" is, by [Pg 102] the
context, required in the two passages in which the word [Hebrew: gze]
still occurs. In Job xiv. 8, it is obvious. The whole passage there
from vers. 7-9 illustrates the figurative representation in the verse
under review. "For there is hope of a tree; if it be _cut down_ it will
sprout again, and its tender branch does not cease. Though the root
thereof wax old in the earth, and the _stump_ thereof die in the dust,
through the scent of waters it buds, and brings forth boughs, like one
newly planted." We have here the figure of our verse carried out. That
which water is to the natural tree decaying, the Spirit and grace of
God are to the dying tree, cut down to the very roots, of the Davidic
family. In the second passage. Is. xl. 23, 24, it is only by a false
interpretation that [Hebrew: gze] has been understood of the stem in
general. "He bringeth princes to nothing, He destroyeth the kings of
the earth. They are not planted; they are not sown; their _stump_ does
not take root in the earth." The Prophet, having previously proved
God's elevation over the creature, from the creation and preservation
of the world, now proves it from the nothingness of all that which on
earth has the greatest appearance of independent power. It costs Him no
effort to destroy all earthly greatness which places itself in
opposition to Him. He blows on them, and they have disappeared without
leaving any trace. If God's will be not with it, princes will not
attain to any firm footing and prosperity (they are not planted and
sown); they are like a cut-down stem which has no more power to take
root in the earth. A tree not planted dries up; corn not sown does not
produce fruit; a cut down tree does not take root.--(3.) The
connection. In the second member of the verse we read: "A branch from
his roots shall bear fruit." Unless we mean to adopt the altogether
unsuitable expedient of explaining it of a wild twig which shoots
forth from the roots of a still standing tree, we cannot but think of
a stem cut down to the very root. Against the opinion of _Hendewerk_
who remarks: "An indirect shoot from the root which comes forth from
the root through the stem;" and against _Meier's_ opinion: "The root
corresponds with the stem, and both together form the living tree,"
it is decisive, that in ver. 10, the Messiah is simply, and without
any mention being made of the stem, designated as [Hebrew: wrw]
"a shoot from the root." Farther, c