66 of the sons of Jacob shall rule over many peoples." 2. The Jerusalem Targum: "Their king "shall arise from the midst of their sons, and "their Redeemer from themselves; and he “shall be among them; and shall gather unto "them their captivity out of the provinces of "their enemies; and their sons shall rule over "the peoples." Both these Targums evidently followed the text of the Septuagint, with only the variation of "seed," for "arm," or y 66 זרע "shall might," in the second line, which was freely and finely rendered by the Septuagint, seizing the spirit of the original, xupievσe, "rule over," admirably according with the opening of that most illustrious prophecy respecting the Messiah's sufferings, Isa. liii. Lord, who gave credence to our report? and "to whom was THE ARM [or power] of the "Lord manifested?" as the prophet had before explained, li. 9, " The Lord hath "made bare his holy ARM in the eyes of all "the nations; and all the ends of the earth "shall see the salvation of our God;" and they shall also behold bis vengeance inflicted on on the impious and the wicked; Luke i. 57, "He hath shewed strength with his ARM, "he hath scattered the proud in the imagina "tions of their hearts." Hence we may fairly collect, that these Targums were composed not later than the Syriac version. 3. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, one of the most illustrious Fathers of the Church (who flourished about A. D. 248, and suffered martyrdom A. D. 258), in his Testimonies against the Jews, b. ii. c. 10, cites this prophecy according to the Septuagint. See the interesting account of his martyrdom, Lardner iii. p. 141. 4. Although the Samaritan text of the foregoing part of this prophecy concurs with the present Hebrew, yet, in the sequel, it almost exactly accords with the Septuagint, and differs from the Hebrew. Here it is evident, that instead of h "his king," as in the Hebrew and Samaritan, the Septuagint read "his king "dom," in both lines, more fully and correctly written in the Samaritan, as is also the foregoing verb in the conjugation Hithpahel. And the triumphs of the Messiah over Gog, or the fierce nations of the north, are repeatedly foretold in Scripture: "Son 66 of man, set thy face against GoG." Ezek, xxxviii. 2. "I will give to GoG a place of 66 graves in Israel." Ezek. xxxix. 11. "And he (the Devil) shall go forth and "deceive the nations in the four parts of the "earth, Gog and MAGOG, to gather them 66 together for battle." Rev. xx. 8. Whereas, the Hebrew reading Agag occurs only once, in the case of Agag, king of the Amalekites, whom Saul spared, and Samuel hewed in pieces. pieces. Sam. xv. 9, 33. And surely this single case, which is rather irrelevant, cannot stand in competition for a moment with the foregoing, which are so wonderfully apposite to the whole tenour of the prophecy. Such an accumulation of Samaritan and Jewish authorities, in support of the genuineness of the reformed teat, furnished by the Septuagint version, infinitely outweighs any evidence that I have seen adduced in support of the present Masoretic text, and supersedes almost the necessity of “ any addi"tional testimony from Hebrew MSS." all of which are framed on the Masoretic system, and scarcely any older than eight hundred or a thousand years: and even the Samaritan text itself has, in many places, been accommodated to the Jewish readings. II. THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE. Upon a careful revision of the several parallel passages of Scripture, supposed by commentators to refer to this prophecy as it stands at present, I find only the following that appear to be in to be in any degree appropriate: "Hear this, O house of Jacob! "Ye that are called by the name of Israel, "And that came forth from the waters of "Judah ; 86 "That swear by the name of the Lord, city, “And repose themselves on the God of “Israel; "The Lord of Hosts is his name." Isa. xlviii. 1, 2. "Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, "And thou, Jeshurun, whom I have "chosen ; "For I will pour out water upon the "thirsty, "And streams upon the dry [ground]: "I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, "And my blessing upon thine offspring ; 66 And they shall spring up as amidst the grass, "And as willows beside the brooks of wa"ter." xliv. 2, 4. But these passages evidently relate to the spiritual state of the Jewish nation; to their |