PROPHECY
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whose lineaments are sculptured on the remains of Nineveh. It is not so with the Davidic line; it has and will have a place throughout all ages in the present fortunes of the world: for "like the terebinthtree and the oak, though they be cut down, yet is there substance in them ;"-there is in them, according to the literal meaning of the word, that which will make them stand up "a new stem b.'' In a word, the earthly kingdom of David will pass away; but in its place must arise the spiritual dominion of Messiah, David's Son. Before, however, we proceed to the more exact consideration of the text, it may be useful to say a few words concerning the shorter prediction, placed between the two great prophecies of the Immanuel and the rod of Jesse, and occupying part of the ninth, and four verses of the tenth, chapter. It was spoken against the kingdom of Samaria, and is remarkable for the regularity of its form, as it consists of four odes, of equal length, and each ending with the refrain, "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Of these odes, the first rebukes the pride of Samaria; the second, her obduracy und<¡r punishment; the third, her anarchy; and the fourth, the injustice of her princes, who under cover of those lawless times had perverted judgment, "taking away the right of the poor, to make widows their prey, and to rob the fatherless." Its date is easy to settle ; for when in the first ode Samaria is b
Isa. vi. 13.