God--such is the sense--takes Him to himself from heavy oppression, and He who apparently was destroyed without leaving a trace, receives an infinitely numerous generation (compare John xii. 32: κᾀγὼ ἑὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν), as a deserved reward for having, by His violent death, atoned for the sins of His people, delivered them from destruction, and acquired them for His property.--עצר "oppression," as Ps. cvii. 39, properly, according to the signification of the verb: "Shutting up," "restraining," "hindering." From what goes before, where the evils from which the Servant of God is here delivered are described more in detail, it appears that here we have not to think of a prison properly so called; for there, it is not a prison, but abuse and oppression which are spoken of.--משפט is commonly referred to the judgment which the enemies of the Servant of God passed upon Him, The premised עצר then furnishes the distinct qualification of the judgment, shows that that which, in a formal point of view, presents itself as a judicial proceeding, is, in point of fact, heavy oppression. But, at the same time, משפט serves as a limitation for עצר. We learn from it that the hatred of the enemies moved within the limits of judicial proceedings,--just as it happened in the history of Christ. But behind the human judgment, the _divine_ is concealed, Jer. i. 16; Ezek. v. 8; Ps. cxliii. 2. This is shown by what precedes, where the suffering of the Servant of God is so emphatically and repeatedly designated as the punishment of sin inflicted upon [Pg 290] Him by God.--לקח with מן "to be taken away from;" according to _Stier_: "taken away from suffering, being delivered from it by God's having taken Him to himself, to the land of eternal bliss." This view, according to which the words refer to the glorification of the Servant of God, has been adopted by the Church. It is adopted by the Vulgate: "_De angustia et judicio sublatus est_;" by _Jerome_, who says on this passage: "From tribulation and judgment He ascended, as a conqueror, to the Father;" and by _Michaelis_ who thus interprets it: "He was taken away, and received at the right hand of the Majesty." By several interpretations, the words are still referred to the state of humiliation of the Servant of God: "_Through_ oppression and judgment He was _dragged to execution_." But the Prophet has already, in ver. 3, finished the description of the mere sufferings of the Servant of God--vers. 4-7 exhibit the cause of His sufferings and His conduct under them; לקח cannot, by itself, signify "to be dragged to execution"--in that case, as in Prov. xxiv. 11, "to death" would have been added; מן must be taken in the signification, "from," "out of," as in the subsequent מארץ, compare 2 Kings iii. 9, where לקח with מן signifies "to take from." In the passage under consideration, as well as in those two passages which refer to the ascension of Elijah, there is a distinct allusion to Gen. v.