have committed venial sin.
Learn, morally, of what advantage the salutation and prayers of the Saints are, and especially of the Blessed Virgin, who by one word of salutation filled both John and Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit. "Not only the words, but the very aspect of the Saints is full of spiritual grace," says S. Chrysostom. For the Saints, and above all the Blessed Virgin, are full of the fiery spirit of love. Wherefore he who strives to make other men spiritual should first fill himself with the Divine Spirit; for thus when he speaks he will breathe the same forth upon others, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. God also uses such men as suitable instruments united to Himself. For He is a most pure and powerful spirit; wherefore He accomplishes mighty spiritual results by means of spiritual men full of zeal, as being like Himself
And Elizabeth was filled, &c. She who was before just and holy (
verse 6) is now made much more just and holy, and besides received the gift of prophecy. Moreover John, as I said, was first filled with the Spirit, and then filled his mother also with the same; because by his own holiness, merits, and prayers, he obtained for his mother that she should be filled with the Holy Spirit, of which he was himself full. So S. Ambrose says, "Elizabeth first heard the word, but John first experienced the grace. The mother was not filled before the son, but when the son had been filled with the Holy Spirit, he filled the mother also."
Ver. 42.And she spake out with a loud vote and said, Blessed art thou among women. Thou art most blessed of all women because thou hast been chosen to be the Mother of God Whom the whole world cannot receive.
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. The fountain of all the blessings and graces bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin by God was to be the mother of God; for God adorned His mother with every grace in order that she might become an habitation worthy of Him, even that she might be worthy to become the Mother of God, and whom would such a Son bless rather than His mother. Elizabeth therefore, by the inspiration of the Spirit knew that Mary had already conceived, and that the Son of God was incarnate in her. And "He is Blessed, not only as thou art, among women, but, absolutely, above angels, men, and all creatures, as being the Creator and Lord of all. Again the rest of the sons of Eve are all under a curse, because they contract original sin from her and from Adam. Christ alone is Blessed because He is not the natural son of Adam, but was supernaturally conceived in the Virgin by the Holy Ghost."
She alludes to the prophecy and promise made to David, Of the fruit of thy body shall I set upon thy seat, Psa_132:2
Ver. 43.And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? These are words of the greatest humility and reverence; John imitated his mother, saying when Christ came to be baptized of him, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest thou to me?"
Lord, that is God, Who is called absolutely the Lord, because He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Hence it is clear1. That the humanity of Christ was already in Christ endowed with life and united to the Word or Son of God. 2. That the Blessed Virgin is rightly called θεότοκος, i.e., Mother of God and not only χζιστότοκος, Mother of Christ, as Nestorius maintained. 3. That in Christ there are two natures, the human, for this alone could He take of His Virgin Mother; and the Divine, which the Father alone communicated to Him; but one Person, not human, but Divine. For if in Christ there had been two persons, as there are two natures, God could not properly be said to have been born of a Virgin, to have suffered and been crucified, but another person, that is to say, a man, or the person of a man; but now it is properly so said, because there is one person in Christ; which is the reason why the attributes of the one nature may be ascribed in the concrete to the other, so that this man, Jesus, may properly be called God, eternal and Almighty; and on the other hand, God in Him may properly be called man, passible and mortal, yea, He may even be said to have suffered and died; because it is the same Person, which on account of the two natures which It has, is at the same time God and man, and accordingly assumes to Itself the actions and attributes both of God and man. For action belongs to persons; and this sole (divine) Person in Christ is signified alike by the word man, or Jesus, and by the word God or Son of God. Wherefore what is truly said of one is also truly said of the other.
Ver. 44.The babe leaped. Symbolically, the leaping of John prefigured his own martyrdom; for by his dancing he represented the dancing of the daughter of Herodias, by which having pleased Herod, she asked and obtained of him the head of John.
Ver. 45.Blessed, &c. Elizabeth, therefore, knew by the Holy Spirit that the Blessed Virgin had believed the angel when he announced the conception and nativity of Christ. "Blessed art thou, both in fact because thou already bearest Christ within thee, and also in hope, because thou shalt bring forth Him Who will make thee and all who believe in Him blessed in heaven: Blessed therefore art thou before God and men." Elizabeth silently censures the unbelief of her own husband.
verse 35) is fulfilled in her, the power (Greek, δύναμις) of the Highest shall overshadow thee. She alludes to Isa. vii. 14 and ix. 6, His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God אל גבר (Elgibbor), i.e. mighty, strong as a giant; whence Gabriel announced His birth, whose name signifies the power and strength of God.
And holy is His name. The Blessed Virgin shows that the promise of the angel, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, was fulfilled; and therefore she says, And holy is His Name.
Toletus and Francis Lucas are of opinion that the Virgin here celebrates two great things as done to her by God1. The Incarnation of the Word, by which she was made the Mother of God, and therefore the mistress and queen of all angels and men; and, 2. Her own Preparation and sanctification for the accomplishment of the Incarnation in her. For as it was a work of power for God to be made man of a virgin, so it was a work of holiness to prepare the Virgin so as to be fit for conceiving in her womb the Holy and Immaculate Word of God. For the Blessed Virgin was so sanctified by the Holy Ghost that she contracted no sin at all, and far exceeded all the angels, even the seraphim, in grace and holiness
But more plainly and fully, we may refer both clauses of this verse to both works, namely, to the Incarnation of the Word as well as to her own preparation and sanctification for It. For each of these was a work of the excellent power as well as holiness of God, because each was accomplished by the coming of the Holy Spirit upon her to sanctify both Christ and the Virgin; according to the announcement of the angel, That Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. For Christ was the Holy of Holies, the Fount of holiness, sanctifying the whole world.
The meaning therefore is, God Himself, as signified by His own name, is holy, possesses all purity, holiness, power, perfection, and therefore is to be worshipped, adored, and celebrated in every way. God therefore is holy in all His works, and above all in this most holy mystery of the Incarnation of the Word; by which He sanctified Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and all the faithful.
Lastly, God incarnate is called holy because He assumed flesh and blood for the purpose of offering it to God, both in life, and on the cross, and in His death for the salvation of men. For as S. Isidorus says (lib. 15, Origin. c. 14), " Nothing was called holy among the ancients unless it was consecrated or sprinkled with the blood of a victim. Also that is holy (sanctum) which is ratified (sancitum) with blood; moreover to ratify (sancire) is to confirm." See Heb. ix. 12, &c. S. Augustine (lib 2 de Serm. Dom. 31) says, "That is holy which it is impious to violate and defile; and assuredly any one is held guilty of this crime who only attempts or wills it with regard to a holy thing, which nevertheless remains by its nature inviolable and incorruptible." But S. Bernard (Serm. 5 in Vigil. Nativ.) makes sanctity or holiness consist in clemency and gentleness, according to that saying concerning Moses, Ecclesiasticus xlv. 4, He that sanctified him in his faithfulness and meekness; and he continues, "In order that sanctification may be perfect we have need to learn gentleness and courtesy in social life from the Saint of Saints; as He says Himself, Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly in heart."
Hence some more recent interpreters refer the words Holy is His Name, to the following verse, and His mercy, &c., as if this were the holiness of God; but literally they must be referred to what precedes, as I have said. Hence Euthymius (in Ps. II) says, "He properly is called pious (όσιος) who observes piety and religion in those things which pertain to God; but he is called holy (άγιος) who is made a partaker of the Divine nature by following the path of virtue." Further, holy (sanctus) in Hebrew is קדש, that is, removed and separated from all vice, blemish, and even from intercourse with the vulgar; as God is especially, Whose holiness and majesty is so far removed, so lofty and exalted, that it infinitely transcends all gods, angels, and men. Whence S. Dionysius (Devin. nom. c. 12) says, "Since holiness is free from all taint, and is purity altogether perfect and immaculate, hence God, from the superabundance of the purity and all the excellences with which He is filled, is called the Holy of Holies." And Bede says, "His name is called holy because in the height of His marvellous power He transcends every creature, and is widely removed from the works which He has made. This is better understood in the Greek tongue, in which the very word that means holy (άγιος) signifies as it were to be apart from earth: and by imitation of Him in our small measure we are taught to separate ourselves from all who are neither holy nor dedicated to God, by those words of the Lord, Be ye holy, for I am holy; for whoever has consecrated himself to God will rightly appear as one free from the world; for he is able even himself to say, while we walk upon the earth we have our conversation in heaven."
Christians therefore being called by Christ to fulness of holiness ought to be holy (whence they are continually called by S. Paul holy [or saints]), yea, more holy than all the faithful who lived in the time of Moses, Abraham, &c; for Christianity is nothing else than the life of Christ. Let the Christian therefore so live as it becomes the disciple of Christ, so that his life may be a living image, of the holiness of Christ, so that whoever sees and hears him, may seem to himself to see and hear Christ in him.
And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;40. And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.41. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:42. And she spoke out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.43. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44. For, lo, as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.45. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.,
The Angel, when he announced the hidden mysteries to the Virgin, that he might build up her faith by an example, related to her the conception of a barren woman. When Mary heard it, it was not that she disbelieved the oracle, or was uncertain about the messenger, or doubtful of the example, but rejoicing in the fulfillment of her wish, and conscientious in the observance of her duty, she gladly went forth into the hill country. For what could Mary now, filled with God, but ascend into the higher parts with haste!
For Jesus who was in her womb hastened to sanctify John, still in the womb of his mother. Whence it follows, with haste.
The grace of the Holy Spirit knows not of slow workings. Learn, you virgins, not to loiter in the streets, nor mix in public talk.
She went into the mountains, because Zacharias dwelt there. As it follows, To a city of Juda, and entered into the house of Zacharias. Learn, O holy women, the attention which you ought to show for your kinswomen with child. For Mary, who before dwelt alone in the secret of her chamber, neither virgin modesty caused to shrink from the public gaze, nor the rugged mountains from pursuing her purpose, nor the tediousness of the journey from performing her duty. Learn also, O virgins, the lowliness of Mary.
She came a kinswoman to her next of kin, the younger to the elder, nor did she merely come to her, but was the first to give her salutations; as it follows, And she saluted, Elisabeth. For the more chaste a virgin is, the more humble she should be, and ready to give way to her elders. Let her then be the mistress of humility, in whom is the profession of chastity. Mary is also a cause of piety, in that the higher went to the lower, that the lower might be assisted, Mary to Elisabeth, Christ to John.
Or else the Virgin kept to herself all those things which have been said, not revealing them to any one, for she did not believe that any credit would be given to her wonderful story; nay, she rather thought she would suffer reproach if she told it, as if wishing to screen her own guilt.
But to Elisabeth alone she has recourse, as she was wont to do from their relationship, and other close bonds of union.
But soon the blessed fruits of Mary’s coming and our Lord’s presence are made evident. For it follows, And it came to pass, that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. Mark the distinction and propriety of each word. Elisabeth first heard the word, but John first experienced the grace. She heard by the order of nature, he leaped by reason of the mystery. She perceived the coming of Mary, he the coming of the Lord.
For the Prophet sees and hears more acutely than his mother, and salutes the chief of Prophets; but as he could not do this in words, he leaps in the womb, which was the greatest token of his joy. Who ever heard of leaping at a time previous to birth? Grace introduced things to which nature was a stranger. Shut up in the womb, the soldier acknowledged his Lord and King soon to be born, the womb’s covering being no obstacle to the mystical sight.
He was not filled with the Spirit, until she stood near him who bore Christ in her womb. Then indeed he was both filled with the Spirit, and leaping imparted the grace to his mother; as it follows, And Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. But we cannot doubt that she who w as then filled with the Holy Spirit, was filled because of her son.
She who had hid herself because she conceived a son, began to glory that she carried in her womb a prophet, and she who had before blushed, now gives her blessing; as it follows, And she spoke out with a loud voice, Blessed are you among women. With a loud voice she exclaimed when she perceived the Lord’s coming, for she believed it to be a holy birth. But she says, Blessed are you among women. For none was ever partaker of such grace or could be, since of the one Divine seed, there is one only parent.
Mary is blessed by Elisabeth with the same words as before by Gabriel, to show that she was to be reverenced both by men and angels.
But because there have been other holy women who yet have borne sons stained with sin, she adds, And blessed is the fruit of your womb. Or another interpretation is, having said, Blessed are you among women, she then, as if some one inquired the cause, answers, And blessed is the fruit of your womb: as it is said, Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord. The Lord God, and he has shown us light; for the Holy Scriptures often use and, instead of because.
TIT. BOS. Now she rightly calls the Lord the fruit of the virgin’s womb, because He proceeded not from man, but from Mary alone. For they who are sown by their fathers are the fruits of their fathers.
This fruit alone then is blessed, because it is; produced without man, and without sin.
This is the fruit which is promised to David, Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne. From this place we derive the refutation of Eutyches, in that Christ is stated to be the fruit of the womb. For all fruit is of the same nature with the tree that bears it. It remains then that the virgin was also of the same nature with the second Adam, who takes away the sins of the world. But let those also who invent curious fictions concerning the flesh of Christ, blush when they hear of the real child-bearing of the mother of God. For the fruit itself proceeds from the very substance of the tree. Where too are those who say that Christ passed through the virgin as water through an aqueduct? Let these consider the words of Elisabeth who was filled with the Spirit, that Christ was the fruit of the womb. It follows, And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
She says it not ignorantly, for she knew it was by the grace and operation of the Holy Spirit that the mother of the prophet should be saluted by the mother of his Lord, to the advancement and growth of her own pledge; but being aware that this was of no human deserving, but a gift of Divine grace, she therefore says, Whence is this to me, that is, By what right of mine, by what that I have done, for what good deeds?
Now in saying this, she coincides with her son. For John also felt that he was unworthy of our Lord’s coming to him. But she gives the name of "the mother of our Lord" to one still a virgin, thus forestalling the event by the words of prophecy. Divine foreknowledge brought Mary to Elisabeth, that the testimony of John might reach the Lord. For from that time Christ ordained John to be a prophet. Hence it follows, For, lo, as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded, etc.
But in order to say this, as the Evangelist has premised, she was filled with the Holy Spirit, by whose revelation undoubtedly she knew what that leaping of the child meant; namely, that the mother of Him had come to her, whose forerunner and herald that child was to be. Such then might be the meaning of so great an event; to be known indeed by grown up persons, but not understood by a little child; for she said not, "The babe leaped in faith in my womb," but leaped for joy. Now we see not only children leaping for joy, but even the cattle; not surely from any faith or religious feeling, or any rational knowledge. But this joy was strange and unwonted, for it was in the womb; and at the coming of her who was to bring forth the Savior of the world. This joy, therefore, and as it were reciprocal salutation to the mother of the Lord, was caused (as miracles are) by Divine influences in the child, not in any human way by him. For even supposing the exercise of reason and the will had been so far advanced in that child, as that he should be able in the bowels of his mother to know, believe, and assent; yet surely that must be placed among the miracles of Divine power, not referred to human examples.
The mother of our Lord had come to see Elisabeth, as also the miraculous conception, from which the Angel had told her should result the belief of a far greater conception, to happen to herself; and to this belief the words of Elisabeth refer, And blessed are you who have believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told you from the Lord.
You see that Mary doubted not but believed, and therefore the fruit of faith followed.
Nor is it to be wondered at, that our Lord, about to redeem the world, commenced His mighty works with His mother, that she, through whom the salvation of all men was prepared, should herself be the first to reap the fruit of salvation from her pledge.
But happy are you also who have heard and believed, for whatever soul has believed, both conceives and brings forth the word of God, and knows His works.
But every soul which has conceived the word of God in the heart, straightway climbs the lofty summits of the virtues by the stairs of love, so as to be able to enter into the city of Juda, (into the citadel of prayer and praise, and abide as it were for three months in it,) to the perfection of faith, hope, and charity.
She was touched with the spirit of prophecy at once, both as to the past, present, and future. She knew that Mary had believed the promises of the Angel; she perceived when she gave her the name of mother, that Mary was carrying in her womb the Redeemer of mankind; and when she foretold that all things would be accomplished, she saw also what was as to follow in the future.
This city is generally supposed to be Hebron, a sacerdotal town, (Josue xxi. 11.) situated in the mountains, to the south of Juda, and about 120 miles from Nazareth. (Bible de Vence)
The infant leaped in her womb.[7] According to the general opinion of the interpreters, this motion of the child at the time was not natural: and some think that God gave to St. John [the Baptist], even in his mother's womb, a passing knowledge of the presence of his Redeemer. See St. Augustine in the above cited letter to Dardanus. (Witham)
Exultavit, Greek: eskirtese. Which signifies to leap, or skip like lambs, &c.
In the same words she is pronounced blessed by Elizabeth, and by the angel Gabriel, both inspired by the Holy Ghost, and this not only to the praise of Jesus, but for his sake, to the praise of Mary, calling her blessed, and her fruit blessed; and thus, as Ven. Bede asserts, holding her up to the veneration of both men and angels.
The mother of my Lord. A proof that Christ was truly God, and the blessed Virgin Mary truly the mother of God. (Witham) --- Elizabeth was a just and blessed woman; yet the excellency of the mother of God does so far surpass that of Elizabeth, and of every other woman, as the great luminary outshines the smaller stars. (St. Jerome præf. in Sophon.)
39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
We have here an interview between the two happy mothers, Elisabeth and Mary: the angel, by intimating to Mary the favour bestowed on her cousin Elisabeth ( v. 36 ), gave occasion for it; and sometimes it may prove a better piece of service that we think to bring good people together, to compare notes. Here is,
I. The visit which Mary made to Elisabeth. Mary was the younger, and younger with child; and therefore, if they must come together, it was fittest that Mary should take the journey, not insisting on the preference which the greater dignity of her conception gave her, v. 39 . She arose, and left her affairs, to attend this greater matter: in those days, at that time (as it is commonly explained, Jer. xxxiii. 15 ; l. 4 ), in a day or two after the angel had visited her, taking some time first, as it is supposed, for her devotion, or rather hastening away to her cousin's, where she would have more leisure, and better help, in the family of a priest. She went, meta spoudes — with care, diligence, and expedition; not as young people commonly go abroad and visit their friends, to divert herself, but to inform herself: she went to a city of Judah in the hill-country; it is not named, but by comparing the description of it here with Josh. xxi. 10, 11 , it appears to be Hebron, for that is there said to be in the hill-country of Judah, and to belong to the priests, the sons of Aaron; thither Mary hastened, though it was a long journey, some scores of miles.
1. Dr. Lightfoot offers a conjecture that she was to conceive our Saviour there at Hebron, and perhaps had so much intimated to her by the angel, or some other way; and therefore she made such haste thither. He thinks it probable that Shiloh, of the tribe of Judah, and the seed of David, should be conceived in a city of Judah and of David, as he was to be born in Bethlehem, another city which belonged to them both. In Hebron the promise was given to Isaac, circumcision was instituted. Here (saith he) Abraham had his first land, and David his first crown: here lay interred the three couples, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, and, as antiquity has held, Adam and Eve. He therefore thinks that it suits singularly with the harmony and consent which God uses in his works that the promise should begin to take place by the conception of the Messias, even among those patriarchs to whom it was given. I see no improbability in the conjecture, but add this for the support of it, that Elisabeth said ( v. 45 ), There shall be a performance; as if it were not performed yet, but was to be performed there.
2. It is generally supposed that she went thither for the confirming of her faith by the sign which the angel had given her, her cousin's being with child, and to rejoice with her sister-favourite. And, besides, she went thither, perhaps, that she might be more retired from company, or else might have more agreeable company than she could have in Nazareth. We may suppose that she did not acquaint any of her neighbours at Nazareth with the message she had received from heaven, yet longed to talk over a thing she had a thousand time thought over, and knew no person in the world with whom she could freely converse concerning it but her cousin Elisabeth, and therefore she hastened to her. Note, it is very beneficial and comfortable for those that have a good work of grace begun in their souls, and Christ in the forming there, to consult those who are in the same case, that they may communicate experiences one to another; and they will find that, as in water face answers to face, so doth the heart of man to man, of Christian to Christian.
II. The meeting between Mary and Elisabeth. Mary entered into the house of Zacharias; but he, being dumb and deaf, kept his chamber, it is probable, and saw no company; and therefore she saluted Elisabeth ( v. 40 ), told her she was come to make her a visit, to know her state, and rejoice with her in her joy.
Now, at their first coming together, for the confirmation of the faith of both of them, there was something very extraordinary. Mary knew that Elisabeth was with child, but it does not appear that Elisabeth had been told any thing of her cousin Mary's being designed for the mother of the Messiah; and therefore what knowledge she appears to have had of it must have come by a revelation, which would be a great encouragement to Mary.
1. The babe leaped in her womb, v. 41 . It is very probable that she had been several weeks quick (for she was six months gone), and that she had often felt the child stir; but this was a more than ordinary motion of the child, which alarmed her to expect something very extraordinary, eskirtese . It is the same word that is used by the LXX. ( Gen. xxv. 22 ) for the struggling of Jacob and Esau in Rebecca's womb, and the mountains skipping, Ps. cxiv. 4 . The babe leaped as it were to give a signal to his mother that he was now at had whose forerunner he was to be, about six months in ministry, as he was in being; or, it was the effect of some strong impression made upon the mother. Now began to be fulfilled what the angel said to his father ( v. 15 ), that he should be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb; and perhaps he himself had some reference to this, when he said ( John iii. 29 ), The friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth greatly, because of the Bridegroom's voice, heard, though not by him, yet by his mother.
2. Elisabeth was herself filled with the Holy Ghost, or a Spirit of prophecy, by which, as well as by the particular suggestions of the Holy Ghost she was filled with, she was given to understand that the Messiah was at hand, in whom prophecy should revive, and by whom the Holy Ghost should be more plentifully poured out than ever, according to the expectations of those who waited for the consolation of Israel. The uncommon motion of the babe in her womb was a token of extraordinary emotion of her spirit under a divine impulse. Note, Those whom Christ graciously visits may know it by their being filled with the Holy Ghost; for, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
III. The welcome which Elisabeth, by the Spirit of prophecy, gave to Mary, the mother of our Lord; not as to a common friend making a common visit, but as to one of whom the Messiah was to be born.
1. She congratulates her on her honour, and, though perhaps she knew not of it till just now, she acknowledges it with the greatest assurance and satisfaction. She spoke with a loud voice, which does not at all intimate (as some think) that there was a floor or a wall between them, but that she was in a transport or exultation of joy, and said what she cared not who knew. She said, Blessed art thou among women, the same word that the angels had said ( v. 28 ); for thus this will of God, concerning honouring the Son, should be done on earth as it is done in heaven. But Elisabeth adds a reason, Therefore blessed art thou because blessed is the fruit of thy womb; thence it was that she derived this excelling dignity. Elisabeth was the wife of a priest, and in years, yet she grudges not that her kinswoman, who was many years younger than she, and every way her inferior, should have the honour of conceiving in her virginity, and being the mother of the Messiah, whereas the honour put upon her was much less; she rejoices in it, and is well pleased, as her son was afterwards, that she who cometh after her is preferred before her, John i. 27 . Note, While we cannot but own that we are more favoured of God than we deserve, let us by no means envy that others are more highly favoured than we are.
2. She acknowledges her condescension, in making her this visit ( v. 43 ): Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Observe, (1.) She calls the virgin Mary the mother of her Lord (as David in spirit, called the Messiah Lord, his Lord ), for she knew he was to be Lord of all. (2.) She not only bids her welcome to her house, though perhaps she came in mean circumstances, but reckons this visit a great favour, which she thought herself unworthy of. Whence is this to me? It is in reality, and not in compliment, that she saith, "This was a greater favour than I could have expected." Note, Those that are filled with the Holy Ghost have low thoughts of their own merits, and high thoughts of God's favours. Her son the Baptist spoke to the same purport with this, when he said, Comest thou to me? Matt. iii. 14 .
3. She acquaints her with the concurrence of the babe in her womb, in this welcome to her ( v. 44 ): "Thou certainly bringest some extraordinary tidings, some extraordinary blessing, with thee; for as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, not only my heart leaped for joy, though I knew not immediately why or wherefore, but the babe in my womb, who was not capable of knowing, did so too." He leaped as it were for joy that the Messiah, whose harbinger he was to be, would himself come soon after him. This would serve very much to strengthen the faith of the virgin, that there were such assurances as these given to others; and it would be in part the accomplishment of what had been so often foretold, that there should be universal joy before the Lord, when he cometh, Ps. xcviii. 8, 9 .
4. She commends her faith, and encourages it ( v. 45 ): Blessed is she that believed. Believing souls are blessed souls, and will be found so at last; this blessedness cometh through faith, even the blessedness of being related to Christ, and having him formed in the soul. They are blessed who believe the word of God, for that Word will not fail them; there shall, without doubt, be a performance of those things which are told her from the Lord. Note, The inviolable certainty of the promise is the undoubted felicity of those that build upon it and expect their all from it. The faithfulness of God is the blessedness of the faith of the saints. Those that have experienced the performance of God's promises themselves should encourage others to hope that he will be as good as his word to them also: I will tell you what God has done for my soul.
IV. Mary's song of praise, upon this occasion. Elisabeth's prophecy was an echo to the virgin Mary's salutation, and this song is yet a stronger echo to that prophecy, and shows her to be no less filled with the Holy Ghost than Elisabeth was. We may suppose the blessed virgin to come in, very much fatigued with her journey; yet she forgets that, and is inspired with new life, and vigour, and joy, upon the confirmation she here meets with of her faith; and since, by the sudden inspiration and transport, she finds that this was designed to be her errand hither, weary as she is, like Abraham's servant, she would neither eat nor drink till she had told her errand.
1. Here are the expressions of joy and praise, and God alone the object of the praise and centre of the joy. Some compare this song with that which her name-sake Miriam, the sister of Moses, sung, upon the triumphant departure of Israel out of Egypt, and their triumphant passage through the Red Sea; others think it better compared with the song of Hannah, upon the birth of Samuel, which, like this, passes from a family mercy to a public and general one. This begins, like that, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, 1 Sam. ii. 1 . Observe how Mary here speaks of God.
(1.) With great reverence of him, as the Lord: " My soul doth magnify the Lord; I never saw him so great as now I find him so good. " Note, Those, and those only, are advanced in mercy, who are thereby brought to think the more highly and honourably of God; whereas there are those whose prosperity and preferment make them say, What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? The more honour God has any way put upon us, the more honour we must study to give to him; and then only are we accepted in magnifying the Lord, when our souls magnify him, and all that is within us. Praising work must be soul work.
(2.) With great complacency in him as her Saviour: My spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour. This seems to have reference to the Messiah, whom she was to be the mother of. She calls him God her Saviour; for the angel had told her that he should be the Son of the Highest, and that his name should be Jesus, a Saviour; this she fastened upon, with application to herself: He is God my Saviour. Even the mother of our Lord had need of an interest in him as her Saviour, and would have been undone without it: and she glories more in that happiness which she had in common with all believers than in being his mother, which was an honour peculiar to herself, and this agrees with the preference Christ have to obedient believers above his mother and brethren; see Matt. xii. 50 ; Luke xi. 27, 28 . Note, Those that have Christ for their God and Saviour have a great deal of reason to rejoice, to rejoice in spirit, that is rejoicing as Christ did ( Luke x. 21 ), with spiritual joy.
2. Here are just causes assigned for this joy and praise.
(1.) Upon her own account, v. 48, 49 . [1.] Her spirit rejoiced in the Lord, because of the kind things he had done for her: his condescension and compassion to her. He has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; that is, he has looked upon her with pity, for so the word is commonly used. "He has chosen me to this honour, notwithstanding my great meanness, poverty, and obscurity." Nay, the expression seems to intimate, not only (to allude to that of Gideon, Judg. vi. 15 ) that her family was poor in Judah, but that she was the least in her father's house, as if she were under some particular contempt and disgraced among her relations, was unjustly neglected, and the outcast of the family, and God put this honour upon her, to balance abundantly the contempt. I the rather suggest this, for we find something toward such honour as this put upon others, on the like consideration. Because God saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, Gen. xxix. 31 . Because Hannah was provoked, and made to fret, and insulted over, by Peninnah, therefore God gave her a son, 1 Sam. i. 19 . Whom men wrongfully depress and despise God doth sometimes, in compassion to them, especially if they have borne it patiently, prefer and advance; see Judg. xi. 7 . So in Mary's case. And, if God regards her low estate, he not only thereby gives a specimen of his favour to the whole race of mankind, whom he remembers in their low estate, as the psalmist speaks ( Ps. cxxxvi. 23 ), but secures a lasting honour to her (for such the honour is that God bestows, honour that fades not away): " From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, shall think me a happy woman and highly advanced." All that embrace Christ and his gospel will say, Blessed was the womb that bore him and the paps which he sucked, Luke xi. 27 . Elizabeth had once and again called her blessed: "But that is not all," saith she, "all generations of Gentiles as well as Jews shall call me so." [2.] Her soul magnifies the Lord, because of the wonderful things he had done for her ( v. 49 ): He that is mighty has done to me great things. A great thing indeed, that a virgin should conceive. A great thing indeed, that Messiah, who had been so long promised to the church, and so long expected by the church, should now at length be born. It is the power of the Highest that appears in this. She adds, and holy is his name; for so Hannah saith her song, There is none holy as the Lord, which she explains in the next words, for there is none beside thee, 1 Sam. ii. 2 . God is a Being by himself, and he manifests himself to be so, especially in the work of our redemption. He that is mighty, even he whose name is holy, has done to me great things. Glorious things may be expected from him that is both mighty and holy; who can do every thing, and will do every thing well and for the best.
(2.) Upon the account of others. The virgin Mary, as the mother of the Messiah, is become a kind of public person, wears a public character, and is therefore immediately endued with another spirit, a more public spirit than before she had, and therefore looks abroad, looks about her, looks before her, and takes notice of God's various dealings with the children of men ( v. 50 , &c.), as Hannah ( 1 Sam. ii. 3 , &c.). In this she has especially an eye to the coming of the Redeemer and God's manifesting himself therein.
[1.] It is a certain truth that God has mercy in store, mercy in reserve, for all that have a reverence for his majesty, and a due regard to his sovereignty and authority. But never did this appear so as in sending his Son into the world to save us ( v. 50 ): His mercy is on them that fear him; it has always been so; he has ever looked upon them with an eye of peculiar favour who have looked up to him with and eye of filial fear. But he hath manifested this mercy, so as never before, in sending his Son to bring in an everlasting righteousness, and work out an everlasting salvation, for them that fear him, and this from generation to generation; for there are gospel privileges transmitted by entail, and intended for perpetuity. Those that fear God, as their Creator and Judge, are encouraged to hope for mercy in him, through their Mediator and Advocate; and in him mercy is settled upon all that fear God, pardoning mercy, healing mercy, accepting mercy, crowning mercy, from generation to generation, while the world stands. In Christ he keepeth mercy for thousands.
[2.] It has been a common observation that God in his providence puts contempt upon the haughty and honour upon the humble; and this he has done remarkably in the whole economy of the work of man's redemption. As God had, with his mercy to her, shown himself mighty also ( v. 48, 49 ), so he had, with his mercy on them that fear him, shown strength likewise with his arm. First, In the course of his providence, it is his usual method to cross the expectations of men, and proceed quite otherwise than they promise themselves. Proud men expect to carry all before them, to have their way and their will; but he scatters them in the imagination of their hearts, breaks their measures, blasts their projects, nay, and brings them low, and brings them down, by those very counsels with which they thought to advance and establish themselves. The mighty think to secure themselves by might in their seats, but he puts them down, and overturns their seats; while, on the other hand, those of low degree, who despaired of ever advancing themselves, and thought of no other than of being ever low, are wonderfully exalted. This observation concerning honour holds likewise concerning riches; many who were so poor that they had not bread for themselves and their families, by some surprising turn of Providence in favour of them, come to be filled with good things; while, on the other hand, those who were rich, and thought no other than that to-morrow should be as this day, that their mountain stood strong and should never be moved, are strangely impoverished, and sent away empty. Now this is the same observation that Hannah had made, and enlarged upon, in her song, with application to the case of herself and her adversary ( 1 Sam. ii. 4-7 ), which very much illustrates this here. And compare also Ps. cvii. 33-41 ; cxiii. 7-9 ; and Eccl. ix. 11 . God takes a pleasure in disappointing their expectations who promise themselves great things in the world, and in out-doing the expectations of those who promise themselves but a little; as a righteous God, it is his glory to abase those who exalt themselves, and strike terror on the secure; and, as a good God, it is his glory to exalt those who humble themselves, and to speak comfort to those who fear before him. Secondly, This doth especially appear in the methods of gospel grace.
1. In the spiritual honours it dispenses. When the proud Pharisees were rejected, and Publicans and sinners went into the kingdom of heaven before them,—when the Jews, who followed after the law of righteousness, did not attain it, and the Gentiles, who never thought of it, attained to righteousness ( Rom. ix. 30, 31 ),—when God chose not the wise men after the flesh, not the mighty, or the noble, to preach the gospel, and plant Christianity in the world, but the foolish and weak things of the world, and things that were despised ( 1 Cor. i. 26, 27 )—then he scattered the proud, and put down the mighty, but exalted them of low degree. When the tyranny of the chief priests and elders were brought down, who had long lorded it over God's heritage, and hoped always to do so, and Christ's disciples, a company of poor despised fishermen, by the power they were clothed with, were made to sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,—when the power of the four monarchies was broken, and the kingdom of the Messiah, that stone cut out of the mountain without hands, is made to fill the earth, —then are the proud scattered, and those of low degree exalted.
2. In the spiritual riches it dispenses, v. 53 . (1.) Those who see their need of Christ, and are importunately desirous of righteousness and life in him, he fills with good things, with the best things; he gives liberally to them, and they are abundantly satisfied with the blessings he gives. Those who are weary and heavy-laden shall find rest with Christ, and those who thirst are called to come to him and drink; for they only know how to value his gifts. To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet, manna is angels' food; and to the thirsty fair water is honey out of the rock. (2.) Those who are rich, who are not hungry, who, like Laodicea, think they have need of nothing, are full of themselves and their own righteousness, and think they have a sufficiency in themselves, those he sends away from his door, they are not welcome to him, he sends them empty away, they come full of self, and are sent away empty of Christ. He sends them to the gods whom they served, to their own righteousness and strength which they trusted to.
[3.] It was always expected that the Messiah should be, in a special manner, the strength and glory of his people Israel, and so he is in a peculiar manner ( v. 54 ): He hath helped his servant Israel, antelabeto . He hath taken them by the hand, and helped them up that were fallen and could not help themselves. Those that were sunk under the burdens of a broken covenant of innocency are helped up by the blessings of a renewed covenant of grace. The sending of the Messiah, on whom help was laid for poor sinners, was the greatest kindness that could be done, the greatest help that could be provided for his people Israel, and that which magnifies it is,
First, That it is in remembrance of his mercy, the mercifulness of his nature, the mercy he has in store for his servant Israel. While this blessing was deferred, his people, who waited for it, were often ready to ask, Has God forgotten to be gracious? But now he made it appear that he had not forgotten, but remembered, his mercy. He remembered his former mercy, and repeated that to them in spiritual blessings which he had done formerly to them in temporal favours. He remembered the days of old. Where is he that brought them up out of the sea, out of Egypt? Isa. lxiii. 11 . He will do the like again, which that was a type of.
Secondly, That it is in performance of his promise. It is a mercy not only designed, but declared ( v. 55 ); it was what he spoke to our fathers, that the Seed of the woman should break the head of the serpent; that God should dwell in the tents of Shem; and particularly to Abraham, that in his seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed, with the best of blessings, with the blessings that are for ever, and to the seed that shall be for ever; that is, his spiritual seed, for his carnal seed were cut off a little after this. Note, What God has spoken he will perform; what he hath spoken to the fathers will be performed to their seed; to their seed's seed, in blessings that shall last for ever.
39. hill country-- the mountainous tract running along the middle of Judea, from north to south [Webster and Wilkinson].
with haste-- transported with the announcement to herself and with the tidings, now first made known to her, of Elisabeth's condition.
a city of Juda-- probably Hebron (see Jos 20:7 ; 21:11 ).
40. saluted Elisabeth-- now returned from her seclusion ( Lu 1:24 ).
41. babe leaped-- From Lu 1:44 it is plain that this maternal sensation was something extraordinary--a sympathetic emotion of the unconscious babe, at the presence of the mother of his Lord.
42-44. What beautiful superiority to envy have we here! High as was the distinction conferred upon herself, Elisabeth loses sight of it altogether, in presence of one more honored still; upon whom, with her unborn Babe, in an ecstasy of inspiration, she pronounces a benediction, feeling it to be a wonder unaccountable that "the mother of her Lord should come to her." "Turn this as we will, we shall never be able to see the propriety of calling an unborn child "Lord," but by supposing Elisabeth, like the prophets of old, enlightened to perceive the Messiah's Divine nature" [Olshausen].
45. An additional benediction on the Virgin for her implicit faith, in tacit and delicate contrast with her own husband.
for-- rather, as in the Margin, "that."
The famous line about Bethlehem may not be a statement at all. Haydock records that v. 2 can be pointed either as "thou art a little one among the thousands of Juda" or as a question — art thou? — and notes that the second reading is what brings the Hebrew into agreement with the priests' citation in Matthew ii. 4, where Bethlehem is emphatically not least. The adjective itself is unstable in the same direction: tsahir, "little," is often rendered "considerable" in the Chaldean. And the "thousands" it is measured against are not populations but capital cities, on the parallel with Zacharias ix. 7, so the complaint is administrative — Bethlehem ranks too low in the register to be a place a ruler comes out of. The oracle opens, meanwhile, on an address nobody can identify with certainty. The "daughter of the robber" of v. 1, where the Hebrew has "daughter of troops," is Babylon to some, famous for the soldiers who would seize Sedecias, and Jerusalem to others, notorious in this same prophet for its rapine and oppression.
Two disputes hang on the citation in Matthew. Haydock observes that the priests quoting the text to Herod substituted "land of Juda" for "Ephrata," and that the evangelist reproduces their words as they said them, exposing their carelessness with Scripture. Jerome offers a more general principle — that in nearly all New Testament quotations the order of words, and sometimes the sense, is altered, since the apostles wrote from memory rather than from a book, and memory sometimes fails. Haydock will not have it, calling the principle dangerous and insisting the sacred writer could not mistake, so that the variation must be explained some other way. Kennicott adds a related suspicion of Jerome's, that certain towns were deliberately dropped from the list in Josue xv. 60, Bethlehem Ephrata among them. The larger question is who the ruler is. Calmet reports that the ancient Jews read the verse straightforwardly of the Messias and that later interpreters transferred it to Zorobabel, then closes the case on the grounds of register: the language is too grand for him. It certainly is by v. 2's last clause, where the going forth is from the days of eternity. Worthington's argument there is grammatical — such expressions taken singly need mean no more than a long time, but doubled in the Hebrew manner they can only mean an absolute eternity — and Challoner draws the conclusion the doubling forces, that the one born in Bethlehem as man was born of the Father before time. Origen took the clause more modestly, of a coming announced long in advance; Calmet judges the stronger sense the better one.
The passage keeps refusing the scale its readers want. A town too small to matter, a ruler whose credentials are a birth rather than an army, an interval in v. 3 during which God simply gives his people up until she that travaileth shall bring forth — read by Sanctius of the exile lasting until Babylon lets them go, by Jerome of the Jews holding the land until Christ comes, and in a third sense of a blindness permitted until the nations have received the gospel and there is one fold. What all three refuse is the assumption that a silence means nothing is being done. The promise in v. 4 is not that the ruler will conquer but that he will stand and feed, in the strength of the Lord, and that his greatness will be measured only afterwards, to the ends of the earth.