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event predicted, is beyond all doubt one and the same. prophet, therefore, is every where regular and consistent. No where does he servilely copy himself; this (had he done it) might, indeed, have been cited as savouring of imposture. On the contrary, his matter is identical, while his language is such as any powerful original writer would naturally use. Dr. Gesenius's version runs thus: "Dann aber wird der Spross Jehova's herrlich und glänzend seyn." But then will Jehovah's shoot be magnificent and shining. Where it is remarkable, that he uses the word spross, shoot, while in the places adduced he has the verb sprossen, to shoot; which might have suggested to him, that the prophet, though very slightly varying his language, was speaking on precisely the same subject.

In the next place, the word is, former things, &c., is pointed out, as occurring in chap. xliii. 18, &c. I answer: Although it does not occur in the plural number in the first thirtynine chapters of Isaiah, it does nevertheless in the singular, in the very first, e. g. i opin, "And I will restore thy judges as at the first," (chap. i. 26). Again, chap. viii. 23, we have the same word in the singular number

as in the former כָּעֵת *הָרִאשׁוֹן,and in the masculine gender

time (auth. vers. ix. 1, when at the first, which is not sufficiently literal). In the latter part of Isaiah, then, we have a word in the plural number feminine, which occurs in the singular in the first chapter, and in the masculine gender in the eighth; and, because we have this slight variation of the same word, used nevertheless in precisely the same sense, it is argued that a pseudo-Isaiah must have used the plural form, the genuine Isaiah the singular! I may remark: Nothing short of miraculous powers surely would ever have come to such a conclusion as this; but these, according to Dr. Gesenius, no man ever did, nor ever will, possess.

Again,, from former (time), and in?, to after (time), are not found in the former part of Isaiah. I answer: Nor is it necessary they should; unless it can be shewn that authors never do, in the latter part of their writings, use words not to be found in the earlier portions.

* Which also occurs in the latter part of Isaiah, chap. xli. 4, 27. xliv. 6. xlviii. 12. And with the article, xliii. 27. And in the feminine singular, Ixv. 7. And with a particle prefixed, lii. 4. Ix. 9.

But the fact is, these words do occur in the earlier parts of Isaiah, if we except the particles attached to them, which, with the context, will necessarily exercise a great influence on their signification. The same may be said of 'PEN, and is, signifying the extremities of the land or earth, which do not occur in the plural forms in the first nine and thirty chapters of our prophet. They occur, however, in the singular in this former part, which they also do in the latter. If, therefore, this prophet is not constant in using these plural forms, he is in using their singulars; e. g. chap. v. 8, Dipp DEN TY, unto the deficiency, or end of place, i. e. till no place be found. So chap. xli. 29. p op, deficiency, or end of their works: to which many others might be added.

,קְצוֹת הָאָרֶץ,The same may be said of the other phrase

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which, although it does not occur in the plural form in the first thirty-nine chapters, does actually occur in the singular; and this also it does in the last twenty-six; e. g. Is. v. 26., from the extremity of the land, or earth; so ib. xlii. 10. xliii. 6: to which many similar examples may be added. The only exception, therefore, in all these cases is, that we find the plural number used occasionally in the last twenty-six chapters of this prophet, which does not occur in the first thirty-nine; while, nevertheless, these plurals are not peculiar even to the pseudo-Isaiah, but are found in other writers who flourished before his time. Their singulars, however, are used in both cases; which surely ought not to have occurred, according to the views of Dr. Gesenius.

I must now be allowed to pass over several other criticisms advanced, which, as they are obviously weak, need not be formally discussed, and to come to the repetitions which Dr. Gesenius discovers in these last six and twenty chapters, to which he has not been able to find any parallels in the first thirty-nine. These are, an an, behold, behold; “

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comfort ye, comfort ye : to ,נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ ;I, I אֲנִי אֲנִי and אֲנֹכִי

which some others may be added. My first remark is: It will be unreasonable to expect constant repetitions of the same words in any author. In the Bucolics of Virgil,* for example, we have Ah Corydon, Corydon; heu, heu; and

Eclog. ii.

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again, Hyla, Hyla.* In the Æneid we have, jam, jamque manu tenet, &c. No one will, perhaps, here argue, that if Virgil chooses to repeat certain words, he must always repeat the same words, otherwise such repetitions cannot come from him; i. e. if Corydon, Corydon, has once occurred, we must not expect to have from Virgil, Hyla, Hyla; and if we once have from this author heu, heu, we cannot also have from him jam, jamque, &c.. This, I think, is too weak to be allowed to pass for a moment; and all we can expect must be, that if an author repeats words in order to strengthen his composition in one place, he may also repeat others, when his subject shall call for it, in another. No one can reasonably expect more than this. With this principle before us then, let us now proceed to examine the expressions of our genuine and pseudo-Isaiah, as our German friends are pleased to call them. We have seen the repetitions, I, I, &c.; let the reader now turn to the genuine Isaiah, chap. xxiv. 16. and he will there find my leanness mine, my leanness mine! chap. xxvi. 2. Diby bib, thou keepest peacefully, peacefully, &c. (The authorised version is not sufficiently literal here.) Again, xxix. 1. in, woe to Ariel, to Ariel; and again, Xxxviii. 19. 7, the living, the living, he praises thee; see also xxviii. 10, 13. These, I think, are as complete instances of repetition as any to be found in any part of the Hebrew Bible; and, according to my principles, they are perfectly parallel with those adduced by Dr. Gesenius. That they are not the very same expressions, I allow : but then I argue, as already shewn, that it is not necessary they should be; it is sufficient for the purpose of identifying the author, if they are analogous. But I will go further, and will affirm, that the former part of this prophecy abounds in expressions of this sort; e. g. chap. i. 16. DIT IS, wash ye, make ye clean, put away, &c.; here, however, the words are not identical, yet their bearing is one and the same. In like manner, and for the same reason, is heal, and it is filled, used three times consecutively in chap. ii. 7, 8.

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staff and staff (masc. and fem.), the whole stuff of bread, and the whole staff of water; and the latter part of ver. 16,

* Eclog. vi. t neid ii. line 530.

the deceivers have בִּגְדִים בָּנָדוּ וּבֶגֶד בּוֹגְדִים בָּנָדוּ .chap. xxiv

deceived, even deceiving have the deceivers deceived, i. e. used enormous and continued deception.* It will be quite unnecessary, I presume, to add any thing to this list of parallel passages. Nothing, I think, can be more evident than that, in each case, the writer is constant and invariable in his practice not in repeating the very same words, but in making similar repetitions, which, as I have said, is all that can be reasonably expected in any author.

The next instances adduced are those in which we have parenthetical expressions introduced after their commencing with the name either of Jehovah or Israel. One or two of these have been adduced above: we shall now merely confront these with a few taken from the earlier part of this prophet; which is all that can be necessary to prove, that the conclusion arrived at by Dr. Gesenius is groundless and false: e. g. chap. i. 24: "Therefore, saith the Lord (the Lord of Hosts, the mighty One of Israel,) Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries," &c. Again, chap. vii. 20: "In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired (by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria), the head," &c. Here, I observe, Dr. Gesenius himself has marked this passage as parenthetical: thus," Zu selbiger Zeit wird der Herr mit einem Scheermesser, jenseit des Stromes gedungen (mit dem Könige von Assyrien) das Haupt, ... scheeren," &c. "At the same time shall the Lord shave, with a razor, hired beyond the stream (with the king of Assyria), the head," &c. The genuine Isaiah, therefore, is just as parenthetical as the pseudo-Isaiah. One example more of this sort shall suffice: chap. ix. 8, 11: "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. (And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.) Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him," &c. We will now take an example or two, in which Jacob or

* I have here made my own version, because it was my wish to retain, as much as possible, the phraseology of my author. The verb seems to be derived from, a garment or cloak, and hence to signify cloaking a matter, giving it a false appearance, something like the wolves of the New Testament, in sheep's clothing.

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Israel forms the leading word or subject, chap. xxvii. 9: "By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin; (when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalk-stones that are beaten in sunder); the groves and images shall not stand up." Again, chap. xxx. 1-3: "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord (that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; that go down to Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt)! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame," &c.

SECTION V.

ON THE CHALDAISMS SAID TO OCCUR IN THE LAST TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTERS OF ISAIAH.

LET us now come to the Chaldaïsms and Syriasms said to be found in this latter part of Isaiah, which, as Dr. Gesenius is a grammarian of considerable celebrity, call for particular attention; for, if it be true, as Dr. Gesenius thinks he has proved it to be, that we have words, forms of words, and phrases, in this portion of Isaiah, not to be found in any of the earlier parts of the Bible, and which must have been learned in Chaldea, it may become probable, that this part of the prophecy was written at a later date than the preceding part. The first word taken is N, used in an absolute sense, and signifying to preach, or foretell, as in chap. xl. 2. xliv. 7. lviii. 1; Jonah, i. 2; Zech. viii. (vii.) 7. (Einleitung, p. 24. Zweyter Theil.)

I deny, in the first place, that this word means to predict, in any one of the passages cited. In chap. xliv. 7, the only place that can be supposed to have this signification, the terms obiv-oy pwp, "since I appointed the ancient people," supplies a sense of futurity to the context, and not the verb

, which retains its own proper meaning, to proclaim, just as the others, T and do theirs. And I will affirm, that no one passage can be adduced from the Hebrew Bible, in which this verb signifies to foretell, independently of some

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