chosen" show that the designation, "servant of God" in these verses has no reference to a duty imposed, but to a privilege, a relation which is the pledge of divine aid to Israel. Jeshurun stands as a kind of _nomen proprium_, and is not parallel to עבדי, but to Jacob. In chap. xliv. 21: "Remember this, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant, I have formed thee for a servant to me, Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me," the אלה "this" refers to the folly of idolatry exhibited in the preceding verses. The duty that Israel should remember this, is founded upon the fact, that he is the servant of the Lord, called by Him to a glorious dignity, to high prerogatives, of which he must not rob himself by apostatizing from Him. It is He who has bestowed upon him this dignity, and He will soon show by deeds, that He cannot forget him, if only his heart does not forget his God. In a similar manner, in chap. xlv. 4, the protecting providence and love of God are looked to. The aspect of the duty and of the service which Israel has to perform to his Lord, is specially pointed out in a single passage only, in chap. xlii. 19; all the other passages place the dignity in the foreground. That, in the designation. Servant of God, in the passage before us, prominence is also given to the dignity, is confirmed by the addition of "whom I uphold," which presents itself as an immediate consequence of the relation of a servant of God, and by the parallel: "mine elect in whom my soul delighteth."--תמך "to take," "to seize," "to hold," when followed by ב, always signifies _to lay hold of_, _to hold fast_, _to support_. With the words: "Behold my servant whom I uphold," corresponds what the Lord says in John viii. 29: ὁ πέμψας με μετ' ἐμοῦ ἐστιν• οὐκ ἀφῆκέ με μόνον ὁ Πατὴρ, ὅτι ἐγὼ τὰ ἀρεστὰ αὐτῷ ποιῶ πάντοτε; comp. John iii. 2; Acts x. 38. The Preterite נתתי is employed, because the communication of the Spirit is the condition of his bringing forth right, just as, in ver. 6, the _calling_ is the ground of the preservation. In the whole of the description of the Servant of God, the Future prevails throughout; the _Praeteritum propheticum_ is employed only, where something is to be designated, which, relatively, is antecedent; compare the words: "And the Spirit of the Lord rests upon [Pg 211] Him," in chap. xi. 2; lxi. 1; Matt. iii. 16; John iii. 34. The three passages in Isaiah which speak of the communication of the Spirit to Christ are inseparably connected with one another, and, on the whole Old Testament territory, there is no passage exactly parallel to them. The Hiphel of יצא must not be explained by "to announce," as some interpreters do; for in this signification it nowhere occurs; and according to what follows, and the parallel passages, the Servant of God does not by any means establish right by the mere announcement, but by His holy disposition. But as little can we explain הוציא by "to lead out," in contrast to the