5. It were endless to consider all their several expositions; and useless, because they are fully confuted by one another; and whatever seems of importance in any of their exceptions will be fully answered in our exposition and vindication of the text and context. Only, to give the reader a specimen of their sentiments, I shall briefly consider the sense and exposition of one of them, and him of such reputation that he hath generally obtained the name of ponn, “The wise;” and this is R. A. B. Meir, Aben Ezra, And that we may the better see the perverseness of this man, and therein of his followers, I shall briefly give an account of the expo- sition of Rashi his companion in annotations on the Pentateuch, in their rabbinical Bibles. First, By D2% “sceptre,” he under- stands “rule and government;” as he doth “scholars in the law” by PPh, from these words, 722 12), “from between his feet,” expressing, as he conceived, the posture of disciples.. By “Judah” he understands the house of David, the ruling family amongst them, the authority whereof was preserved in the nv: ‘wxo, or “heads of the captivity,” whilst they were in Babel. And on these words, roy 82!" WY, waiving all the former trivial exceptions, he adds ex- prossly, M38 wT) DIdpax woxIN por “Sw noboaw mw 79;—“ Until the Shiloh come,’ that is, Messiah the King, to whom that kingdom belongs, as the words are interpreted by Onkelos in his Targum, and in Midrash Agadah.” And D%3Y nop), he expounds, na‘px npn, “The collection” (or “gathering together”) “of the people;” so agreeing with the Targum and the truth in the most material
passages of the text.
266 THE PROMISED MESSIAH [EXERC. XII.
6. But Aben Ezra, as we observed, is otherwise minded, and in him we have an example of the wilful blindness of the residue of them, who will not endure the light of that conviction which is tendered unto them in this testimony. First, By “Shebet” he grants rule to be intended, or pre-eminence above others; being then somewhat more modest than their later masters. “ This,” saith he, “shall not depart from Judah 717 saw sy,”—“ until David come.” And why David? mim mabp nbnn xinw;—“ For he was the be- ginning of the kingdom of Judah.” So that it seems the meaning of the words is, that “the sceptre shall not depart until the sceptre come;” that is, they should have rule until they had rule! for, as himself well observes, the kingdom of Judah began in David. But what sceptre had the house of Judah before? Four hundred years the people were ruled under judges, of which but one was of that tribe. At length a kingdom was set up in the house of Benjamin. Where was all this while the sceptre of Judah, if that was the space of time designed for its continuance? ‘Two instances he gives hereof. First, naweta you mn $35 9;—“ The standard of Judah marched first in the wilderness.” mbnna ndby mtn own ox D3; —‘“ Again, God said, ‘Judah shall go up first.” But what was this to a sceptre and a lawgiver? The first belonged only unto the order of the tribes in the wilderness, whilst Moses was prince, of the tribe of Levi; and afterwards Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim: nor was that privilege, if any it were, peculiar unto Judah, but common to the other tribes joined with him. The other was only an occasional expedition, wherein the especial concernment of Judah lay, which gave him no power nor sovereignty amongst his brethren. So that we have here no small instance how the wisest of their masters do befool themselves in seeking evasions from this testimony. Of the sense of the following words, abstracting from the design of the whole, he gives a tolerable account, “ Nor a law- giver from between his feet:” pp 5y pyn'w raw ppm ;—* Mechokek is a scribe, who engrosseth any thing on a roll or book;” pa oyyy pypn xy pa avy nid opp 59 os pow. yd —“and that expres- sion, ‘From between his feet,’ is taken from the common custom of such scribes to sit at or between the feet of the prince,” namely, to record and enrol the laws of his kingdom; although the phrase of speech seems to incline to another sense, but about this we will not differ with him.
7. He next proceeds to the interpretation of the word iow, which before he applied unto David; and, to show the uncertainty and wanderings of all them who reject the true and only intend- ment of the Holy Ghost in this expression, he gives us the various opinions of his masters, not knowing himself what to adhere unto. pis &;-—“ Some,” he says, “there are who interpret it from the
SECT. 6-8.] - LONG SINCE COME. 267
Syriac, as if it were as much as %bw, ‘ unto him,’ or ‘ cujus omnia,’ ” But this yields him no advantage. Sundry learned men suspect some such sense in the word or derivation of it, being put for 1; and the translation of the LXX., reading § daéueiras, seems to have had respect thereunto. But then the Messiah is signally denoted, whose the kingdom was, whom the promises especially respected, and to whom the gathering of the people was to be. Some, he adds, derive it from by, which signifies the embryo in the womb; and in allusion hereunto, many interpret the word “ his son,” from >w, which is as much as i, from mow, “the second birth,” or certain membranes of the womb. And he adds afterwards, that nbw may be as much as 123, 4 being put for). But yet neither can he hence obtain any thing towards his design. Wherefore he proceeds, “Some expound it of the city Shiloh, and then they inter- pret 812, ‘shall come,’ wown a wo, as that, ‘The sun cometh,’ that is, sets, or goes down, Eccles. i. 5; that is, now yp sr ‘ay ,—‘ Until the end of Shiloh come;’ for so it is written, ‘He rejected the tabernacle at Shiloh, and chose David his servant.’” But it is evident unto all who use the least attention unto these things how forced, indeed foolish, this exposition is, “ Until Shiloh come,”—‘that is, until the city Shiloh be deserted, or forsaken, or destroyed;’ so that, “ Until it come,” signifies, “ when it shall be no more!” The application of that word to the setting of the sun, WIDWA NII, *And the sun goeth down,” is clear from the nature of the thing itself, and from the preceding words, Y2Y0 MN, “The sun riseth ;” but thence to draw it here to express the destruction of a city, in which sense it is never used, is a conceit purely rabbinical. Besides, we have showed already that sceptre and lawgiver could in no sense be said to abide with Judah until David came; for before his days that tribe had no especial interest in government at all. But this catching at relief from a word no way suited to contribute the least assistance in the case in hand, is a strong argument of a despe- rate sinking cause, which rather than men will forego, they will reach after helps from the shadow of the least twig that seems to be nigh unto them. I shall not contend with him about what he nextly asserts, namely, that this “until” doth not prove the ceasing of rulé and government when the Shiloh comes. It is enough for us that it was not to cease before he came, as shall further be mani- fested in our ensuing explication and vindication of this prophecy. I have only by the way more particularly considered the evasions of this man, who is called, amongst the masters of the present Judaical profession “The wise,’ that the reader may know what thoughts to entertain concerning the expositions and objections of others of them who have not attained that reputation.