328 VISIONS AND PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH
Then, in a literal sense, Jehovah in the person of their Messiah "shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning," and He Himself as the Captain of the Host " shall blow the trumpet," * and " shall go forth and fight against those nations as when He fought in the day of battle." z
The 1 5th verse illustrates the word of the Psalmist, " Through God we shall do valiantly, for He it is that shall tread down our adversaries." 3 "Jehovah of hosts" we read, " shall defend them ; 4 and they shall devour ; and they shall tread down the sling stones ; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine : and they shall be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar" The devouring (or " eating ") and " drinking " must, of course, be understood in a figurative sense for it is only to a perverted imagination, worthy of those who from time to time seek to revive the diabolical lie which is known by the name of the " Blood Accusation," that the thought could ever occur that the Jews did literally eat the flesh and drink the blood of their conquered adversaries. 5
The figure which is here before the prophet s mind is
1 See the somewhat parallel passage Isa. xxx. 30-33, where the enemy primarily referred to is the Assyrian.
2 Chap. xiv. 3.
3 Ps. Ix. 12, cviii. 13.
4 Ci !T.?y }5J, yagen aleihem literally, "shall be a shield over them." Pusey points out that the word is used before only by Isaiah (xxxvii. 33, xxxviii. 6). This image of complete protection stands first in God s word to Abraham, "I am thy shield" (Gen. xv. i). But it is laid hold of by David when he appeals to God : " Thou, Lord, art a shield around me " (Ps. iii. 3).
5 A German scholar named Ghillany, in a treatise on Die Menschenopfer der Alien Hcbraer, published in Nuremberg in 1842, does actually descend to this absurdity. He adduces this verse in Zechariah in proof that the prophet "in his dreams of victory let us have an insight into the barbarism of the victorious Hebrews," who, according to him, "did actually in ancient times eat their fallen foes as food, and drank their blood in the rage of victory, as well as partook of portions of their bodies " !
But whatever cannibal "barbarisms" may have existed among some of the Gentile nations, both in the East and in the West, Israel had never sunk quite so low even in the most "ancient" times, and the very idea of actually drinking blood is repugnant to the Jewish religion, as Dr. Wright well observes, and is condemned in both the Law and the Prophets.
