THE SHEPHERD-KING 361
kingdom was still in exile, though a small fraction of them had joined the children of Judah on their return, and there was outwardly but little in existing circumstances to support the hope of that grand restoration, which, according to the declaration of the former prophets, was one day to occur.
They of the " house of Joseph," as being in an appar ently even more hopeless condition, are therefore especially assured that under the true son of David, the Redeemer- King, whose advent to " Zion " and " Jerusalem " the prophet had jubilantly announced in the 9th chapter, and who, in the 4th verse of the I oth chapter is spoken of as coming forth out of Judah, would fully share in all the blessings promised to the " house of Judah." They too would be brought back and made strong in the Lord and in the power of His might for the final conflict with their adversaries, so that they " shall be like a mighty man" or hero (that is, in " tread ing down their enemies in the mire of the streets," ver. 5), " and their hearts shall rejoice as through ^vine " which exhilarates and " maketh glad the heart of man " with a gladness which is not natural, and is a fit emblem, therefore, of the strength and exhilaration which are imparted by the Spirit of God. 1
And it will not be an evanescent joy which will soon fade away. No ; " their children (also) shall see it" that is, the great things which God shall then do unto them and be glad. " Their heart shall rejoice in Jehovah " as the highest and only lasting source of joy " to whom," as an old writer puts it, " is to be referred all gladness which is derived from created things that whoso glorieth may glory in the Lord, in whom alone the rational creature ought to take delight."
Most commentators suppose that ver. 8 to the end of the chapter still speak of Ephraim ; but the supposition is, I think, without sufficient warrant. Having spoken of the "house of Judah" and the "house of Joseph" separately, the prophet now proceeds to set forth the purpose of God
1 Eph. v. 18.
