At the outset it is proper to deny that the tbaor^ double-sense rests wholly upon the constnctepc upon the formulse by which the N.-T. writew fnqa* ly introduce the quotations from the O. T., e. g. Mil:' i, 22, (va vrXijpio^j, *' that it might be folifiDed,'' »• the Uke (Wolfe, p. Ixxvi). See Fulfiu TTa b» of this method of interpretation lies ftr broader i^ deeper than this ; it is founded in part on tke l^ character of the O.-T. institntiona, and on gyaia&i transactions and teachings ; it is derived turn tk la- guage of many individuad passages, which ii bod ^ torical and hyperbolical ; it is hiherent ia the vm of a theocracy like that of the Jews, which ws* w- mentary, symbolical, typical, preparatory to a kfiff and a spiritual economy. It is freely allowed thit i double sense should not be admitted when anoths' ex- planation is more probable. No doubt it has beeo » sumed in some cases too hastily ; but there ue ««» which cannot be fairiy interpreted witbovt it Sef Quotation {of 0,T,inthe New),
The language %t prophecy is generally rafm mi obscure; the ideas of the seers — their viaoas ai dreams, were tinged with darknesa. In dsbt o- stances, it would seem that they had not theaadva i clear perception of all the meaning of what tber vo* prompted to utter (1 Pet i, 11). Some of their pn&> tions, therefore, are fiurly susceptible of Tirioaei^ enoes, and were doubtless intended to be ss ttka Indeed, it is a good role, in the interpretation of Scrf- ture generally, to adopt that significatian whieh '»^ most comprehensive, and which frequently m^^ two or more senses upon which oommentaten la^ generally been divided ; but this, of cxMxne, csasflt bt done when these meanings are diverse In prindplt ^ only where, as in the case of the doable refeRoon tf spoken o^ Uiey are but branches of the same wider ex- tension, or applications coming under die sane aait- gy. That one event in this manner ftequentfy s^^ brates another in Scripture is aoqaestiooable, tad tk
DOUBLE
875
DOUBLE
nage is often adapted to such a twofold import. tarkable instances of this may be seen even in the ' Test., as, for example, in oar Lord's blended pre- on of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of world CMatt. xxiv) ; and a similar ambiguity runs ugh all the O.-T. utterances respecting *'the latter s,*' the details of which are applicable in various rees to the Restoration and to the Messianic mm. £scHATOL.ooY. Indeed, more recent expositors strongly inclining, in the case of the Apoodypse, :hat system of exposition which regards its lan- ge, its visions, and its symbols as designed to refer so much to any specific event or series of events k> various historical occurrences and periods'; that erever general agencies appear in operation, as dis- l^oished from individual transpirations — wherever leral causes and influences exist, there the Apoca- >tic prophecies apply ; that they comprehend vari- ) events and periods, because they speak of general Luences or agencies producing similar results. See EVELATioN (BooK OP). Hence the scenery is large- borrowed from Daniel and Ezekiel, not in a sense "eign to its original import, but merely as a fresh ap- ication or extension to cognate incidents. Aocord- g to Alexander (Commeni€try on Itcdahj Introd. p. ), **all predictions, or prophecies in the restricted nse, are not specific and exclusive, i. e. limited to le occanon or emergency, but many are descriptive ' a sequence of events which has been often realized, hus, in some parts of Isaiah there are prophetic pic- ires of the sieges of Jerusalem which cannot be ex- usively applied to any one event of that kind, but le terms and images of which are borrowed partly "om one and partly from another through a course of ges. Thus the threatening against Babylon contain- d in Isa. xiii, xiv, if explained as a speciflc and ex- Insive prophecy of the Medo-Persian conquest, seems 0 represent the downfall of the city as more sudden
ind complete than it appears in history It is a
Mmorama of the fiedl of Babylon, not in its first incep- ion merely, but through all its stages till its consum- nation." It therefore depicts different and distinct >ccnrrence8, separated by intervals of time from one mother. Each is a certain grade and stage of fulfil- ment. If referred to one occurrence, or to a series of occurrences taking place together, the prophecy cer- tainly applies to them— it has its meaning in them ; but it has not its fuUtmte or entire fulfilment till ap- plied to other occurrences. The sense of it is tpring- ing or germinaiU; coming to widen till it embraces va- rious references— allusions and applications to various events. See Prophecy.
A still more striking instance of this twofold refer- ence is found in Isa. xlix, which nearly throughout alludes most palpably to the Messiah, yet under the more immediate imagery of the return and restoration of the Babylonian exiles. Thus Jehovah's * * Servant" (see Umbreit, Knecht GotUa, Hamb. 1840), chosen from his birth for the redemptive and evangelizing work (ver. 1, 2), is explicitly styled " Israel" (ver. 8), and a simflar blending of the national and the Messianic ref- erences is con^ned through the chapter. That the speaker is not Isaiah himself, nor the prophets as a class, is evident Arom the foct that neither of these were ever intrusted with a message to the Gentiles. That the address is put into the mouth of the chosen people is favored by various considerations, but there ar« at the same time clear indications that the words Are those of the Messiah. These two interpretations can only be reconciled by assuming that in this pas- sage (as in others that might be cited) the ideal speak- er la the Messiah considered as the head of his people, And as forming with them one complex person, accord- ing to the canon of Tichonins, quoted by Augustine : "Mention is often made in Scripture of Christ and his body the Church as of one person, to whom some things are attributed which reside only in the Head,