McCaul further observes, that the word Jehovah must sometimes be taken as the genitive case, and cites Mal. ii. 7: "The priests' lips should keep knowledge, and _they_ should seek the law at his mouth, [referring to Jehovah Zebaoth, vs. 2 and 4,] for he is _Melach_ Jehovah Zebaoth," rendered, "the messenger _of_ the Lord of hosts." But he gives no reason why Melach Jehovah in this passage should not be rendered, _the_ Messenger Jehovah, as well as in any other passage. Again, he observes, that to translate the formula, Melach Jehovah, the angel Jehovah, is plainly against the Masoretic punctuation. But that is not conclusive; for the points formed no part of the original text, and no one pretends that they were inspired. The authors of that system of punctuation were governed, in their application of the points, by their theological, as well as by their grammatical theory; and however grammatically correct they may have been in their appropriation of them in all ordinary cases, in those passages of which they held an erroneous theological or exegetical theory, they of course arranged the points conformably, so as to make the text express their preconceived opinions. In relation to the present instance, for example, Kimchi, as McCaul observes, "considered the Person designated the 'angel of the Lord,' as nothing more than one of the many angels to whom he supposes the governance of this lower world is committed." Observations, page 9. Doubtless the authors of the points held the same opinion. McCaul observes, in his introduction, that Kimchi and other Rabbies of his day "endeavored to get rid of the Christian interpretations, and to root out the Christian doctrines which had descended from the ancient Jewish Church." CHAPTER IV. Visible Appearance of the Messenger Jehovah to Hagar.