In the common Hebrew idiom, a Son of Sorrow means a sorrowful man; a Son of Violence, a violent man; a Son of Valour, a valiant man, and so forth. Son of Man, by this analogy, might denote, as it sometimes does, a Child of Mortality, a participant in human frailty; but it may equally well denote one who is full of human sympathies. And this latter seems its evident meaning when applied to a prophet. He is a Son of Humanity, a man devoted to all human interests, desiring and labouring for the best good of his fellow-men, mourning their sins and relieving their sorrows, rejoicing in their virtue and happiness. Such Sons of Man were the Hebrew prophets. Such a Son of Man, above all others, was Jesus Christ.

THE LATER ISAIAH [?].

(Is. xl. lxvi.)

THE captivity of seventy years draws towards its end, and the predicted return is at hand. The heart of Jewish prophecy swells with glad emotion.

The Isaiah of the second part of the book under that name (chapters xl. to the end) is the herald, rather than the predicter, of the return, encouraging the people to go forth at the permission of "Cyrus, the Lord's Anointed (or Messiah), whom He holdeth by the right hand," "His shepherd who shall perform all His pleasure; who saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid" (xliv. 28, xlv. 1).

The reasons have been already given for ascribing this latter part of the book of Isaiah (and a few of the previous chapters) to a much later author than the contemporary of king Hezekiah. (See p. 441.) The glowing pages now opening before us are the record of the very feelings

with which ardent and religious Jews set forth from the land of Babylon, in the expectation of the "new heavens and new earth" of their Messiah's approaching reign in their own sacred land. These feelings were doomed, indeed, to immediate disappointment in the apathy of the bulk of their countrymen, who were content to linger in the land of their long captivity, and to continual trial in the further progress of the history. Nor was the fair vision of prophecy realized to their own expectations. But here is the record of the hope of Israel when leaving his second house of bondage. Read continuously from beginning to end, this younger Isaiah is all exultation and hope, gratitude and trust. Past transgressions are only named as forgiven. The sufferings of the nation are changed henceforth for happiness. The New Jerusalem is to be built; the better Judaism to shine forth to the world; Israel is to dwell in holiness and peace. "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people," is the key-note to the whole of this prophet's strain.

“A voice crieth: In the wilderness prepare ye the way of

the Lord,

Make straight in the desert a highway for our God!

Get thee up into the high mountains,

O thou that bringest glad tidings to Zion!

Lift up thy voice with strength,

*

O thou that bringest glad tidings to Jerusalem!

Lift it up; be not afraid;

Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!"

And then comes one of the most magnificent descriptions of the sovereign might of Jehovah, in comparison with the idols of the heathen, that are contained in all the majestic writings of the Hebrew poets:

"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,"

&c.;

running on to the end of chap. xli. The faithfulness of this Most High God is plighted thus to Israel (xli. 8— 10):

the

"But thou, Israel, my servant,

Thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen,

Son of Abraham my friend,

Thou whom I have led from the ends of the earth,

And called from the extremities thereof,

And said unto thee, Thou art my servant,

I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away;'
Fear thou not, for I am with thee;

Be not dismayed, for I, thy God, will strengthen thee;
Yea, I will help and sustain thee with my right hand of
salvation."

Chap. xlii. points again to this as the great theme of poem:

"Behold my servant whom I uphold,

Mine elect in whom my soul delighteth;

I have put my spirit upon him;

He shall bring forth judgment (give laws) to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry aloud, nor raise a clamour,

Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall he not break,

And the smouldering flax shall he not quench;

He shall bring forth judgment according to truth.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged

Till he have established judgment in the earth,
And the distant nations shall wait for his law."

This "servant of God," then, is the Jewish people, impressed with their great but vague destiny to give a law to the nations far and near. Trouble they have indeed known: "Who is blind, if not my servant, or who so deaf as my messenger?" But let them not fear: the Lord who created hath redeemed them:

"I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee,

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee;
When thou walkest through fire, thou shalt not be burnt,
Neither shall the flame consume thee." (xliii. 1, 2.)

The north and the south shall give back the scattered people. The LORD will do a new thing, making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert; and the people which He hath formed for himself shall shew forth His praise (19-21).

The folly of idolatry is again exposed (xliv. xlv.) in the tone of indignant irony to which it continually tempts a Hebrew prophet's tongue. Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, reiterates his sovereign purpose; He takes His "anointed" Cyrus by the hand to do His will, and an everlasting* salvation is promised to Israel.

The Babylonian idols fall (xlvi.); the proud Babylonian empire is doomed (xlvii.); and Israel, in spite of his unworthiness, is to be redeemed from captivity.

Perhaps chap. xlix. contains as clear a picture as can any where be found, of the bright "Messianic" kingdom believed by the Jews of the restoration to be about to rise upon the world. Israel, personified as the "servant of God," is recording the past dispensations of God towards him:

"Listen to me, ye distant lands,

And hearken, ye people from far.
The Lord called me at my birth,

From the womb of my mother he called me by name.

* Chap. xlv. 17. The scriptural import of everlasting may be learnt by its application to the restored fortunes of the Jews. It means duration to which no limit is distinctly contemplated, but does not always denote duration to which limit is absolutely denied.

It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant,
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,

And to restore the preserved of Israel;

I will also give thee for a light to the nations,

That my salvation may reach unto the end of the earth. Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One,

To him that is despised by men, abhorred by the people, To the servant of tyrants:

Kings shall see and stand up,

Princes, and they shall pay homage,

Because of the LORD that is faithful,

The Holy One of Israel who hath chosen thee.

Thus saith the LORD:

In an acceptable time have I heard thee,

And in a day of salvation have I helped thee;

I will preserve thee and make thee a mediator for the

people,

To restore the land, to distribute the desolated inheritances,

To say to the prisoners, Go forth;

To them that are in darkness, Come to the light!

They shall feed in the ways,

And their pastures shall be in all high places.
They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst;
Neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them.

Sing, O heavens! and be joyful, O earth!
Break forth into singing, O mountains!
For the LORD hath comforted his people,

And hath mercy on his afflicted ones.

Thou, that hast been childless, shalt yet hear thy sons

exclaim,

The place is too narrow for me; make room for me that I may dwell.

Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles,