1874] VARIOUS EXTRACTS 243 



different is the prophecy of the breaking of concord 

 between Judah and Ephraim. That cannot apply to the 

 Siao-Tropd, and so is interpreted by Hengstenberg and Keil 

 of the divisions in Judaea between Christ s time and the 

 fall of Jerusalem, by Hofmann (ii. 2, p. 608) of the division 

 between Christian and unbelieving Jews. In either case 

 not historico-literal but symbolical allegorising interpret 

 ation. 1 



ft. In ch. ix. God s judgment lights on Damascus, 

 Phoenicia, Philistia. All the states seem to be brought 

 in as independent and as hostile to Israel. In Philistia 

 especially there is still a king and the old aristocratic 

 pride in pure blood which is to be brought down when 

 a bastard population occupies Ashdod. It is answered 

 that these nations still remained and were hostile to Israel 

 after the Exile, and that the king who is destroyed from 

 Gaza may be a Persian vassal. But if the king is a 

 vassal his fall is not a proper expression for the trans 

 ference of the sovereignty to the people of Israel ; and this 

 is what our prophet expects (ix. 7). If in this case the 

 post-exile authorship rhymes badly with literal interpret 

 ation the inconsistency is admitted in regard to Egypt 

 and Asshur (lower, esp. ch. x.). These, it is admitted 

 (Keil, Introd. 103, 4 ; cf. Hengstenberg, Integrity, E.T. 

 307), are mentioned merely as types and representatives of 

 the enemies of the Kingdom of God. That is, the concrete 

 colouring is here also not drawn literally from present 

 history but allegorisingly from the past. (But cf. Ps. 

 Ixxxiii., where most critics make TNDN non-historical.) 



y. The teraphim and false prophets of x. 2 are precisely 

 analogous to the similar institutions mentioned in Hosea 

 iii. After the Exile there were certainly false prophets 



1 According to Hengstenberg, Christol. E.T., 422, this is the literal 

 fulfilment also of the obviously distinct step in the prophecy (ch. xi. 6) 

 where for the rest the king is Caesar (cf. tebo wn -iis i* Hos. xi. 5). But 

 to Keil PNH is the land outside Israel the earth and king distributive 

 like &amp;gt;\x. 



