Before we come to deal with the later phages of Mesisianic expectation, we would here note the his- toric evolution of three distinct line-^ of anticijvi- tion respecting the human a^^ency whereby Israel's .salvation and the establishment of a Divine and righteous rule would l>e efl'ectetl. ( 1 ) The righteous Messianic rcarrior-king of Da^^dic descent. ('2\ The prophetic suffarr portrayed in Is 40-5o. and esp. in 5"2'*->53'"- — a conception wliich may al.*o underlie the oljscnre pas.sa<re Zee I'l"^'^- ''. (3) The prophetic ififeal, ba-<ed mainly on Dt IS'*, which came to l>e identified with the heraldic prophet of ' the great and terrible day of the Lord." the Elijah of Mai 4^f- [Heb. 3^-], or was identified with the Messiah Himself (Ac 3-^). Cf. Mk 6'* 8"^, Jn V^^ 6^* 7*\ and Wendt's Teaching of Jesus, i. p. 67 f.
iii. TnAySFORM AT/OX OF THE MESSlAyiC IDEAL THROCfiH APOCALYPTIC— The kingdom of righteoiisne.<s and the fear of the Lord, or what is expiessed in the Biblical phra.<e the Kingdom of
" LXX rk ciTtxsiuitm lUvS, ' tiiat which is reserved for him.' The LXX in some variants has =*; «> ii.ttr. Z k7cz&t-<u. ' till there comes he to whom it (1 the sceptre) belongs." which is the ren- dering of the Targ. of Onkelos and also of Jerusalem. Tliis most clumsy and almost impossible construction is api^rently due to the influence of Ezk 21^2, where, however, we have a subject for the relative clause, viz. Cf?'?'?.
f Bfitraot zvr Jf,<!aiatritiL: p. 29. footnote. It is difficult to understand the acquiescence of Gunkel in the constnicrion pre- supix>sed in the alternative rendering of the LXX variant (cited in the previous footnote).
J See Driver in J?j;>os»'for, Jidy 1385 ; EBi, art. 'Shiloh ' ; and Bennett's 'Genesis' (Cfnturv Bibff). ad Irw.
§ Biidde's Com. on the Books of Samuel (J. C. B. MohrX p. 233: cf. also his RiehUr u. Samufl. pp. 244. 247.
I The Com. of Dr. Buchanan Grav (ICC) should be consulted.
God, was not to be attained without a struggle against opjH>sing forces political and moral, or without tlie instnimentality of a i>ersonal leader, sometimes an anointed king of Davidic descent, through whom the victory wa.* to be won for Israel. For throughout we find tiiat Israel, or a purified remnant, stands at tl>e centre of the whole movement towards righteousness, and liecomes more or less identifie<l with it. .-Accordingly, the closest connexion subsisted between the national Messiah and that ftiture state of blessedness, a restoreil theoiiacy, which became the steadfast exjiectaiion of the Jewish race since the destruc- tion of Solomon's temple in B.C. 587. At first it was believeil that the desired consummation would not long be delayed. The existing generation and the earthly scene in which the prophet livetl would behold tlie great day of the Lord and the advent of the salvation foretold. But ever since the days of .\mos, and still more after the discipline of the Exile, the horizons of time and space ex- panded.
1. After the Exile and the return of the G6lah (exiled Jew^K the advent of the fulfilled hojies of a Divine kingdom of righteousness was still de- layed, and the Messianic age seemed as far ofl' as ever, even after Nehemiah and Ezra had worked at their task of reform. As time went on, the disapjK)intetl expectations of post-exilic Judaism bred among the spiritual leaders a spirit of hope- lessness as to the jxjlitical outlook, and this is echoeil in their religious hymns : ' Does Jahweh cast ott'in abhorrence for ever ; will he no more be gracious ? Is there an end to liis kindness for ever- more' (Ps 77*- » [Heb.]) : cf. Pss '2-1. 37. etc. Trust in Jahweh still survived, and His faithful followers clung to the Torah (Ps 19*"'- [Heb.] and W^ fHissim), but Messianic exi>ectation languislied. The out- look of tlie present time was hopeless. But amid the enlarged horizons of time as well as sj>ace to which we have refeiTed, tlie thoughts of some of the most spiritual minds in Judaism were directed to the transcendental and ultimate. In that world God would finally vindicate Himself and His ways to the exj>ectant faith of Israel. A distinction IJe- gan to be establishetl between the present and the ftiture age or leon. The former is corrupt, and hopelessly delivered over to Satan and the powers of darkness. Victory will come in the latter. As we approach the time of Christ, the distinction lietween the present age (ijr! c^iy or aid-j' oiVos) and the age to come (nj- c^'> or aiCnv fiiWwf) becomes sharply contrasted, and the transcendental feat- ures and colouring which invest the latter, and the final conflict with the heathen or demonic powers (Gog and Magog in Ezk 38. 39, attributed by some recent critics to a later hand than Ezekiel) charac- terize the new and later phase of Messianic ex- l^ectation. This final agony or conflict, called in later times the ' Messianic sulierings or pangs ' (T"?^" "^?v^ ^^"hich was to usher in the new age, was no longer confined to earth. It was universal and cosmic. These a^xjcalyptic features (which first meet us clearly in that latest addendum to the Isaianic oracles, Is 24-'27) now impress them- selves on Messianic exj»ectation, though by no means always; cf. .Mk 13*-*^. Jn Ui"--'^'-.