16. 1 Kings iv. 33, instead of these words concerning Solomon, * He spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall,” the Targum reads, 5y ‘29ny) smwt onset xodyay pon xodya vowed ponyt ot na s2bo,—“ And he prophesied of the kings of the house of David in this world” (the duration of time and state of things under the old testament), “ and of the Messiah in the world to come;” so they call the days of the Messiah. I know of none who have considered what occasion the Targumists could take from the words of the text to mention this matter in this place. I will not say that he doth not intend the Book of Canticles, wherein, under an allegory of trees, herbs, and spices, Solomon prophesieth of and sets forth the grace and love of Christ towards his church; and-wherein many things .are by the latter Targumist applied unto the Messiah also, as we shall see.
17. There is mention likewise made of the Messiah in the Tar- gum by an addition unto the text, Ruth iii. 15, “ It was said in the
196 PROMISES OF THE - [EXERC. Ix.
prophecy that six righteous persons should come of Ruth, David, and Daniel with his companions, and the King Messiah.”* The general end of the writing of this Book of Ruth, was to declare the provi- dence of God about the genealogy of the Messiah; and this seems to have been kept in tradition amongst them. And for this cause doth Matthew expressly mention her name in his rehearsal of the genealogy of Christ, Matt. i. 5; for it being a tradition amongst the Jews that this was the end of the writing of her story,—whereon they add that consideration unto the text in their Targum,—it was re- membered by the evangelist in.a compliance therewithal.
18. The place of Job wherein he expresseth his faith in him, and expectation of redemption by him, hath been already explicated and vindicated, so that we shall not need here to insist upon it again. The Psalms next occur. In David the light and faith of the church began to be greatly enlarged. The renovation of the promise unto him, the confirmation of it by an oath, the confinement of the pro- mised Seed unto his posterity, the establishment of his throne and kingdom as a type of the dominion and rule of the Messiah, with the especial revelations made unto him, as one that signally longed for his coming and rejoiced in the prospect which he had of it in the Spirit of prophecy, did greatly further the faith and knowledge of the whole church. Henceforward, therefore, the mention of him is multiplied, so that it would be impossible to insist on all the par- ticular instances of it; I shall therefore only call over some of the most eminent, with an especial respect unto the concurrence of the persuasion and expectation of the Jews.
19. Ps. ii. 2, “ The rulers take counsel together, against the Lorp, and against his Anointed,”—“ his Messiah,” as the word should be left uninterpreted. Targum, mnwy Sy,—“ Against his Messiah,” The Talmudists in several places acknowledge this psalm to be a prophecy of the Messiah, and apply sundry passages thereof unto him. And these words, “Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee,” are not amiss expounded by them, in Tract. Succah. cap. v., ‘2 ANNW mab now on,—“ 1 will this day reveal unto men that thou art my son ;” for so are they applied by our apostle dealing with the Jews, Acts xiii. 33, Heb. i. 5, namely, unto his resurrection from the dead, whereby he was “ declared to be the son of God with power,” Rom. i. 4. All the principal expositors amongst them, as Rashi, Kimchi, Aben Ezra, Bartenora, or Rab. Obodiah, acknowledge that their ancient doctors and masters expounded this psalm concern- ing the Messiah. Themselves, some of them, apply it unto David, and say it was composed by some of the singers concerning him when
* This quotation is not very correctly given. As it stands in the Targum it is to the following effect: 17 sab» opis Nmw mr pend prns7 ANID NMS oP Pa Nw NB2I01 aM Sys;—“ And immediately it was said, by prophecy, that here- after there should proceed from her the six righteous ones of the world, Dayid, and Daniel and his companions, and King Messiah.””—Ep.
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he was anointed king, which the Philistines hearing of, prepared to war against him, 2 Sam. v.17. This is the conceit of Rashi, who herein is followed by sundry Christian expositors, with no advantage to the faith; and I presume they observed not the reason he gives for his exposition. “ Our masters,” saith he, “of blessed memory, in- terpret this psalm of the King Messiah, poo p2on nawndy own wpb sy Sy wad,” —“but as thewords sound, and to answer the heretics, it is meet (or right) to expound it of David.” These words, pn nawndy, “and that we may answer the heretics,” or Christians, are left out in the Venice and Basil editions of his comments, but were in the old copies of them. And this is the plain reason why they would apply this psalm to David, of whom not one verse of it can be truly and rightly expounded, as shall be manifested elsewhere. And it is a wise answer which they give in Midrash Tehillim unto that testimony of verse 7, where God calls the Messiah his son, to prove him to be the natural son of God: anv ANN) n'and 72 w pos jaw pnd naw pap FMS 93 NON TNs WN AN 1d 73 5;—* And hence we may have an answer for the heretics, who say that the holy, blessed God hath a son. But do thou answer, He says not, ‘Thou art a son to me,’ but, ‘Thou art my son’”! As though 32 nnx, “Thou art my son,” did not more directly express the filiation of the person spoken of than nn % j2 would do. 22 is more emphatically expressive of the na- tural relation than % }2,—“My son,” than “ A son to me.” See Gen. xxvil. 21. And in this psalm we have a good part of the creed of the ancient church concerning the Messiah, as may be learned from the exposition of it.