THE SERVANT A COVENANT OF THE PEOPLE 393

due to its sin, and its restoration must be preceded by its repentance and forgiveness. This forgiveness it mediated through the sufferings of the Servant of the Lord. But it is he also who kindles within Israel the glow of a new faith in Jehovah, which secures their spiritual unity, and thus leads to their restoration. But here again, if we would observe the prophet's thoughts, we shall find that he attributes all to Jehovah. He called the Servant in righteousness, and took hold of his hand, and will keep him, and make him a covenant of the people, a light of the Gentiles (xlii. 6): "Behold my servant, whom I keep hold of; I will put My spirit upon him" (xlii. 1). "For the Lord God will help me; therefore have I set my face like a flint, I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me?" (1. 7, 8).

Deferring reference to the Servant's atoning sufferings for the present, I may notice three passages which describe the Servant's operation and methods. The first is in chapter xlix., which shows that the Servant also operates in the direction of restoring Israel; it is not, however, in an external way, like Cyrus, but by awakening a new faith and a new spirit in the scattered exiles. For this is even more necessary than the external interposition in their behalf of Cyrus. Jehovah thus speaks to the Servant: "I will preserve thee, and make thee a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, and make them inherit the desolate heritages; to say to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed by the ways; they shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the sun smite them. I will make all my mountains a way. Lo, these shall come from far: and these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim" (xlix. 8-12). Two things, surely, are made evident by such a passage: first, that the Servant is a contemporary of the Exile and that the land is desolate, seeing he helps to its repopulation; and, second, that the imperative condition of the people's restoration is their repentance and

new faith, which the Servant produces in their minds: “I will make thee a covenant of the people, in order to raise up the land; to make them inherit the desolate heritages."

The second passage, showing the general method of the Servant's operation, is the one previously quoted in chap. 1.: "The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to comfort with words him that is weary: He wakeneth mine ear morning by morning to hear as the disciples. He opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious. I gave my back to the smiters: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For I knew that I shall not be ashamed. . . . He is near that justifieth me" (1. 4-8). Here the Servant sets forth these three things: (a) his consciousness of having the true word of the Lord, and his acceptance of the mission entrusted to him as having it; (b) the inevitable sufferings in the work of the Lord, he who is Servant of the Lord will suffer; and (c) his invincible faith, founded on Jehovah's help; and the assurance that through Jehovah he shall yet succeed. To this passage should perhaps be added the beautiful one in chap. lxi. 1: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. hath anointed me to preach glad tidings to the meek,"

etc.

:

He

The third passage I shall cite is in chapter xlii. 1 ff., describing the Servant's bearing and method with the Gentiles: "Behold My Servant. I will put My spirit upon him he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry. The bruised reed he shall not break he will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles; and the isles shall wait on his instruction." The only instrument which the Servant employs is the word of the Lord. This word is powerful, because it is not a mere dead letter; the Lord Himself is in it: "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but causeth the earth to bring forth seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall My word be: it shall not return to me void, but shall accomplish that which I please. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with

REDEMPTIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS

395

peace" (lv. 10, 11; comp. li. 16). The Servant does not so much wield the word of God, he is rather an impersonation of it: "He made my mouth a sharp sword . . . He made me a polished shaft, and said unto me, Thou art My Servant" (xlix. 2). The Servant is the word of the Lord incarnate in the seed of Abraham.

But thus the prophet's construction is complete. Jehovah, God of Israel, is God alone. Being so, the nations are related to Him no less than Israel. As the one true God, He must reveal Himself to all men, and destroy their confidence in that which is no God, no Saviour: "My glory will I not give to another" (xlii. 8). To Him every knee shall bow. Yet though God over all, He stands in a special relation to Israel. This relation is now about to be manifested through His Servant. He will turn the hearts of His people to Himself, and, gathering them from all lands, will appear in His glory among them. And through them, thus restored, His relation to all mankind will also be manifested: His Servant will bring forth right to the Gentiles, the nations will walk in Zion's light, and kings come to the brightness of her rising.

Much more might be said of this prophet's conception of the people Israel or Jacob.

5. Redemptive Righteousness in Deutero-Isaiah.

But, passing that by, it will be enough to refer to his peculiar use of the word righteousness as a redemptive term. There are three terms: (1) the verb PT; (2) the adjective P; and (3) the two nouns PTY and Y. The word 'righteous' is used in two ways: first, in a juridical or forensic sense; and, second, in an ethical sense. The verb is almost exclusively used in the forensic sense, to be in the right, with the idea of a court or judge in the background; or to be found in the right, as our Version goes, to be justified. Naturally, to be found in the right is very near to be pronounced in the right. Hence Hiph. to find in the right, pronounce in the right, or justify. Of course,

there may be a multitude of situations, some important and others less so, in which one may be found in the right or justified; but the word has the same sense everywhere, and generally it is used in the sense of being right before God. The adjective is chiefly used in the ethical sense. It is the two nouns, however, which are used somewhat peculiarly in these prophecies.

The word 'righteousness' is used both of Jehovah and of the people.

First, in relation to Jehovah. The word is used in reference to all His redemptive operations. These are done in righteousness,' py; they are пpy, 'righteousness.' For instance, "Who raised up him from the east, whom's calleth to follow it?" (xli. 2). "I have called him (Cyrus) in righteousness: he shall rebuild My city, and let go My captives" (xlv. 13). And of the people: "But thou Israel, My servant, fear not . . . I keep hold of thee with the right hand of My righteousness . . . all they that are incensed against thee shall be confounded" (xli. 10, 11). And again of the Servant: "I called thee in righteousness, and took hold of thy hand, and will keep thee, and make thee a light of the Gentiles" (xlii. 6). And frequently Jehovah's righteousness is put in parallelism with His salvation: "My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth" (li. 5). "My righteousness shall be for ever, and My salvation to all generations" (li. 8). And, again, the people are represented as asking of Jehovah ' ordinances of righteousness,' i.e. deeds of salvation on their behalf (lviii. 2); and Jehovah's righteousness sustains him, and His arm brings salvation unto him (lix. 16).

Now, of course, we must not identify righteousness with salvation. Salvation is something objective; it is a condition in which the Lord puts the people, including restoration and, what precedes that, forgiveness of sins. When righteousness is put in parallelism with salvation, that word also has a certain objective sense, meaning deeds or operations which are illustrations or embodiments of Jehovah's righteousness, or a condition of the people brought

SALVATION AS RIGHTEOUSNESS

397

about by Jehovah operating in righteousness. In other words, salvation is, so to speak, the clothing, the manifestation of Jehovah's righteousness. So we have it in the remarkable passage, xlv. 21, "a righteous God, and a Saviour," where the two expressions are identical in sense; or the point may be that His being Saviour is the necessary consequence of His being righteous. Thus salvation is a result, a manifestation of His righteousness. How then is this?

Now, we might find the explanation of this way of regarding salvation as righteousness manifested in the relation of Jehovah to Israel. He is Israel's God, His covenant is with Israel. They are His people; it is therefore right that He should interpose in their behalf. He is righteous in saving them; and of course He is also righteous in inflicting vengeance on their oppressors. No doubt this conception will cover a number of the passages. And a similar idea is, that Israel's salvation is due to Jehovah's faithfulness, i.e. not merely to His word or promise, but to His whole relation to Israel as their God.

There are passages, however, which this idea of righteousness merely in regard to His covenant with Israel will hardly explain. They are these: xlii. 6, where He says to the Servant, "I called thee in righteousness, and took hold of thy hand"; and xlii. 21," the Lord was pleased for His righteousness' sake to give a law great and broad." Both these passages refer to the very beginning of Jehovah's relation with Israel, and imply that even the initiation of the covenant illustrated His righteousness. And, once more, li. 5, "My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth, and Mine arm shall rule the people; the isles shall wait on Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust." Here, not the salvation of Israel only, but that of all mankind, illustrates or embodies the righteousness of Jehovah. And this wider expression makes it questionable whether we were right in explaining even those passages which spoke of Israel's salvation as righteousness, merely of what was right or righteous in Jehovah in view of His relation to His people.