20, Ps. xviii. 32. Targum, cineisd Saynt xapaiey xp2 Sy ov]; — “ Because of the miracles and redemption which thou shalt work for thy Messiah.” I mention this place only that it may appear that the Jews had a tradition amongst them that David in this psalm bare the person of the Messiah, and was considered as his type. And hence our apostle applies these words, verse 3, ATOMS, “T will put my trust in him,” unto the Lord Jesus Christ, Heb. ii. 13. See also Ps. xx. 7,
21. Ps. xxi. 1, “The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lorp.” Targum, xnmwn yop,—“ The King Messiah shall rejoice.” Verse 7, “ Vor the king trusteth in the Lorp.” Targum, “Messiah the King.” And in Midrash Tehillim these words of verse 8, “Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head,” are also applied unto him. | There is no mention of him in the Targum on Psalm xxii, nor in the Midrash; but we shall afterwards prove at large that whole psalm to belong unto him, and to have been so acknowledged by some of their ancient masters, against the oppositions and cavils of their later seducers.
22. Ps, xlv. The Targum hath given an especial title unto this psalm: mH PAD Yan by snaws;—“ A psalm of praise for the elders” (assessors) “of the sanhedrim of Moses;” intimating. that something eminent is contained in it. And these words, verse 2,
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“Thou art fairer than the children of men,” are rendered in it, NWI IID AMY NMwD abo TMEW,—“ Thy beauty, O King Messiah, is more excellent than that of the sons of men.” And “grace,” in the next words, is interpreted by nN123 Mm, “ the Spirit of prophecy,” not amiss, And these words, verse 6, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,” are retained with little alteration: sipby Dyp ™ Jp p73 pody,—“ The seat of thy glory, O God, remaineth for ever and ever,” applying it unto the Messiah; which illustrious testimony given unto his deity shall be vindicated in our exposition of the words, as cited by our apostle, Heb. i.8. Kimchi expounds this psalm of the Mes- siah. Aben Ezra says, “It is spoken of David, j2¥ 13 nw» by as odd ond sw “tay Nt yow,”—* or concerning Messiah his son, who is likewise called David; as, ‘My servant David shall be their prince for ever,” Ezek. xxxvii. 25.
23. Ps. Ixviii. and lxix. are illustrious prophecies of the Messiah, though the Jews take little notice of them; and that because they treat of two things which they will not acknowledge concerning him. The former expresseth him to be God, verses 17, 18; and the other his sufferings from God and men, verse 26; both which they deny and oppose. But in Shemoth Rabba, sect. 35, they say of the Own, Ps, Ixviii. 82, “The princes that shall come out of Egypt,” myn 3605 pot sand pony niown 55,—“ All nations shall bring gifts to the King Messiah,” referring the psalm to his daysand work. The same exposition is given of the place in Midrash, Esther 1, 1, and by R. Obodiah Haggaon on the place.
24, Ps. Ixxii. 1, “Give the king thy judgments, O God.” Tar- gum, 3n xnmwn sxabnd 424 nabn,—“ Give the sentence of thy judg- ment unto the King Messiah.” And herein they generally agree. Midrash on the title: w yun DIN NYY TDNAwY Mwon ID nt;—“< This is the King Messiah; as it is said, ‘A rod shall come forth from the stem of Jesse,” Isa. xi 1. And Aben Ezra on the same title: men by ix moby Sy psnwen Ins x TT nNa32;—~< A prophecy of David, or of one of the singers, concerning Solomon, or concerning the Messiah.” And Kimchi acknowledgeth that this psalm is ex- pounded by many of them concerning the Messiah. Rashi applies it unto Solomon, as a prayer of David for him, whereof he gives this as the occasion: pand 25 pan nx Ssxwd any sony spn na mpyy wawn ninwd;—*He prayed this prayer for his son Solomon, be- cause he saw by the Holy Ghost that he would ask of God a heart to understand and keep” (or “do”) “judgment.” And although he endeavours vainly to apply verse 5 unto his days, “They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure;” and verse 7, “ In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace, 17? amy —“till there be no moon;” yet when he cometh unto these words, verse 16, /82 72NDA WN, “There shall be an handful of corn, in the earth,” he adds, “Our masters interpret this of the cates, or
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dainties, in the days of the Messiah, and expound the whole psalm concerning Messiah the King.’ And this he was enforced unto, lest he should appear too openly to contradict the Talmudists, who fre- quently apply this psalm unto him, and have long discourses about some passages in it, especially this, 12°NDD, verse 16, and wow 2B; imY M3, verse 17, which are much insisted on by Martinus Raymun- dus, Petrus Galatinus, and others.
The Vulgar Latin, for 13°05, reads, “ Erit firmamentum in terra;” which I should suppose to be corrupted from “ frumentum,” but that the LXX., who are followed also by other translations, as the Arabic and Ethiopic, read orjpryya, “firmamentum.” And this some think to be corrupted from oirov dpéywa, “an handful of corn;” which is very probable. Neither is the word N®5 anywhere else used in the Scripture, and may as well have something foreign in it as come from DB’ DYDD. So also verse 17, 3° is nowhere else used for “sobo- lescet” or “filiabit,” as it is here rendered, from 1, “‘ason:” which is but thrice used in that signification ;—Gen. xxi. 23, by a Philistine; and Job xviii. 19, by an Arabian; and Isa. xiv. 22, concerning a son among the Chaldeans: which argue it to be a foreign word, being properly used in a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles, as this is. So in the same subject it is said 0°2V0, “Chasmannim shall come to the Messiah,” Ps. xvii. 832: which we render “ princes,” and it may be such were intended; but the word seems to be Egyptian, for He- brew it is not, though afterwards used among the Jews; whence the family of Mattathias were called Asmoneans. But to return: it is evident that in this psalm much light was communicated unto the church of old into the office, work, grace, compassion, and rule, of the Messiah, with the calling and glorious access of the Gentiles unto him.