:

Here let it suffice to say, that if there are two Messiahs, they must either be contemporary, or one must come after the other. But they cannot exist together, for Ezekiel promises, that when God saves his people, they shall have only one Shepherd, and that he shall be Messiah, the son of David. "Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I'will set up one shepherd,, over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David” (Ezek. xxxiv. 22, 23; compare also xxxvii. 21–24). Neither can they be in succession, for Hosea says expressly, that until they seek Messiah, the son of David, they shall have neither king nor prince. "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king Afterwards

– אֵין מֶלֶךְ וְאֵין שָׂר ,and without a prince

shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king: and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the last days" (Hosea iii. 4, 5). In neither case, therefore, can there be two Messiahs: and therefore this passage of Zechariah cannot refer to Messiah, the son of Joseph.

It now remains only to consider the Christian interpretation, which is, that Messiah, the son of David, is the person pierced, and that the Israelites shall mourn because of the national and personal guilt incurred by piercing and rejecting him. That this is the true and obvious interpretation, appears,

First, from the Jewish tradition that the place refers to Messiah, the son of Joseph. It cannot be said that the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth found a passage that seemed to suit their purpose, and wrested it from the received exposition of the nation. On the contrary, their learned men were of opinion that this passage referred to a Messiah and even after the New Testament had applied it to Jesus of Nazareth, and there was, therefore, a motive for rejecting their opinion, this exposition has still main

tained its ground. Abarbanel, whose commentaries are avowedly controversial against Christianity, is still compelled by the context to apply the whole passage to the times of the Messiah, and to acknowledge that the person pierced is a Messiah. This fact shows, either that this exposition had taken such hold of the Jewish mind, as to make it impossible to get rid of it-or, that the sense of the passage is so obvious as to overcome even prejudice and inclination.

And, Secondly, this argument is much strengthened by the determination which Rashi displays to get rid of this explanation. In his commentary on the Bible, he denies that it applies to Messiah, the son of Joseph: but in his commentary on the Talmud, he asserts the correctness of the application. In the former he says, "They shall look back to mourn, because the Gentiles had pierced some amongst them, and killed some of them."* But in the latter he says, "The words, "The land shall mourn,' are found in the prophecy of Zechariah, and he prophesies of the future, that they shall mourn on account of Messiah, the son of Joseph, who shall be slain in the war of Gog and Magog "+ (Succah. fol. 52, col. 1). That this manifest contradiction is not accidental, but intentional, appears from the fact, that this writer has dealt similarly by other controverted passages; for instance, Isaiah liii., which, in his commentary on the Bible, he expounds of the Jewish people, but which, in his commentary on the Talmud, he explains of Messiah. Indeed his determination to get rid of any explanation that could favour Christianity, is plainly avowed in his commentary on the xxist Psalm, where he says, "Our rabbies have expounded it of the King Messiah, but it is better to expound it

* והביטו להתאונן על אשר דקרו בהם האומו' והרגו מהם בגלותם: + וספדה הארץ בנבואת זכריה ומתנבא לעתיד שיספדו על משיח בן יוסף שנהרג במלחמת

גוג ומגוג *

Sanhedrin, fol. 93, col. 1.

M

further of David himself, in order to answer heretics' (see also Ps. ii., which he treats in the same way). Now, when an adversary is driven to deny in controversy what he elsewhere acknowledges to be true, he tacitly acknowledges the power of the argument which he thus tries to evade. Rashi's want of ingenuousness in the present instance is no small confirmation of the correctness and obviousness of the Christian exposition.

Thirdly, the Christian interpretation agrees with the context. The Jewish commentators all acknowledge, that the whole chapter refers to the times of the Messiah.

Fourthly, it connects naturally with the preceding and following words: "I will pour out upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son," &c. The looking and the mourning are represented as the consequences of the outpouring of the Spirit, but elsewhere true repentance is represented as the fruits of this spiritual influence, as in ⚫ Ezek. xxxvi. 25-31, where, after the promise of the Spirit, the prophet adds, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations:" which would lead us to infer, that the great mourning over him that was pierced is the sorrow of repentance; and which is rendered still more probable by the further effect described in the xiiith chapter, namely, the cessation of idols and of false prophets. Now, on the Christian hypothesis, this is perfectly intelligible and consistent. The Jews rejected and pierced the Messiah, and therefore, when the Spirit is poured out, they will repent and mourn in bitterness of soul over him whom they pierced. Here is a cause adequate to the profundity of the grief, and a result exactly corresponding with the gift of the Spirit.

Every word in the passage has its full force, and the connexion is easy and natural. Indeed so natural is this sense, that it has been seen by one of the most celebrated rabbies. Alshech, in his Commentary on Zechariah, has the following remarkable passage:-"I will do yet a third thing, and that is, that they shall look unto me,' for they shall lift up their eyes unto me in perfect repentance, when they see him whom they pierced, that is Messiah, the son of Joseph; for our rabbies, of blessed memory, have said, that he will take upon himself all the guilt of Israel, and shall then be slain in the war to make an atonement, in such a manner, that it shall be accounted as if Israel had pierced him, for on account of their sin he has died; and therefore, in order that it may be reckoned to them as a perfect atonement, they will repent, and look to the blessed One, saying that there is none beside Him to forgive those that mourn on account of him who died for their sin: this is the meaning of "They shall look upon me."* Excepting the mention of Messiah ben Joseph, the rabbi has exactly given the Christian sense.

There is but one objection that can be made to the Christian interpretation, and that is, that the Christian version makes God himself the victim whom they pierced, but that shall be considered in the observations on the next chapter.

י ועוד שלישי' אעשה והיא כי הביטו אלי שיתלו עיניהם אלי בתשובה שלימה כראותם אשר

דקרו הוא משיח בן יוסף שאז"ל שיקבל על עצמו כל אשמו' יש' ויהרג אז במלחמ' לכפר בעד באופן שיחשב כאלו יש' דקרו אותו כי בחטאתם מת ועל כן למען יחשב להם לכפרה שלימה יעשו תשובה והביטו אליו ית' באמור כי אין זולתו למחול למתאבלים על אשר מת בעונם וזהו

והביטו אלי את וכו'

164

CHAPTER XIII.

1. "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David."-It is possible that this is to be interpreted according to its literal sense, and so our rabbies, of blessed memory, have connected it with the verse, έσ Living waters shall go forth from Jerusalem." (ch. xiv.) They have said it may be interpreted that other springs shall be mixed with them. But the words, "there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David," show that it is only one fountain for sin and for uncleanness. They have further said, that when the waters reach the door of the house of David, they become a great river, for it is said, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David." And so far as the verse is interpreted literally, then the meaning of the words, "for sin and for uncleanness" will be, that before that day no waters went forth in Jerusalem in the midst of the city, but then living waters shall go forth in the city, and they shall not be obliged to go forth outside the city for the waters of purification, for which living water is required, as it is written; and thus also for her that labours under uncleanness for whom living water is necessary. 2. "And it shall come to pass I will cut off the names of the idols," either of those that were there formerly before their captivity, or the idols which the uncircumcised worship there at this day.

"And the prophets also."-The false prophets who were there during the first temple.

"And the unclean spirit."-The evil affection. "3. "And it shall come to pass, when any shall yet prophesy."-I will cause the prophets to pass out, but if