In this prophecy the remarkable thing is that the sufferings and death of the Servant are construed throughout, not as a martyrdom, but as much more. In his death he lays down his life as a guilt-offering; and all his sufferings, inclusive of his death, are, from Jehovah’s point of view, chastisement laid on him on account of the sins of others, from the Servant’s point of view, a voluntary bearing of their iniquities. His willingness to endure and his meekness under oppression are very vividly put before us; but God’s purpose to crush him is insisted on with equal emphasis. The awful tragedy happens within Israel; but after it is consummated, the Servant, once so despised, neglected and oppressed, startles the nations, and kings in amazement shut their mouths in his presence. The purpose of the dread sacrifice is TO BRING MEN TO RIGHTEOUSNESS; and that end, we are told, will be widely accomplished. Whence did the prophet draw the ideas of his prophecy? If any piece of literature bears signs of inspiration, this does; but the experience which enabled him to become the vehicle of inspiration in this particular case may also be conjectured. The sufferings, which many of the prophets, and especially Jeremiah, had endured at the hands of their fellow-countrymen, had made a profound impression upon the best minds in Israel; and the affliction of the exiles in Babylon was manifestly not merely penal, but also purificatory. Footnote 139: The Bible, complete or in part, is printed and published to-day in 454 languages and dialects. The number of Bibles, New Testaments and portions sold by the various Bible Societies of Europe and America, in lands outside Europe, amounted in 1901 to 3,286,834. (_Centennial Survey of Foreign Missions_ by the Rev. James S. Dennis, D.D.) These figures do not include the Bibles sold by the ordinary publishers of Christian countries, nor the Bibles sold in Europe by Bible Societies. If it were possible to gather all the statistics, we may be certain the figures would amount up to five or six millions. What a book that must be, which circulates in 454 languages, and is sold at the rate of 5,000,000 copies per annum! Footnote 140: _Hosea_, 11, 1. Footnote 141: _Amos_, 3, 2. Footnote 142: 2 _Kings_, 17, 1-23; the figures are from an inscription of Sargon, the victorious Assyrian King: see _Authority and Archæology_, 101. Footnote 143: 2 _Kings_, 19, 35-36; Wellhausen, _Israel and Judah_, Chap. VII; _Authority and Archæology_, 105-108. Footnote 144: _Jeremiah_, 25, 1-14. Footnote 145: 2 _Kings_, 25, 1-22. Footnote 146: _Psalm_ 137. Footnote 147: The details have now been read in Cyrus’s own inscriptions: Hastings, _Dictionary of the Bible_, I, 541. Footnote 148: From Chap. 40 onwards. _See_ Driver, _Introduction_, 217. Footnote 149: _Isaiah_, 40, 1-10; 44, 24-28. Footnote 150: _Authority and Archaeology_, 123-126. Footnote 151: _Ezra_, Chap. 1.