1. In that day. The time of calamity referred to in the close of the previous chapter. This is a continuaion of that prophecy, and there was no reason why these six verses should have been made a separate chapter. That the passage refers to the Messiah is apparent from what has been stated in the Notes on the commencement of the prophecy (ch. ii. 1-4), and from the expressions which occur in the chapter itself. See Notes on ver. 2, 5, 6. Seven women. The number seven is used often to denote a large though indefinite number. Lev. xxvi. 28. Prov. xxiv. 16. Zech. iii. 9. It means that so great should be the calamity, so many men would fall in battle, that many women would, contrary to their natural modesty, become suitors to a single man to obtain him as a husband and protector. Shall take hold. Shall apply to. The expression, "shall take hold," denotes the earnestness of their application. We will eat our own bread, &c. We do not ask this in order to be maintained. We will forego that which the law (Ex. xxi. 10) enjoins as the duty of the husband in case he has more than one wife. ¶ Only let us be called by thy name. Let rel; only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. 2 In that day shall the branch 2 or, take thou away. b Jer. 23. 5, 6. Zec. 6. 12, 13. us be regarded as thy wives. The wife then, as now, assumed the name of the husband. A remarkably similar expression occurs in Lucan (B. ii. 342). Marcia there presents a similar request to Cato: 66 Da tantum nomen inane Connubii; liceat tumulo scripsisse, Catonis Indulge me only with the empty title of wife. Let there only be inscribed on my tomb, Marcia, wife of Cato."" To take away my reproach. The Gen. xxx. 23. 1 Sam. i. 6. reproach of being unmarried. Comp. 2. The branch of the LORD. in. The sprout of JEHOVAH. This expression, and this verse, have had a great variety of interpretation. The LXX read it, "In that day God shall shine in counsel with glory upon the earth, to exalt, and to glorify the rem. nant of Israel." The Chaldee renders it," In that day, the Messiah of the Lord shall be for joy and glory, and the doers of the law for praise and honour to those of Israel who are delivered." It is clear that the passage is designed to denote some signal blessing that was to succeed the calamity predicted in the previous verses. The of the LORD be 'beautiful and glo- | shall be excellent and comely for rious, and the fruit of the earth them that are escaped of Israel. 4 beauty and glory. 5 the escaping of Israel. have not been agreed, however, in the meaning of this passage. Grotius sup miah, but "mystically to Christ and Christians." Vogellius understood it of the remnant that should return from the Babylonish captivity. Michaelis supposed that it refers to the Jews who should be a reformed people after their captivity, and who should spring up with a new spirit. Others have regarded it as a poetic description of the extraordinary fertility of the earth in future times. The reasons for referring it to the Messiah are plain. (1.) The word has this reference in other places, and the representation of the Messiah under the image of a branch or shoot, is, as we have seen, common in the Scriptures. Thus, also, in ch. liii. 2, he is called also shōresh, root, and yōneq, a tender plant, a sucker, Comp. Job viii. 16, xiv. 7, xv. 30. sprout, shoot, as of a decayed tree. only question is, to what has the prophet reference ? The word "branch" (2) is derived from the verb (posed that it referred to Ezra or Nehe. izâmăhh) signifying to sprout, to spring up, spoken of plants. Hence the word branch means properly that which shoots up, or sprouts from the root of a tree, or from a decayed tree. Comp. Job xiv. 7, 8, 9. The Messiah is thus said to be "a root of Jesse," Rom. xi. 12. Comp. Note Isa. xi. 1, 10, and "the root and offspring of David," Rev. xxii. 16, as being a descendant of Jesse ; i. e. as if Jesse should fall like an aged tree, yet the root would sprout up and live. The word "branch" occurs several times in the Old Testament, and in most, if not all, with express reference to the Messiah. Jer. xxiii. 5: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign." Jer. xxxiii. 15:"In those days, and at that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David." Zech. iii. 8, vi. 12. In all these places there can be no doubt that there is reference to him who was to spring up from David as a sprout does from a decayed and fallen tree, and who is therefore called a root, a branch of the royal stock. There is, besides, a peculiar beauty in the figure. The family of David, when the Messiah was to come, would be fallen into decay and almost extinct. Joseph, the husband of Mary, though of the royal family of David (Matt. i. 20. Luke ii. 4), was poor, and the family had lost all claims to the throne. In this state, as from the decayed root of a fallen tree, a sprout or branch was to come forth with more than the magnificence of David, and succeed him on the throne. The name "branch," therefore, came to be significant of the Messiah, and to be synonymous with "the son of David." It is so used, doubtless, in this place, as denoting that the coming of the Messiah would be a joy and honour in the days of calamity to the Jews. Interpreters Ezek. xvii. 22. And in reference to the same idea, perhaps, it is said, Isa. liii. 8, that he was nighzăr, cut off as a branch, sucker, or shoot is cut off by the vine-dresser or farmer from the root of a decayed tree. And thus in Rev. v. 5, he is called pica ▲aßid— the root of David. (2.) This interpretation accords best with the magnificence of the description, vs. 5, 6; and (3) it was so understood by the Chaldee interpreter, and doubtless by the ancient Jews. ¶ Shall be beautiful and glorious. Heb. " Shall be beauty and glory;" that is, shall be the chief ornament or honour of the land; shall be that which gives to the nation its chief distinction and glory. In such times of calamity his coming shall be an object of desire, and his approach shall shed a rich splendour on that period of the world. And the fruit of the earth correctly rendered fruit of the earth, or of the land. The word "earth" is often in the Scriptures used to denote the land of Judea, and 3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and perhaps the article here is intended to denote that that land is particularly intended. This is the parallel expression the former part of the verse, in accordance with the laws of Hebrew poetry, by which one member of a sentence expresses substantially the same meaning as the former. See Introduction § 8. If the former expression referred to the Messiah, this does also. The "fruit of the earth" is that which the earth produces, and is here not different in signification from the branch which springs out of the ground. Vitringa supposes that by this phrase the Messiah, according to his human nature, is meant. So Hengstenberg (Christol. in loc.) understands it; and supposes that as the phrase "branch of Jehovah" refers to his divine origin as proceeding from Jehovah, so this refers to his human origin as proceeding from the earth. But the objections to this are obvious. (1) The second phrase, according to the laws of Hebrew parallelism, is most naturally an echo or repetition of the sentiment in the first member, and means substantially the same thing. (2.) The phrase "branch of Jehovah" does not refer of necessity to his divine nature. The idea is that of a decayed tree that has fallen down, and has left a living root which sends up a shoot, or sucker and can be applied with great elegance to the decayed family of David. But how, or in what sense can this be applied to Jehovah? Is Jehovah thus fallen and decayed? The idea properly is, that this shoot of a decayed family should be nurtured up by JEHоVAH; should be appointed by him, and should thus be his branch. The parallel member denotes substantially the same thing, "the fruit of the earth"-the shoot which the earth produces-or which springs up from a decayed family, as the sprout does from a fallen tree. (3.) It is as true that his human nature proceeded from God as his divine. It was produced by the Holy he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called choly, even every c ch. 60. 21. Ghost, and can no more be regarded as "the fruit of the earth," than his divine nature. Luke i. 35. Heb. x. 5. (4.) This mode of interpretation is fitted to bring the whole subject into contempt. There are plain and positive passages enough to prove that the Messiah had a divine nature, and there are enough also to prove that he was a man-but nothing is more adapted to produce disgust in relation to the whole subject in the minds of skeptical or of thinking men, than a resort to arguments such as this in defence of a great and glorious doctrine of revelation. ¶ Shall be excellent. Shall be for exaltation, or honour. ¶ Comely. Heb. For an ornament-meaning that he would be an honour to those times. For them that are escaped of Israel. Margin, "The escaping of Israel." For the remnant, the small number that shall escape the calamities-a description of the pious portion of Israel which now, escaped from all calamities, would rejoice in the anticipated blessings of the Messiah's reign, or would participate in the blessings of that reign. The idea is not, however, that the number who would be saved would be small, but that they would be characterized as those who had escaped, or who had been rescued. 3. He that is left in Zion. This properly refers to the remnant that should remain after the mass of the people should be cut off by wars, or be borne into captivity. If it refer to the few that would come back from Babylon, it means that they would be reformed, and would be a generation different from their fathers-which was undoubtedly true.-If it refer, as the connection seems to indicate, to the times of the Messiah, then it speaks of those who are "left," while the great mass of the nation would be unbelievers, and would be destroyed. The mass of the nation would be cut off, and the remnant that was left would be holy-that is, all true friends of the one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 4 When the LORD shall have washed away the filth of the 6 or, to life, Rsv. 21. 27. d Zech. 13. 1. Messiah would be holy. T Shall be called holy. That is, shall be holy. The expression "to be called," is often used in the Scriptures as synonymous with "to be." Every one that is written among the living. The Jews were accustomed to register the names of all the people. Those names were written in a catalogue, or register of each tribe and family. To be written in that book or register, meant to be alive, for when a death occurred the name was stricken out. Ex. xxxii. 32. Dan. xii. 1. Ezek. xiii. 9.-The expression came also to denote all who were truly the friends of God; they whose names are written in his book, the book of life. In this sense it is used in the New Testament. Phil. iv. 3. Rev. iii. 5, xvii. 5. In this sense it is understood in this place by the Chaldee Par.: " Every one shall be called holy who is written to eternal life; he shall see the consolation of Jerusalem."-If the reference here is to the Messiah, then the passage denotes that under the reign of the Messiah all who should be found enrolled as his followers, would be holy. An effectual separation would subsist between them and the mass of the people. They would be enrolled as his friends, and they would be a separate, holy community. Comp. 1 Pet. ii. 9. 4. When the Lord. That is, after God has done this, then all that are written among the living shall be called holy. The prophet in this verse states the benefits of affliction in purifying the people of God. He had said in the previous verse that all who should be left in Zion should be called holy. He here states that previous to that, the defilement of the people would be removed by judgment. Shall have washed away. The expression, to wash, is often used to denote to purify in any way. In allusion to this fact is the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. beautiful promise in Zech. xiii. 1. See Note ch. i. 16. ¶ The filth. This word here refers to their moral defilementtheir pride, vanity, haughtiness; and perhaps to the idolatry and general sins of the people.-As the prophet, however, in ch. iii. 16-23, had particularly specified the sins of the female part of the Jewish people, the expression here probably refers especially to them, and to the judgments which were to come upon them. Ch. iii. 24-It is not departing from the spirit of this passage to remark, that the church is purified, and true religion is often promoted, by God's humbling the pride and vanity of females. A love of excessive ornament; a fondness for dress and display; and an exhibition of great gayety, often stand grievously in the way of pure religion. The daughters of Zion. See ch. iii. 16. And shall have purges. This is synonymous with the expression to wash. It means to purify, to remove-as one removes blood from the hands by washing. ¶ Blood of Jerusalem. Crime, blood-guiltiness-particularly the crime of oppression, cruelty and robbery, which the prophet (ch. i. 15) had charged on them. By the spirit of judgment. This refers, doubtless, to the calamities, or punishment, that would come upon the nationprincipally to the Babylonish captivity. After God should have humbled and reformed the nation by a series of judgments, then they who were purified by them should be called holy. The word spirit here cannot be shown to be the Holy Spirit-and especially as the Holy Spirit is not represented in the Scriptures as the agent in executing judgment. It perhaps would be best denoted by the word influence, or power. The word properly denotes wind, air, motion (Gen. viii. 1. Job i. 19); then breathing, exhalation, or breath (Job vii. 7. Ps. xxxiii. 6); hence it means the soul, and it means also God's influence, or his putting forth his power and lifegiving energy in animating and sustaining the universe; and also, as here, his putting forth any influence in accomplishing his works and designs. And by the spirit of burning. Fire 's often, in the Scriptures, the emblem of punishment, and also of purifying. Comp Note Matt. iii. 11, 12. See Mal. iii. 2, 3. The Chaldee translates this, by the word of judgment, and by the word of consuming." The reference is to the punishments which would be sent to purify the people before the coming of the Messiah. 5. And the LORD will create. The meaning of this verse and the next is, that God would take his people into his holy care and protection. The idea is expressed by images drawn, in this verse, from the protection which he afforded to the Israelites in their journeying from Egypt.-The word create means here he will afford, or furnish, such a defence. ¶ Upon every dwellingplace, &c. Upon all the habitations of his people; that is, they shall be secure, and regarded as under his protection. The word upon refers to the fact that the pillar of cloud stood over the tabernacle in the wilderness, as a symbol of the divine favour and presence. So his protection should be on or over the houses of all his people. Comp. Ps. xcii. 4, 5, 6. Of Mount Zion. Comp. Note ch. i. 8. And upon her assemblies. Their convocations; their sacred assemblies, such as were called together on the Sabbath. Lev. xxiii. 2. Num. xxviii. 18. It refers here to their future assemblies, and therefore includes the Christian church assembled to worship God. A cloud and smoke by day. This refers to the pillar of cloud that went before the Israelites in their journey in the wilderness. Ex. xiii. 21, xiv. 20. By day. By day this appeared to them as a cloud, by night as a pillar of fire. Ex. xiii. 21, 22. That is, it was always conspicuous, and could be seen by all the people. A pillar of cloud could not have been seen by night; and God changes, the symbols of his presence and protection, so that at all times his people may see them. The meaning here is, that as God gave to the Israelites a symbol of his presence and protection, so he would be the protector and defender of his people hereafter. For upon all the glory. Above all the glorious object; that is, his church, his people. It is here called "the glory," as being a glorious, or an honourable object. A defence. This word properly means a covering, a protection, from the verb to cover, and means that God will protect, or defend his people. 6. And there shall be a tabernacle. The reference here is to the tabernacle, or sacred tent that God directed Moses to make in the wilderness. The image of the cloudy pillar mentioned in the previous verses, seems to have suggested to the mind of the prophet the idea of the tabernacle over which that pillar rested. The principal idea here is, however, not a tabernacle as a symbol of the divine protection, or of divine worship, but of a place of refuge from a tempest; that is, that they should be safe under his protection. In Eastern countries they dwelt chiefly in tents. The idea is, therefore, that God would furnish them a place of shelter, a hiding place from the storm. ¶ In the daytime from the heat. The heat in those regions was often very intense, particularly in the vast plains of sand. The idea here is, therefore, one that is very |