not stated that they were behind him (or, as is more literal), " after him," when giving in their report; and that there is no necessity to suppose that their captain and leader could not have turned his face toward them while they were speaking. Certainly, if the Angel of Jehovah is not identical with " the man," and there were two prominent commanding figures standing among the myrtles, apart from the cohort of angelic riders, it would have been not " the man " (who in that case would have been an inferior being), but the Angel of Jehovah, who would have attracted the attention of the prophet most, and who would have been mentioned first.
II. It is pretty generally agreed that the myrtles symbolise Israel, and it is not without significance that this particular symbol is chosen. Not the proud cedar, not the lofty, far-spreading oak the symbols of the great worldpowers but the lowly, fragrant myrtle, growing for the most part in the shady valley out of the world's gaze,[1] is chosen to represent the covenant people. Yes, it is with
- ↑ Hadassah (Myrtle) became a favourite female name. Esther bore it, perhaps on account of the humility and modesty of her demeanour. In Kimchi's comment on this verse will be found the following curious passage: "We have found in the words of our Rabbis, of blessed memory, the following exposition" (it will be found in Talmud Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93, col. i): "I saw in the night that the Holy One blessed be He! sought to turn the whole world into night; and, behold! a man riding. This man is no other than the Holy One blessed be He! for it is said, The Lord is a man of war " (a remarkable testimony this from the Talmud, that He who appeared as the Angel of Jehovah in the form of man was the God of Israel). " Upon a red horse. The Holy One blessed be He! sought to turn the whole world into blood, but when He looked upon Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, His anger was cooled, for it is said, And he stood among the myrtle trees. The Hadassim can mean nothing else but the righteous, for it is said, He brought up Hadassah, " i.e., Esther.
of the subdivisions of which that band was composed, inasmuch as he was mounted upon a steed of a red colour, and not of a colour distinct from the rest ": but he overlooks the fact that in answer to the prophet's question, "What are these, my lord?" "The man," standing among the myrtles, answers, "These are they," etc., not " We are they," showing that though he was the Captain of the Lord's host, he was not to be confounded with them. That he was mounted on a steed of a red colour, and not a colour distinct from all the rest, is sufficiently accounted for by the fact that this colour symbolised what was now the chief characteristic of his attitude to the nations who were oppressing Israel, namely, judgment and vengeance.
