(22) How long wilt thou go about . . .?--The word describes the restless pacing to and fro of impatient, unsatisfied desire. The backsliding daughter--i.e., the adulterous yet now penitent wife--is described, like Gomer in the parable or history of Hosea 2:7, as hesitating between her lovers and her husband.

A woman shall compass a man.--The verse is obscure, and has received very different interpretations. It will be well to begin our inquiry with the meaning which the translators attached to it. On this point the following quotation from Shakespeare is decisive :--

"If I can check my erring love, I will;

If not, to compass her I'll use my skill."

Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii. 4.

To "compass" is to woo and win. And this gives, it is believed, the true meaning. The Hebrew verb (which presents a striking assonance with the word for "backsliding") means literally "to go round about," and this (as in Psalm 26:6; Psalm 32:7; Psalm 32:10) as an act of reverential tenderness and love. In the normal order of man's life, the bridegroom woos the bride. In the spiritual relationship which the prophet has in view, this shall be inverted, and Israel, the erring but repentant wife, shall woo her Divine husband. The history of Gomer in Hosea 2:14-20 again presents a striking parallel. A like inversion of the normal order is indicated, though with a different meaning, in Isaiah 4:1, where the seven women might be said to "compass" the one man. It may be noticed that the words used express the contrast of the two sexes in the strongest possible form. A female shall compass (i.e., woo) a male, possibly as emphasising the fact that what the prophet describes was an exception to the normal order, not of human society only, but of the whole animal society. By some interpreters (Ewald) the words are rendered "a woman shall be turned into a man;" meaning that the weak shall be made strong, as a kind of contrast to the opposite kind of transformation in Jeremiah 30:6; but this gives a far less satisfactory meaning, and the same may be said of such translations as "the woman shall protect the man," and "a woman shall put a man to flight." The notion that the words can in even the remotest degree be connected with the mystery of the Incarnation belongs to the region of dreams, and not of realities; and, lacking as it does the support of even any allusive reference to it in the New Testament, can only be regarded, in spite of the authority of the many Fathers and divines who have adopted it, as the outgrowth of a devout but uncritical imagination. The word used for "woman," indeed, absolutely excludes the idea of the virgin-birth.

Verse 22. - How long wilt thou go about? We must suppose the Israelites to be hesitating whether to set out on their journey or not. They are now admonished to put away their rebellious reluctance, and a special reason for this is added. The Lord hath created - i.e. hath decreed to create - a new thing in the earth (or, in the land); comp. Isaiah 43:19 which suggests that a complete reversal of ordinary experience is indicated, as indeed the word create of itself prepares us to expect. And what is this promise granted as a sign to reluctant Israel? A woman shall compass a man; i.e. instead of shyly keeping aloof, or worse (as hitherto), Israel, Jehovah's bride, shall, with eager affection, press around her Divine husband. The phrase, however, is extremely difficult. Of other explanations, the most plausible philologically is that of Schnurrer and Gesenius, "a woman shall protect a man" (comp. Deuteronomy 32:10). The part of a sentinel, pacing round and round his charge, seems most unfitted for a woman. When enemies are abroad, it is the men's natural duty to perform this part for the women. But in the coming age, the country shall be so free from danger that the places of men and women may safely be reversed. But would a paradox of this kind be likely to be uttered in this connection? Surely a clearer statement would be necessary to remove the reluctance of the Israelites. Vers. 19, 20 suggest that Ephraim needed reassurance as to the attitude of Jehovah towards him. The promise of ver. 22, as explained above, would give precisely the needed strength and comfort. The exposition of St. Jerome and other Fathers, that the birth of Christ from a virgin is referred to, is altogether inadmissible,

(1) because the nouns which form the subject and the predicate respectively indicate sex, not age, and the first in particular cannot be tortured so as to mean "virgin;" and

(2) there is no article to confine the reference to any particular persons.

31:21-26 The way from the bondage of sin to the liberty of God's children, is a high-way. It is plain, it is safe; yet none are likely to walk in it, unless they set their hearts towards it. They are encouraged by the promise of a new, unheard-of, extraordinary thing; a creation, a work of Almighty power; the human nature of Christ, formed and prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost: and this is here mentioned as an encouragement to the Jews to return to their own land. And a comfortable prospect is given them of a happy settlement there. Godliness and honesty God has joined: let no man think to put them asunder, or to make the one atone for the want of the other. In the love and favour of God the weary soul shall find rest, and the sorrowful shall find joy. And what can we see with more satisfaction than the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel?How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter?.... From place to, place, from country to country, from one kingdom to another, as the Jews do to this day; and not return unto the Lord, and David their king, and to their own country? Or, "how long wilt thou be foolish" (a)? in backsliding from the Lord; in slighting the written word; neglecting the promises and prophecies, the exhortations, cautions, and instructions therein given; in adhering to and extolling the traditions of the elders, even above the Scriptures; in pertinaciously rejecting the Messiah, next prophesied of; all which folly the Jews are still guilty of, and continue in. So the word signifies in the Arabic language (b);

for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man; a mighty one, a mighty man, the man Jehovah's fellow; conceived, contained, and encompassed, in the womb of the virgin, the woman, whose seed he was to be of, and of whom he was: this was a "new", unheard of, extraordinary thing, a "creation", a work of almighty power! the human nature of Christ was formed and prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost, without the help of man; and this now is mentioned as an argument and an encouragement to the Jews to return to their own land, since the Messiah is born there of a virgin, as it was foretold he should. This seems to be the true and genuine sense of the words, and other senses weak and impertinent; as when they are made to refer to the heroic spirit in some women superior to men; to the unusual practice of women suing to men for marriage; and to the people of Israel returning to the Lord from their apostasy. So the Targum,

"for, behold, the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth and the people of the house of Israel have given themselves up to the law.''

And very foreign are the senses which some Christian interpreters give of this passage; as when they interpret it of the Jews conquering and oppressing their enemies; or of the Jewish church seeking after God, her husband, when separated from him; or of the Christian church, though weak, resisting her mighty persecutors by her confession of faith, and overcoming them; or of the church under the New Testament embracing Christ; which indeed is preferable to the other, and especially to that Popish one of the eucharist containing the body of Christ (c); but the true sense is what is before given: and even some of the Jewish doctors themselves have acknowledged, that the Messiah is here intended. In an ancient (d) book of theirs, on mention of these words, it is added,

"this shall be in the time of the Messiah, which will be on the sixth day;''

that is, the sixth millennium And elsewhere (e) "a woman shall compass a man"; says R. Hona, in the name of R. Ame, this is the King Messiah. So says R. Joshua ben Levi (f),

"he, that is, God, heals with the same he wounds; so will you find in Israel, they sinned by a virgin, and were punished in virgins, Ezekiel 23:1; so he comforts them by a virgin, according to Jeremiah 31:21; "turn again, O virgin of Israel", &c. "a woman shall compass a man". R Huna, in the name of R. Idi and R. Joshua, said, that this man is the King Messiah, of whom it is said, Psalm 2:7, "this day have I begotten thee" (g).''

(a) "quamdiu fatua eris?" Majus apud Stockium, p. 358. (b) "mente laboravit, stultus fuit", Golius, col. 653. "et dementer, more fatui egit", Camus & Giggeius apud Castel. col. 1289. Arab. "fatuatus, nugatus fuit, ineptiit", Schindler, col. 603. (c) Vid. Erlmanni, "novum omnium novorum", &c. ad Jeremiah 31.22. in Thesaur. Dissert. Theolog. Philolog. tom 1. p. 851. (d) Zohar in Gen. tom. 13. 4. (e) In Abarbinel. Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 37. 4. (f) Apud Moses Hadarsan in Gen. c. 41. Vid. Galatin. de Arcanis Cath. Ver. l. 7. c. 14. p. 52, 526. (g) See my book of the "Prophecies of the Messiah", &c. p. 100, 101.