Against the hypothesis that the people are the subject of the prophecy, there is the circumstance that it carries along with it the unnatural supposition that, in chap. liii. 1-10, the heathens are introduced as speaking. Decisive against this supposition are specially the designation עמי in ver. 8, and the most forced explanation to which it compels us, in some verses, especially ver. 2.
The interpretation which considers the godly portion of the people to be the subject of the prophecy, is overthrown by the fact that, according to the view of Scripture, even those who, in the ordinary sense, are righteous, are unable to render a vicarious satisfaction for others. For such, absolute righteousness is required. But the "righteous ones" are begotten by sinful seed (Ps. li.), and they have need daily to pray that God would pardon their secret sins, Ps. xix. 13; they themselves live only by the pardoning mercy of God, and cannot think of atoning for others, Ps. xxxii. Even for believers, the captivity is, according to chap. xlii., the merited punishment of their sins. In that passage, the greatness of the mercy of God is pointed out, who grants a twofold salvation for sins, while infinite punishment should be their natural consequence. It is not to a single portion of the people, but to the whole, that, in the passages formerly quoted, every share in effecting deliverance and salvation is denied. How little an absolute righteousness existed in the elect, sufficiently appears from the fact, that, in the second part, it forms a main object of the Prophet to oppose their want of courage, their despair and distrust of God. _Farther_--The ungodly could not by any means consider the sufferings of the righteous ones as vicarious, because they themselves suffered as much; and as little could they despise the godly on account of their sufferings. It is a mere invention, destitute of every historical foundation, to assert that it was especially the God-fearing who had to suffer so grievously in the captivity. On the contrary, their fear of God gained for them the respect of the Gentiles; and among [Pg 340] their own people also, whose sinful disposition was broken by the punishment, they occupied an honourable position. Ezekiel we commonly find surrounded by the elders of the people, listening to his words; and Daniel, Esther, and Mordecai, Ezra, and Nehemiah, richly furnished with the goods of this world, enjoyed high esteem in the Gentile world. The fact that the supporters of this hypothesis are compelled to have recourse to such an unhistorical fiction, which has been carried to the extreme, especially by _Knobel_, sufficiently proves it to be untenable.
