dical acceptation, we find it predicated of Christ ', The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion,' &c. which I would take to be a key to the passage before us; as upon this prophetical promise, it might with great propriety be replied, , hene mathtu, behold his rod,' that rod of power, strength, and authority, by which he was to rule over his enemies. This rod, as our text by a peculiar construction of the words expresses it, was for Solomon,', le shalme, the peaceable, the church's peace, to subdue her enemies, and give her peace. It was by a matha, a rod, that Moses destroyed the typical enemies of the church, and this rod is called 3 the rod of God. It was a matha, a rod of Aaron's that budded 4, which St Paul mentions among other ordinances of divine service: And what was it but the , oz, duvaμis, strength from Jehovah, that endued these rods with such marvellous qualities? It was such a rod that was promised to the Messiah, when Jehovah said 'to Adoni, Sit thou on my right hand.' Such a rod, at least something expressed by the same word, is here spoken of as belonging to Solomon. ses and Aaron were but types, so was Solomon: They had their rods, so had Solomon too—a typical ensign of power and strength, especially in his typical character, as formed for peace. And to this Mo sense 1 Psalm cx. 2. 5 Heb. ix. 2 Exod. xiv. 16. 4 Numb. xvii. 8. sense the majestic appendage of guards and warlike attendants seems more directly to point. Threescore valiant men about it, of the valiants of Israel, all girt with swords, because of fear in the night.-We must enquire, from the expressions here used, who these valiants are? The design of this retinue is said to be, because of fear in the night. This is mentioned by the Psalmist, with a promise of protection from it', Thou shalt not be afraid (D, 'mepahd, our word here) for the terror by night.' And of whom this is spoken, we may learn from what the same Psalmist says, as applied, though by the devil, yet we find justly enough, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.' These angels, be what they will, we are told, stood round +,' protected, ministered to, the true Solomon, the prince of peace, upon two most trying and dismal occasions, at his temptation in the wilderness 5, and under his agony in the garden. These were nights, nights of fear, and as he calls them, hours of darkness,' when all the terrors of hell were let loose upon him, and consequently he needed the service of his valiants' to support him. The guards here spoken of, are called, gabrim, valiants; and accordingly we find a heavenly messenger under this name Gabriel, the valiant of God, employed in first revealU u 2 ing ing to Daniel the time fixed for the incarnation of the Messiah', and afterwards declaring the accomplishment of it both to Zacharias, and to the virgin mother*: In which employment, it is worth while to remark how consonant all the parts of divine dispensation are to one another. Zacharias asks the angel, 'Whereby shall I know this?' The angel answers, I am Gabriel.' Zacharias was a priest, and could not be ignorant of the predictions of Daniel about the time of the Messiah's coming; with propriety therefore the angel thus addresses him, ' I am Gabriel,' the very one who made that notification to Daniel, and am now sent in prosecution of the same plan, to shew these glad tidings ' unto thee.' So uniform is the Divine wisdom in the very circumstantials of the grand scheme of redemption. These gabrim are said to have swords ' upon their thigh.' How is this applicable to angels? Let me answer this question by asking another, How is this applicable to Christ their head, their Ag3, the el gibbur, God made man*? Yet, of him it is predicated', ' Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, thou gibbur, most mighty.' The psalm will explain the Song, and point out the analogy. Something of a resemblance to this may be perceived in the history of our Saviour's apprehension, where we are told, that when one of the disciples drew a sword sword, Jesus checked him and said, • Thinkest 'thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve le'gions of angels? As if these were his ordinary standing guard, always ready at his call, and armed with swords of far greater force than any that mortals can wield. Accordingly St Paul spoke of 'the sword of the Spirit',' and surely knew the meaning of what he said. With these his valiants,' this mighty prince will be attended, when, at the consummation of this œconomy, he will destroy all his enemies with 'the rod of his strength.' The scripture never omits this circumstance in the account of that terrible day: And St Paul, in one place, expressly calls them, (in conformity to the language of the LXX. here, δυνατοι) άγγελοι της δυνατ Haws aure, angels of his power. But why are there said to be threescore of them? Why does our Saviour speak of twelve legions' of them? It would seem he had in his eye some reference to the twelve tribes, or to the twelve apostles sitting upon twelve thrones 3. And there would be no great harm in supposing a resemblance between our Saviour's way of speaking, and the number specified in the Song. Threescore we know is twelve fives, and the Hebrew word for five, vor, hemesh, is used to signify military rank or disposition, something like the Roman legion, not for number, but for order, μεως αυτέ, 1 Eph. vi. 17. 3 St Matth. xix. 28. 2 2 Thess. i. 7• order, as in Exodus it is said', 'the children of Is*rael went up harnassed (marg.) by five in a rank ;' and in Joshua", ye shall pass before your brethren, 'armed, (marg.) marshalled by five,' &c. Or, if this shall be thought too fanciful or far-fetched, the Hebrew word for threescore presents another interpretation. It is , shashim, from vv, shash, to rejoice; so signifies the rejoicers, and is applicable enough to those valiants, of whom Jehovah himself says 3, that they shouted for joy' at the finishing of this 200μ, world, ornamented machine, " upon the 'sixth day-n, the joyful, rejoicing day *. They are said here to be expert in war, , melamdi, dedidaryμevo, LXX. taught to, or instructed in, war. By what master or teacher? By Jehovah himself 5. - Blessed be Jehovah, my strength, , melamd, 'who teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.' And they are called the valiants of Israel. The church, as we have observed, is called Israel. The angels are servants or ministers to the church collectively and individually, so may properly be termed the valiants of Israel. Let us bring together all these detached pieces of explication into one connexion, and we shall see what or who it is, that is here spoken of in such lofty and significant figures, as can neither be adjusted to what is called the literal 6 1 Chap. xiii. 18. 3 Job xxxviii. 7. 5 Psalm cxliv. 1. 7 St Luke xvi. 22, 2 Chap. i. 14. 4 Gen. i. 31. Heb. i. 14. |