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nation Israel; though there may be an approach to idealisation in the fact that it is (the true) Israel rousing (the false) Israel to the Divine commission. At the close of Vision II there is such an approach to personality in the Servant of Jehovah as is implied in the conception of a suffering martyr.

The Vision seems to fall into three sections. i. Jehovah's Servant meditates on his twofold mission (as given in the previous Vision): to the tribes of Jacob and to the Gentiles. ii. Then clearly follows the ministry to Zion in the form of a dialogue of consolation. [Who hath begotten me these, etc.: the text of the R.V. actually reads, Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these. But as the spirit of the whole passage is a dialogue of consolation I have thought it within the scope of the mode of presenting here used to replace these words by the title Zion as speaker; compare such cases as Job took up his parable and said.] — iii. The third section I have headed as the Ministry to the Gentiles: though this is not quite clear. The strong emphasis in the first section on the double mission, and the clear confinement of ii to Zion, suggest that we should expect an appeal to the Gentiles here; and the words Who is among you that feareth the LORD fall in well with such an explanation. It comes as a confirmation of this that four times in this section we find the form of the name Jehovah represented in the R.V. by GOD [as distinguished from the LORD] and there appears a tendency in the rhapsody as a whole to use this form of the Divine name in connection with outsiders, as LORD is the special name with God's own people. [The usage is clear in the examples on pages 133, 157, 162,

170, 182, 204, 205: less clear in those on pages 195, 196: see below, page 253.]

Vision III

This is made up of (i) Appeals of Jehovah, seconded by the Celestial Hosts, to Zion to awake. No response is made unti (ii) the end: the Awakening of Zion, as the Watchmen of Zion [compare above, page 234] catch the tidings of the Messengers [compare the Prologue], and waken slumbering Jerusalem. Ye that bear the vessels of the LORD: for the prominence of this idea in Israelite conceptions of the Return from Exile compare the Chronicles volume of this series, pages 200, 201.

Vision IV

The Servant of Jehovah now appears as exalted: the exaltation consists in the recognition at last by the chorus of Nations of a humiliation they had misinterpreted. There seems now a mystic personality attaching to 'Jehovah's Servant'; and the words of the choral song distinctly associate with that personality the idea of vicarious sufferings, a soul making an offering for sin, bearing the sins of many.

Vision V

Three Songs of Zion Exalted. The order of the Visions is noticeable: The Servant of Jehovah Awakened, Zion Awakened; the Servant of Jehovah Exalted, Zion Exalted.—i. Song of Zion

as the Bride of Jehovah. For its structure compare above, page 216. ii. Zion the city of Beauty and Peace. Both these are apostrophes to Zion; in iii Zion is the speaker: for its structure compare above, page 217. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David : Zion is speaking, exercising her new authority to admit the Nations into the covenant of Jehovah's people with their God. In the words that immediately follow Jehovah recognises Zion as thus a witness to the peoples. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, etc.: see above, page 217.

Vision VI

This is the most difficult portion of the rhapsody. Its general subject is clear: Redemption at work in Zion. It must be remembered that the seven Visions are not to be regarded as successive in time. Each is complete in itself; in the present case redemption is fully presented from its earliest stage; nor is there any limitation to particular epochs of history. There is only a logical sequence in the successive Visions: Deliverance, Awakening, Redemption [spiritual purification in preparation for] Judgment (the final separation of Good and Evil). The movement of this sixth Vision again is not difficult to follow. The main obscurity is the question, who is the leading speaker. This will best be considered in the successive sections of which the Vision is made up.

Introduction. As in Vision I, we have a prefatory discourse before the dramatic movement begins. The body of Vision VI being occupied with redemption in Zion, this Introduction is

careful to premise that outsiders-strangers and eunuchs (excluded by the old Law)-may by 'righteousness' be subjects of the 'righteousness' which is to be revealed. [For the word righteousness, compare above, page 244].

i. The first stage of the movement is a Struggle with Sin and Error. Who is the speaker here ? — (1) Not Jehovah: for the cries of encouragement that come to the speaker (pages 184, 185) are from Him. —(2) Is it the 'Servant of Jehovah,' who has held such a leading position in Visions II and IV? It is noticeable that the term never occurs after Vision IV [of course the plural 'servants' occurs often, but in no special sense]. It may be open to theology to argue on independent grounds for the identity of the speaker of this section with the Servant, but the primary and literary interpretation does not give sufficient indication of this.*(3) Is the speaker the same as in section v of this Vision, to whom I have given the title 'The Redeemer'? The words of section iii seem distinctly a turning point in the movement of the Vision, and they promise a Redeemer to Zion; moreover, the opening of section v reads like a person announcing himself: there seems then great difficulty in understanding such a personage to be present in this earlier stage. (4) It seems then that the Presence here struggling for the redemption of Zion is something left obscure and undefined; and I have therefore fallen back upon the 'Voice of Prophecy,' that appears speaking on behalf of God so often in dramatic prophecies.

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* In my Literary Study of the Bible I took this not uncommon view: further consideration has led me to think it insufficiently supported.

Page 183. And thou wentest to the king with ointment. thou wast wearied with the length of thy way, etc. Three things are denounced: open sin—then (in this passage) the seeking other refuge than Jehovah, in pursuit of which the people maintained hope amid weariness, whereas of Jehovah they despaired without a struggle *— thirdly (page 185) formalism. ii. At last an effect is produced: and the appeal is answered by Repentant Israel (a common speaker in the dialogues of Jeremiah and Hosea).

iii. Following upon this repentance we have the interposition of Jehovah as a turning point to the Vision: the redemption is begun, and a Redeemer shall come to Zion. For the direct announcement of the movement here, compare above, page 247: there is a similar case at the centre of the Rhapsody of Joel (chapter ii. 18).

iv. An elaborate lyric Song, celebrating Zion in its complete redemption. The successive stages of the song commence with couplets introducing a thought expanded in quatrains (or sextetts occasionally). (1) Dawn out of darkness. (2) Nations flocking to the light, bringing the exiles to their Zion. (3) Ships like doves flocking to their windows bring the wealth of the nations as tribute. (4) The City of the LORD. (5) There is a climax in the conception of a light that never sets.

V. The last section introduces the presence of the Redeemer in Zion. Here again there seems insufficient evidence as to the personality, whether to be identified with the Servant of

*The interpretation of this passage given in my Literary Study of the Bible (page 411) I think no longer tenable.

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