Ver. 2. "_And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and He hath made me a sharpened arrow, in His quiver hath He hid me._" According to the common interpretation, the words: "He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword. He hath made me a sharpened arrow," are to express only such a gift of powerful, impressive speech as is common to all the servants of God, to all the prophets. But the two subjoined clauses are opposed to that interpretation. The second and fourth clauses state the reason of the first and third, and point to the source from which that emanates which is stated in them. There cannot be any doubt but that in the second and fourth clauses, the Servant of God indicates that He stands under the protection of divine omnipotence, so that the expression: "Whom I uphold," in chap. xlii. 1, is parallel. The _shadow_ is the ordinary figure of protection. The figure of the sword is dropped in the second clause, and hence the objection, that a drawn sword does not require any protection, is out of place. This will [Pg 234] appear from a comparison of chap. li. 16: "And I put my words in thy mouth, and I cover thee with the shadow of mine hand," where the sword is not mentioned at all, and the shadow belongs simply to the person. The quiver which keeps the arrow is likewise a natural image of divine protection. The two accessory clauses do not suit, if the first and third clauses are referred to the _rhetorical endowment_ of the Servant of God; _that does not flow from the source of the protecting omnipotence of God_. These accessory clauses rather suggest the idea that, by the comparison of the _mouth_ with the sharp sword, of the _whole person_ with the sharpened arrow, there is indicated _the absolutely conquering power which, under the protection of omnipotence, adheres to the word and person of the Servant of God_, so that He will easily put down everything which opposes,--equivalent to: _He has endowed me with His omnipotence, so that my word produces destructive effects, and puts down all opposition, just as does His word_; so that there would be a parallel in chap. xi. 4, where the word of the Servant of God likewise appears as being borne by omnipotence: "He smiteth the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slayeth the wicked." To the same result we are led also by a comparison of chap. li. 16, where the word of the Lord, which is put into the mouth of the Servant of God, is so living and powerful, so borne by omnipotence, that thereby the heavens are planted, and the foundations of the earth are laid. But of special importance are those passages of Revelation which refer to the verse under consideration. In chap. i. 16, the sharp two-edged sword does not by any means represent the power of the discourse piercing the heart for salvation; but rather the destructive power of the word which is borne by omnipotence. It designates the almighty