loss which He suffered by Israel (comp. ver. 4), it is obvious that we must not explain: "that my salvation be," but: "that thou mayest be my salvation;" for it is only when He is the salvation that such an indemnification is spoken of Moreover, the Infinitive with ל can here not well be understood otherwise than in the preceding clause. The servant of God is the personal salvation of the Lord for the heathen world; comp. chap. xlii. 6, and, in the chapter under consideration, ver. 8, where He is called the _covenant_ of the people, because this covenant finds in Him its truth; compare also the expression: "This man is _peace_," in Mic. v. 4 (5). _Gesenius_ rightly remarks, that [Pg 243] there is here an allusion to the promises given to the Patriarchs, Gen. xii. 3, &c. In Christ, the Shiloh to whom the people adhere, the old promise of the future extension of salvation to all the Gentiles is to be fulfilled. Ver. 7. "_Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to Him that is despised by every one, to the abhorrence of the people, to the servant of rulers: Kings shall see and rise up, princes, and prostrate themselves because of the Lord that is faithful, the Holy One of Israel that hath chosen thee._" Hitherto, the Servant of the Lord has spoken: here, the Prophet speaks of Him. He gives a short and comprehensive summary of the contents of ver. 1-6, the rejection of the Servant of God by the people to whom His mission was, in the first instance, directed, and His appointment to be the Saviour of the Gentiles. The matter is traced back to the Redeemer of Israel and their Holy One, _i.e._, the high and glorious God, because the Servant of God is, in the first instance, sent to Israel as διάκονος περιτομῆς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας θεοῦ εἰς τὸ βεβαιῶσαι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τῶν πατέρων, Rom. xv. 8; but still more, because He himself is the concentration of Israel (ver. 3), the κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας, Col. i. 18,--He in whose glorification the true Israel, as opposed to the darkened refuse, attain to their right. According to the context, the contempt, &c., must proceed chiefly _from the apostate portion of the covenant-people_: The _princes and kings_ must, according to ver. 6 (comp. chap. lii. 15), be conceived of as heathenish ones. The verse under consideration merely exhibits, in short outlines, the contrast already alluded to in the preceding context. It cannot appear at all strange that the Prophet foresees the reproach of Christ, and His sufferings from the ungodly world. In those Psalms which refer to the suffering righteous one, righteousness and the hostility of the wicked world are represented as being inseparably connected with each other. Hence it cannot be conceived of otherwise, but that the Servant of God, who, in His person, represented the _ideal_ of righteousness, should, in a very special manner, have been liable to this hostility. Moreover, it can be proved that, in some Psalms which refer to the suffering