5), and for whom He intercedes before God, ver. 12. Even in the Old Testament, the word "children" is frequently used in a spiritual [Pg 303] sense. In Gen. vi. 2, believers appear as the children of God. The Israelites are not unfrequently designated as sons of Jehovah. Those prophets who were endowed with specially rich gifts, were surrounded by a crowd of _sons_ of the prophets. The wise man, too, looks upon his disciples as his spiritual sons, Prov. iv. 20, xix. 27; Eccles. xii. 12. In the New Testament, the Lord addresses the man sick of the palsy by τέκνον. Matt. ix. 2; and with special emphasis. His apostles as _little children_, τεκνία ἔτι μικρὸν μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι, John xiii. 33; and the Apostles, too, consider those who have been awakened by their ministry as their spiritual children, 1 Cor. iv. 17; 1 Tim. i. 2; 1 Pet. v. 13. _The thought is this--that in the sacrificial death of the Servant of God there will be an animating power; that, just thereby, He will found His Church._ The words: "He shall prolong His days," allude, as it appears, to the promise which was given to David and his seed, comp. Ps. xxi 5: "He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it to him, even length of days for ever and ever;" 1 Sam. vii. 13: "I will establish the throne of His kingdom for ever," comp. ver. 16; Ps. lxxxix. 5, cxxxii. 12,--a promise which found its final fulfilment in Christ. But the long life here must not be viewed as _isolated_, but must be understood in close connection both with what precedes and what follows. It is the life of the Servant of God in communion with His seed, in carrying out the will of God. חפץ never means "business," but always "pleasure;" and this signification, which occurs in chap. xliv. 28 also, is here the less to be given up, that the חפץ here, at the close, evidently refers to the חפץ at the beginning. By this reference, the reason is stated why it was the _pleasure_ of the Lord to crush Him. According to vers. 11 and 12, it is the pleasure of God that sinners should be justified through Him, on the foundation of His vicarious suffering; according to chap. xlii. and xlix., that Israel should be redeemed, and the Gentiles saved. While the pleasure of the Lord is prospering through His hand, he, at the same time, sees seed. In vers. 11 and 12, we have the closing words of the Lord. Ver. 11. "_On account of the sufferings of His soul He seeth, He is satisfied; by His knowledge He, the Righteous One, my Servant, shall justify the many, and He shall bear their iniquities._" [Pg 304]