But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.
But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, х yimaalee'
(H4390)] - filled with armour; i:e., must be well armed or defended. The verses, thus explained, will stand thus:
`But the sons of Belial, all of them Are as thorns to be thrust out (For they cannot be taken with the hand;
And the man who shall touch them Must be armed with an axe and a spear-staff), And to be utterly consumed with fire in the place.'
In proof that the sceptre of Christ will be a sceptre of judgment as well as of mercy, see Isaiah 61:2, who was anointed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and (at the same time) the day of vengeance of our God; in Psalms 63:1-11 the Messiah is represented as 'trampling His enemies in His fury;' Malachi 4:1, as burning all the proud, and all that do wickedly, as stubble, leaving neither root nor branch; Matthew 3:12, John Baptist describes him as having 'His fan in His hand, and thoroughly purging His floor, and gathering His wheat into the garner, but burning the chaff with fire unquenchable;' and Revelation 19:15, John, in the Apocalypse, says, 'Out of His mouth goeth sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations, ruling them with a rod of iron, and treading the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.'
In short, the exercise of judgment along with mercy is essential to that character of righteousness which is the foundation of His government. Since this brief but remarkable prophecy, though its reference to the Messiah is direct and clear, is yet, from its elliptical form, somewhat difficult to render, it may be interesting, in addition to the exegesis given above, to subjoin translations executed by three different persons.
Kimchi offers the following:-`For a morning of mist and clouds, now it shines, and now it rains, and is good only for the growth of grass from the earth. But my house is not so with God; it will shine at all times, and at all seasons, because He has made with me an everlasting covenant. Surely this is all my salvation and all my delight, that promises so bright and so glorious should be connected with my house: shall it not prosper (according to God's promise)?'
Dr. Pye Smith ('Scripture Testimony to the Messiah,' 1:, p. 262), following the text of Kennicott, and assuming the prophecy to bear a Messianic reference, conceives that, as the cross was the way to the crown, the idea of a crucified Saviour must be introduced into a poem relating to Messiah the king; and accordingly he finds it in the strong figurative language 2 Samuel 23:7. This interpretation, however, is not supported by the ordinal text, and in the concluding verse destroys the antithesis. His version is as follows:
`The oracle of David, the son of Jessai; Even the oracle of the high-raised hero Anointed by the God of Jacob, And the delightful author of the songs of Israel.
The Spirit of God speaketh by me, And His word is upon my tongue: The God of Israel saith, To me speaketh the God of Israel. Ruling over man is a righteous one,
Ruling in the fear of God; Even as the light of the morning shall he shine, Yahweh, the sun, A morning without clouds for brightness, (As) After rain the herbage from the earth.
Truly this is my house with God; For an everlasting covenant He has fixed with me But the wicked shall not grow As prickles, to be moved away all of them;
For they cannot be taken by the hand. And the man who shall touch them Will be filled with the iron and the shaft of the spear.'
Hengstenberg's version ('Christology,' 1:, p. 149) is added, as a third specimen of translation:
`For is not thus my house with God? For He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things, and sure; For all my salvation and all my pleasure -
Should he not make it to grow?'
The "everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure," guaranteed the perpetuity of David's royal "house." So far as related to the temporal part of the promise, it was fulfilled by the Lord's continuing the house of David on the throne of Judah, notwithstanding all their rebellion against him (1 Kings 11:36; 2 Kings 8:19; 2 Chronicles 21:7); and it was frequently pleaded by the Jewish church, when the judgements inflicted upon David's temporal house and kingdom seemed to nullify it. The promise contained in it, as it respected David's natural descendants, was conditional, so that the Lord at length deprived them of the kingdom; but he did not by that dispensation violate the covenant with His servant. How, then, was the promise made good, in "the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure"? Was the word "everlasting" to be taken, after all, in a limited, though a very extended sense? No; the duration of the covenant was, in the most strictly literal meaning of the word, to be "everlasting." It was to be fulfilled in the person of the Messiah, the last and greatest of David's descendants, and by His being raised from the dead, to sit for ever on His heavenly throne as King of Zion. The promise as it related to the Messiah was absolute, and in Him it had its full, accomplishment. It is plain, from the "last words" of this passage, that David rejoices in the believing confidence that the covenant made with him was "an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure," and confesses that it was all his salvation and all his desire, at the very close of his life, when the prospect perpetuating his dynasty on an earthly kingdom could yield him comparatively little comfort. But we are not left to our own conjectures upon this subject.
Peter, by the infallible inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us expressly how David understood this promise. After having cited his prophecy of Christ's resurrection from Psalms 16:1-11, he adds, "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption" (Acts 2:25-32). From these words it is evident that David understood, from the promise guaranteed to him by the everlasting covenant, not only that the Messiah was to come of his seed, but that He was to be raised up from the dead to sit on His heavenly throne. All the subsequent prophecies of the Messiah have a reference to this covenant promise made to David, and are just so many renewals, illustrations, and enlargements of it (Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:1; 55:15 : cf. Psalms 89:28-29; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Jeremiah 33:14-26; Ezekiel 34:23-24; Hosea 3:5; Amos 9:11 with Acts 15:16-17).