separately in the prophets. But this manifoldness, this apparent vagueness or inconsistency, as we might think, must be realised before we can form a right estimate of the revelation of Christ.
1. The first and most familiar portraiture of the expected Deliverer is as a King of the line of David (Is. 11:1; 55:3 f.; Jer. 23:5; 30:9; Ezek. 34:23 f.; 37:24). At first the prophetic imagery suggests a line of kings who shall fulfil the counsels of God. The tabernacle of David is to be restored (Amos 9:11
f.; comp. Acts 15:16 f.); and shepherds are to be set over the regathered flock (Jer. 23:4; comp. 33:17, 20 f., 26; 14-26 is not in LXX.). But in this royal line one King stands out in glory, in whom all the promises are concentrated, a King who shall execute judgment and justice on the earth (Jer. 23:5 ff.; comp. 33:15 ff.), and realise in peace and safety the will of the Lord (
id.
), through the gift of His Spirit (Is. 11:2 ff.). He is to come from the city of David (Mic. 5:2), and to bring peace to the divided kingdom (Zech. 9:10) and to the heathen (
id.
); and His throne is to be everlasting (Is. 9:6 f.).
After the Captivity the thought of the Davidic King falls again into the background. Zechariah alone touches upon it (Heb. 3:8; 6:12 f. with reference to Jer. 23:5 f.). The people and not the royal line is the centre of hope. And it must be added that in the second part of Isaiah the name of David is only once mentioned, and that in a passage (55:3) which appears to indicate that the royal prerogatives of the ideal monarch are extended to the ideal people.
2. Meanwhile another view of the divine interposition in favour of Israel had been powerfully drawn. The prophets had said much of a day of the Lord. The phrase extends through their writings from first to last, from Joel (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:14) to Malachi (Mal. 4:5 [3:23]). On this great and terrible day it is said that Jehovah Himself will execute judgment, bringing victory to His own people and ruin on His enemies and theirs (Joel 3:14 ff.; comp. Is. 2:12 ff.). The crisis is painted as full of gloom and anguish (Amos 5:18, 20), and fierce conflict (Ezek. 13:5). The people confident in their privileges desire the coming of the day: the prophet, who knows that the Presence of the Lord is a moral judgment, turns them to the thought of its terrors. The revelation of deliverance is a revelation of righteousness (Amos
l.
c.
). In this conception therefore the idea of retribution for evil, of vengeance on the wicked, who are typically identified with the oppressors of Israel, prevails over every other (Is. 13:6, 9; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7 ff., 14 ff.). The Lord Himself carries out His will. The thought of deliverance is connected directly with His action. No human agent is singled out for the accomplishment of His counsel.
3. These two conceptions of the Davidic king and of the judgment of Jehovah were united in the apocalyptic writings. In these the Saviour King is clothed with a supernatural character. Whatever may be the date of the Book of Daniel, there can be no doubt that it marks an epoch in the growth of the Messianic hopes of Israel. Henceforward the looked-for King appears under a new aspect, as the heavenly Fulfiller of the purpose of God. The image is mysterious and obscure in Daniel (Dan. 7:13, 18); but it gains clearness in the later works which follow out the same line of thought, the Sibylline fragments, the book of Henoch, and the Psalms of Solomon. In these the figure of the Divine King is presented with ever-increasing glory; and it was probably in the latest period of the development of Jewish hope, to which they belong, that the title of the Christ, the Anointed King, which is used characteristically in