But though these copies exhibit the reading not one of them gives 19v, and but very few n5v: which Hengstenberg deems of no consequence, as the omission of the yore' was merely a defective way of writing, which often occurs in words of similar structure. An arg-ument for this interpretation has indeed been derived from Ezek. xxi. 27, where the words, until he shall come, whose is the dominion, utrn vm,,' are regarded as an obvious para phrase of 19L,'0 or ;19t.7. But to this it may be an swered, that while Ezekiel may have had the pre sent passage in his eye, and intended an allusion to the character or prerogatives of the Messiah, yet there is no evidence that this was designed as an interpretation of the name under consideration. The reasons, therefore, appear ample for setting aside, as wholly untenable, the explication of the time here propounded, without adverting to the fact that the ellipsis involved in this construction is so urmatural and violent, that no parallel to it can be found in the whole Scriptures.
Another solution proposed by some expositors is, to derive the word ;797.1 from 5,v, child, and the suffix for 1. This will yield the reading, until his (Judah's) son or descendant, the Messiah, shall come.' Thus the Targ. Jon. : Until the time when the King's Messiah shall come, the little one of his sons.' This view is favoured by Calvin (in loc.) and by Knapp (Dogm. p. 13S), and also by Dathe. But as this resolves ;19V into a syno nym with rr9C,', after-birth (Deut. xxviii. 57), ren dered young one,' it requires us to adopt the un natural supposition, that the term properly denoting the secundines, or the membrane that encloses the fcetus, is taken for the fcetus itself. Besides, this exposition has an air of grossness about it which prompts its involuntary rejection.
The second class consists of those who consider r6,c, as a radical or simple derivative. Of these we may remark, that it is principally among the Jews that the opinion of Aben Ezra finds currency, who makes r&v.) here to be the name of the place (Shiloh) where the tabernacle was first fixed after the conquest of Canaan. The sense of the oracle, according to this construction, will be, that Judah was to be the leader of the tribes during the whole journey to Canaan, until they came to Shiloh. Subsequent to this event, in consequence of the distribution of the tribes according to the boundaries assigned them, it was to lose its pre-eminence. But there is no mention made of Shiloh elsewhere in the Pentateuch, and no probability that any such place existed in the time of Jacob. It is more over scarcely conceivable that such a splendid tmin of prediction should be interrupted by an allusion to such an inconsiderable locality. It is so utterly out of keeping with the general tone of the prophecy, that it is surprising that any mind not infatuated by Rabbinic trivialities should en tertain the theory for a moment. Yet Teller, Mendelsohn, Eichhorn, Ammon, Rosenmiiller (in first edition), Kelle, and others have enrolled them selves in favour of this crude conceit.
But an exposition of far more weight, both from its intrinsic fitness and from the catalogue of dis tinguished names which have espoused it, is that which traces the term to the root n5w, quievit, to rest, to be at :peace, and makes it equivalent to Pa cificator, Tranquilliser, or Great Author of Peace.
This is a sense accordant with the anticipated and realised character of the Messiah, one of whose crowning denominations is Prince of Peace.' Still it is an objection to this sense of the term, that it is not sufficiently sustained by the analogy of forms. The idea conveyed by the proposed in terpretation is that of causing or ejecthis peace ; an idea for which the Hebrew has an appropriate form of expression, and which, in this word, would normally be r6wr, mashliah. The actual forrn, however, is wholly diverse from this, and though several examples are adduced, by the advocates of this interpretation, of analogous derivations from a triliteral root, as 111'7 from 117, 11V] from nierp from Nop, etc., yet it is certain that the original characteristic of this form is a ,fiassive instead of an active sense, which obviously re quires according to the exegesis proposed.
In these circumstances we venture to suggest another orig,in for the term. In_our view the legi timate derivation is from Lit.), to ask, seek, require, so that its true import is the a'esired, the one. The appropriate participial form for this is 51tIV, or its equivalent 5,Nty, in which the passive sense is predominant. In words of this class the weak guttural bt not only remits its vowel to the preceding letter, but falls out in the writing, as 4M for +ND, n5u, for r6NV, MY" for nvti-I, zwri for MiNn, 1-14-V for n+-INv. We obtain by this pro cess for 'Ittr,), or 5ww, the asked, the desired, which leaves the passive import unimpaired. We ' have then to account for the supplementary letters r11, oh (6+V =r115V). It would perhaps be reason able to expect that the form 51Ne! would not be retained in this connection, as it might be con founded with IND), hades, from the same root. In order, therefore, to distinguish it, and at the same time to convey in the word itself an inti mation of the divine character of the personage announced, we may suppose that two ' of the letters of the word MP, Jehovah, are appended ; than which nothing is more common in the con struction of proper names in Hebrew. Thus, in the names of Abraham and Sarah we recognise the insertion of the letter as a fragment of the divine title Mil' ; and it is well known that the terrnina tions el and oh, in nearly all the proper names of Scripture, are derived from the divine designation ' (Simon's, Onomast. sec. x.) As there is nothing, then, on the ground of strict philology which can be objected to this pedigree of the term, and as the idea conveyed by it is wholly in accordance with the character of the predicted Messiah, we do not hesitate to give it the decided preference over any other that has been assigned. An expression in Abarbanel's Commentary on this passage would seem to indicate that he had at least a gleam of this as its true import. In speaking of the re quisite characters of the Messiah, he says ' The eighth condition and attribute to be found in the promised King is, that the nations should require him, 1+5tc , and that his rest should be glorious.' The reader who would pursue the inquiry into this subject may consult with advantage Alting, Schilo, iii. 8; Hengstenberg, Christol. —G. B.