209. M. Ps. cxlix is another manifest prophecy of Muhammad. Notice the "new song" (verse 1),

i.e. the Qur'an, and the mention of the two-edged sword in verse 6. This last refers especially to 'Ali, the prophet's son-in-law, for he had such a sword and made good use of it. The "king" in verse 2 is Muhammad.

C. If you read verse 2, you will see that "Israel," "the children of Zion," are called upon to rejoice "in their king." The title of "king of the Jews" is a strange one to give to Muhammad! Why they should rejoice in him is rather a difficult thing to explain, if you remember how he treated the Banu Qainuqa' and other Jewish tribes. The "two-edged sword" is said in the Psalm to be "in their hands," i.e. in that of the Israelites, not in the hand of 'Ali. "The king" of verse 2 is explained in verse 4 to be "the Lord," who is often styled King of Israel.

210. M. In the Song of Solomon (v. 16) Muhammad's name actually occurs in the Hebrew, in the form Mahamaddim. This plural form is used to denote his greatness as a prophet¹.

C. The idea that Muhammad's name is contained in this word is due to ignorance of Hebrew. A Hindu might just as well fancy that the names of some of his deities were mentioned in the Qur'an because of the accidental likeness between them

and certain Arabic words; or an ignorant Muslim might as correctly assert that in the verse Al hamdo lillahi Rabbi'l 'alamin, Muhammad's name occured. The translation of the word mahamaddim in Cant. v. 16, is simply "delightfulnesses." It is a common and not a proper noun, and it occurs as frequently in Hebrew as do some of the derivatives of the root حمد in Arabic. If you carefully consult the other passages in which the same word occurs, either in the singular or in the plural, you will see that the word cannot be taken as Muhammad's name. Cf. Hosea ix. 6, 16; 1 Kings xx. 6; Lam. i. 10, 11; ii. 4; Joel iv. 5; Is. lxiv. 10; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 19; Ezek. xxiv. 16, 21, 25. In the last passage it is applied to a woman, Ezekiel's wife (v. 16, "the desire of thine eyes," cf. v. 18), and to the sons and daughters of the idolatrous Jews (v. 25).

211. M. In Isa. xxi. 7 the "chariot of asses" refers to the coming of Christ, who entered Jerusalem riding upon an ass, and whose ass is one of the animals admitted into Paradise. In the same way "a chariot of camels" refers to Muhammad, who always rode a camel.

C. Verse 9 explains that the watchman saw people fleeing to escape from Babylon when it was captured by the enemy, some on asses, some on horses, some on camels. There is no reference to Christ or to Muhammad either.

212. M. Isa. xlii. 10, 11. Here the "new song" is an evident reference to the new method of