Son 1:1 The song of songs, which is Solomon’s. This is certainly the title of the book which follows, although in our present Hebrew Bible it is the first verse of the book preceded by the shorter form, ’The Song of Songs.’ The Septuagint has simply the title Ασμα, So that our English title in the Authorized Version, ’The Song of Solomon,’ has no ancient authority. It is well altered in the Revised Version to ’The Song of Songs.’ The word "song" (שִׁיר) does not necessarily convey the meaning. composed to be sung to music. If the performance of the words were chiefly in view, the word would have been מִוְמוֹר, carmen, "lyric poem," "hymn," or "ode." The Greek Ασμαἀσμάτων, and the Latin of the Vulgate, Canticum canticorum, accord with the Hebrew in representing the work as taking a high place either in the esteem of the Church or, on account of the subject, in the esteem of the writer. Luther expresses the same idea in the title he attaches to it, ’Das Hohelied,’ that is, the chief or finest of songs. The reference may be to the excellence of the literary form, but probably that which suggested the title was the supreme beauty of the love which prompted the songs. The title may be regarded as applied to the whole book, or to the first portion of it giving the name to the whole. If it be a collection of separate songs strung together, as some think) by mere resemblance in style and subject, then the words, "which is Solomon’s" (לִשְל מוֹ אֲשֶׁר) apply to the first song alone. But the unity which is clearly to be traced through the book to the end makes it probable that the title is meant to ascribe the work to the authorship of Solomon. This is the opinion of the majority of critics. It must have come either from the wise king himself, or from some one of his contemporaries or immediate successors. The preposition is the lamedh auctoris. If the meaning were "referring to," another preposition (עַל) would have been employed. It has been remarked by Delitzsch that the absence of any description of Solomon as "King of Israel" or "son of David," as in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, confirms the view that Solomon himself was the sole author. Some have argued against the authenticity of the title on the ground that the longer form of the relative, אֲשֶׁר, is used in it, whereas in the book itself the shorter form, שְׁ, is found, but no dependence, can be placed on that argument regarded by itself, for the same writer employs both forms, as e.g. Jeremiah, who uses the longer form in his prophecies and the shorter in Lamentations. The shorter form is, in fact, the elder, being Old Canaanitish or Phoenician, אשׁ, which is a lengthened form of שׁ, and afterwards became אֲשֶׁר. One writer, however Fleischer), holds that the relative pronoun as a substantive origin, and compares it with the Arabic ithe and the Assyrian asar, meaning "track" or "place," like the German welcher, which comes from wo. But whether this be so or not, it is certainly unsafe to date any book by the form found in it of the, relative pronoun. We know that in poetry the abbreviated form is common. It was probably a North Palestine provincialism, as we see in the Book of Kings. It became common in prose writings after the Captivity because of the degradation of Hebrew, but it was not unknown before that time either in prose or poetry. With regard to the exact description of the poetic form of the Song of Songs, the difference among critics is considerable, but the question is scarcely worth discussing. There undoubtedly is unity of conception in the songs which are brought together, but it cannot be of importance to prove that there is dramatic unity strictly speaking; there is no dramatic procedure, nor can we suppose that there is any ultimate aim at dramatic representation. But the Exposition which follows will suffice to show that there are facts of history in the background of the poem; if the suggestions of the language and scenery be followed, the facts are very beautiful and even romantic—the love of the great king for one of his own subjects, a lovely northern maiden, whose simplicity and purity of character are a great attraction and lend much force to the religious sentiment of the song. In 1 Kings 5:12 we read that "the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him." That divinely inspired wisdom enabled him, notwithstanding his own personal errors, to idealize and sanctify the lovely episode of his lifo which lies at the foundation of his poem. And the Church of God in every age has appreciated, more or less widely, the inspiration, both of matter and of form, which breathed in it. We are told that Solomon composed one thousand and five songs (1 Kings 4:32); whether this is a part of that collection or not we cannot certainly say, but that it is a mere fasciculus, or collection of separate songs, strung together by their general erotic character, is what we cannot believe. No doubt, as Dr. Mason Good has observed, the Arabian poets were accustomed to arrange their poems in what they compared to a string of pearls, but we can scarcely carry such a fact into the Bible, and deal with sacred books as mere literary remains. There must be a deep religious meaning in such language, and it is in accordance with Eastern usage that amatory songs should be so employed. What the meaning is we must persistently ask, and however much has been wrongly said in the past, while we believe in the Divine authority of the Old Testament we must not renounce the endeavour to find the Song of Songs worthy of its title and its place. Verse 2-2:7 Part I. MUTUAL LOVE. Song of Shulamith in the royal chambers. Chorus of ladies, daughters of Jerusalem. Son 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Whether we take these words as put in the lips of the bride herself, or of the chorus as identifying themselves with her, is of little consequence. It is certain that the idea intended to be expressed is that of delight in the approach of the royal bridegroom. The future is used optatively, "Let me be taken up into the closest fellowship and embrace." All attempts to dispense with the amatory phraseology are vain. The "kisses" must be interpreted in a figurative sense, or the sacred character of the whole book must be removed. The words may be rendered, with one of his kisses; i.e. the sweetness of his lips is such that one kiss would be rapture. Some have thought that allusion is intended to the custom among idolaters referred to in Job 31:27, "My mouth hath kissed my hand;" but the meaning is simply that of affection. The great majority of Christian commentators have regarded the words as expressive of desire towards God. Origen said, the Church of the old dispensation longing after higher revelations, as through the Incarnation, "How long shall he send me kisses by Moses and the prophets? I desire the touch of his own lips." It is dangerous to attempt specific applications of a metaphor. The general truth of it is all that need be admitted. If the relation between God and his people is one that can be set forth under the image of human affection, then there is no impropriety in the language of Solomon’s Song. "To kiss a kiss" (נָשָׁק נְשִׁקָה) is the ordinary Hebraic form (cf. "to counsel a counsel"). Thy love is better than wine. The plural is used, "loves," as in the word "life" (חַיִים)—the abstract for the concrete, perhaps in order to indicate the manifestation of love in many caresses. The change from the third person to the second is common in poetry. The comparison with wine may be taken either as denoting sweetness or exhilarating effects. The intoxicating power of wine is but rarely referred to in Scripture, as the ordinary wine was distinguished from strong drink. Some, as Hitzig and Bottcher, would read יַשְׁקֵנִי, changing the pointing, and translating, "Let him give me to drink;" but there is no necessity for a reading so forced and vulgar. The Septuagint, altering the vowels of the word "love," turn it into "breasts," and must therefore have supposed it addressed to the bride. The word is connected with the Arabic, and runs through the languages, dodh (cf. Dada, Dido, David). Perhaps the reference to wine, as subsequently to the ointments, may be explained by the fact that the song is supposed to be sung while wine is presented in the chamber, and while the perfumes are poured out in preparation for the entrance of the royal bridegroom. We can scarcely doubt that the opening words are intended to be the utterance of loving desire on the part of the bride in the presence of the daughters of Jerusalem. Some have suggested that verses 1-8 are from a kind of responsive dialogue, but the view of the older interpreters and of Ewald, Hengstenberg, Weissbach, and others of the moderns, seems more correct, that all the first seven verses are in the mouth of Shulamith, and then verse 8 comes in naturally as a chorus in reply to the song of the bride. The use of the plural, "We will run after thee," etc; is easily explicable. The bride is surrounded by her admiring companions and attendants. They are congratulating her on the king’s love. She speaks as from the midst of the company of ladies. Son 1:3 Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is as ointment poured forth; therefore do the virgins love thee. There is some slight difference among critics as to the rendering of this verse, but it does not affect the meaning. Lovely and delightful thou art. As thy perfumes are so precious, so is thy name; the more it is spread, the more delight is found in it. The idea is that the person is the sweetest, and that his communications are elevating and inspiring. The "virgins" may be taken generally, "Those who are full of the sensibility of youth appreciate thy attractions." The word almah is much disputed about, but the meaning is simply that of "young woman," whether virgin or married. "Thou art the delight of all the young." Mason Good renders the verse— "Rich thy perfumes; but richer far than they The countless charms that round thy person play; Thy name alone, more fragrant than the rose, Glads every maid, where’er its fragrance flows." Son 1:4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will make mention of thy love more than of wine: rightly do they love thee. This is best taken as all spoken by the bride. It is the language of the purest affection and adoring admiration. "I drew them," God says (Hosea 11:4), "with cords of a man, with bands of love." "The Lord appeared of old unto me," says Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:3), "saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." In the same sense the Greek word ἐλκυεῖν is used by our Lord himself of the Father drawing to the Son, and of the Son, uplifted on the cross, "drawing" all men unto him (cf. John 6:44; John 12:32). If the spiritual meaning of the whole poem is admitted, such language is quite natural. The king’s chambers are the king’s own rooms in the palace, i.e. his sleeping, rooms and sitting rooms—the penetralia regis. We may take the preterite as equivalent to the present; i.e. "The king is bringing me into closest fellowship with himself, not merely as a member of his household, but as his chosen bride." The concluding words have caused much discussion. The meaning, however, is the same whether we say, "The upright love thee," or "Thou art rightly loved." The intention is to set forth the object of love as perfect. The plural, מֵישָׁרִים, is used to signify the abstract of the word, thought, or act; i.e. "righteous," for "rightly" (cf. Psalms 58:2; Psalms 75:3); but the best critics think it could not be the abstract for the concrete plural, as in the Vulgate, Recti diligunt re. The same use of the word is seen in Son 7:9, "The best wine that teeth down smoothly for my beloved" (cf. Proverbs 23:31). Before going further in the song, it is well to observe how chaste, pure, and delicate is the language of love; and yet, as Delitzsch has pointed out, there is a mystical, cloudy brightness. We seem to be in the region of the ideal. It is not a mere love song, though it may have been the commemoration of an actual past. The Eastern form of the words may be less suited to our taste than it would be to those who first embraced Christianity, and to the nineteenth century than to the first; but the loving rapture of the Church in fellowship with the Saviour is certainly seeking a more vivid expression in song, and there are many of the most simple-minded and devoted Christians whose joy in Christ pours itself out freely in strains not much less fervid and almost as sensuous as anything to be found in Solomon’s Song. Some are beginning to remonstrate against this freedom of devotional language, but the instinct of the Church seems to justify it as the demand of the heart under the influence of the Word of God itself. Perhaps there is a state of religious feeling coming into the experience of Christians which will remove the veil from such a book as the Song of Songs, and we shall yet find that its language is needful and is not extravagant. Son 1:5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. The word "black" (שְׁחוֹרָה) does not necessarily mean that the skin is black, but rather sunburnt, dark brown, as in Lamentations 4:8, where the same word signifies the livid or swarthy appearance of one who has suffered long from famine and wretchedness. There is certainly no reason to take the word as an argument for the bride being Pharaoh’s daughter; but it points to what is confirmed by the rest of the poem—the rustic birth and northern blood of the bride. She has been living in the fields, and is browned with the ruddy health of a country life. The best explanation of the words is that they are drawn out by the fact that the bride is surrounded by her ladies. Some think that they look askance at her, or with indignation at the boldness of her words; but that is quite unnecessary, and would be inconsistent with the dignity of the bride. The country maiden feels the greatness of the honour, that she is chosen of the king, and with simple modesty, in the presence of courtly ladies around her, sets forth her claim. The simile is not uncommon in poetry, as in Theocritus and Virgil. Comely; i.e. attractive, agreeable. Kedar (whether from the Arabic, meaning "powerful," or from the Hebrew, "black") designates the tribes of the NorthArabian descendants of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13; Isaiah 21:17), Kedareens, referred to by Pliny, and remaining in Arabia until the time of the Mohammedans. The Bedouin still calls his tent his "hair house;" it is covered with goat’s-hair cloth, mostly black or grey. Whether the reference is to the colour of the goat’s hair or to the tents being browned or blackened by the heat of the sun, we cannot doubt that the allusion is to the complexion, and the rest of the simile would then be applicable to the lovely shape and features of the maiden, the curtains of Solomon being the curtains of a pavilion, or pleasure tent, spread out like "a shining butterfly," i.e. the beautiful cloth or tapestry which formed the sides of the tent or the tent coverings, the clothing of the framework, or tent hangings (see Isaiah 54:2; Exodus 26:36; 2 Samuel 7:1-29.; 1 Chronicles 17:1, etc.). Egyptian hangings were particularly prized. The custom prevailed among Eastern monarchs of sojourning once in the year in some lovely rural district, and at such times their tents would be very magnificent. The LXX. has, ὡςδεῤῥείςΣολομὼν, "as the skins of Solomon;" but this is a mistake. The word is derived from a root "to tremble," i.e. "to glitter in the sun." Those who desire to find an allegorical interpretation think there is an evident allusion here to the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness, or the admission of the Gentiles into the covenant; but there is no reason for any such strain upon the meaning. The simile is merely poetical. The soul realizes its own acceptance before God, but ascribes that acceptance to his grace. "The bride, the Lamb’s wife," sees the beauty of the Lord reflected in herself, and rejoices in her own attractions for his sake. There is no immodesty in the consciousness of merit so long as that merit is ascribed to him from whom it comes. There is often more pride in the assumption of humility than in the claim to be acknowledged. The same apostle who declared himself less than the least of all saints also maintained that he was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. Son 1:6 Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; they made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. The meaning seems to be—Do not let the swarthiness of my complexion lower me in your eyes. Literally the words are, Do not see me that I am; i.e. do not regard me as being, because I am. There is no necessity to suppose any looks of the ladies to have suggested the words. They are the words of modest self-depreciation mingled with joyful sense of acceptance. It is difficult to render the Hebrew exactly. The word translated "swarthy" (shecharchoreh) is probably a diminutive from shechorah, which itself means "blackish;" so that the meaning is, "that my complexion is dark." The reference to the sun explains the word still further, as pointing, not to a difference of race, but to mere temporary effects of an outdoor life: "The sun has been playing with my complexion;" or, as the LXX. renders it, Παρέβλεψέμὰὁἡλίος, "The sun has been gazing at me." So other Greek versions. Some, however, include the idea of burning or scorching, which is the literal meaning of the verb, though in Job 3:9 and Job 41:10 it is used in the sense of looking at or upon. The sun is the eye of the heavens (see 2 Samuel 12:11), and with delicate feeling it is spoken of here as feminine, the bride playfully alluding, perhaps, to the lady seen in the heavens preceding the ladies of the court in gazing on her beauty. It is difficult to explain with perfect satisfaction the next clause of the verse. Doubtless "mother’s sons" is a poetical periphrasis for brothers—not "step-brothers," as some have said. Perhaps the mother was a widow, as no father is mentioned. The best explanation is that the bride is simply giving an account of herself, why she is so browned in the sun. The brothers, for some reason, had been incensed against her, possibly on account of her favour in the eyes of the king, but more probably for private, family reasons. They would not have her shutting herself up in the house to take care of her complexion; they would have her in the vineyards. In the word "keeper" (noterah instead of notzerah) we have an instance of the northern dialect—a kind of Platt-Hebrew—hardening the pronunciation. My own vineyard have I not kept no doubt refers simply and solely to her complexion, not to her virginity or character. She means—I was compelled by my brothers to go into the vineyards in the heat of the sun, and the consequence was, as you see, I have not been able to preserve the delicacy of my skin; I have been careless of my personal beauty. The sun has done its work. The reference helps us to recognize the historical background of the poem, and leads naturally to the use of the pastoral language which runs through the whole. The king is a shepherd, and his bride a shepherdess. Without straining the spiritual interpretation, we may yet discover in this beautiful candour and Simplicity of the bride the reflection of the soul’s virtues in its joyful realization of Divine favour; but the true method of interpretation requires no minute, detailed adjustment of the language to spiritual facts, but rather seeks the meaning in the total impression of the poem. Son 1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest thy flock, where thou makest it to rest at noon: for why should I he as one that is veiled beside the flock of thy companions? These words carry on the associations suggested by the previous verse. The bride is longing for the bridegroom; but she cannot think of him yet in any other light than as a companion of her simple country life—he is a shepherd, and she a shepherdess. "Take me into closer fellowship with thyself; let me not remain still only one amongst the many." Perhaps there is intended to be an allusion to the common metaphor—the king as the shepherd and the people as his flock; but the uppermost thought of the bride is separation unto her husband. The soul which longs for the enjoyment of fellowship with God desires to be carried away out of all distractions, out of all restraints, lifted above reserve and above doubt into the closest and most loving union. The idea of the veil may be either the veil of mourning or the veil of modesty and reserve. Probably the latter is the true reference. The LXX. has, ὡςπεριβαλλομένη. There is some difference of opinion among critics. Ewald thinks it refers to strangeness—"like one unknown," and therefore veiled; Gesenius says, "one fainting;" others connect the word with the root "to roam," "to wander" (see Isaiah 22:17), which is confirmed by Symmachus, the Vulgate, the Syriac, the Chaldee, Jerome, Venetian, and Luther. The simplest explanation is that the bride compares herself, in her absence from her lord, among the ladies of the court, to a veiled woman travelling beside the flocks of the shepherds, seeking her friend, but not yet brought to him. Son 1:8 (Chorus of ladies.) If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. That another voice is here introduced there can be no doubt; and as it is not like the voice of the bridegroom himself, which is heard in the next verse, we must suppose it to be the chorus of attendant ladies. Delitzsch suggests very plausibly that they are pleasantly chiding the simplicity of the country maiden, and telling her that, if she cannot understand her position, she had better return to her country life. In that case, "if thou know not" would mean—If thou canst not rise up to thy privilege; the knowledge referred to being general knowledge or wisdom. The delicate irony is well expressed, as in the reference to the kids—"feed thy kids," like a child as thou art. But there may be no intentional irony in the words; rather a playful and sympathetic response to the beautiful simplicity of the bride—If thou art waiting to be brought to thy beloved, if thou art seeking thy shepherd, thou most lovely woman, then go quietly on thy way, like a shepherdess tending the kids beside the shepherds’ tents; follow the peaceful footsteps of the flock, and in due time the beloved one will appear. This is better than to suppose the ladies presuming to indulge in irony when they must know that Shulamith is the king’s favourite. Besides, the first scene of the poem, which is a kind of introduction, thus ends appropriately with an invitation to peaceful waiting for love. We are prepared for the entrance of the beloved one. The spiritual meaning is simple and clear—Those that would be lifted up into the highest enjoyments of religion must not be impatient and doubt that the Lord will reveal himself, but go quietly and patiently on with the work of life, "in the footsteps of the flock," in fellowship with humble souls, and in the paths of peace, in the green pastures and beside the still waters, ready to do anything assigned them, and the time of rejoicing and rapture will come. Son 1:9 (Entrance of the bridegroom.) I have compared thee, O my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots. There can be no reasonable doubt that these words are put into the mouth of the king. The "steed" is in the feminine (סוּסָה); some would point the word with the plural vowels, that is, "to my horses," or a "body of horses." There is no necessity for that. The reference to a particular very lovely mare is more apt and pointed. In 1 Kings 10:26 we read in the LXX. Version of τεσσάρεςχιλίαδεςθηλειαὶἵπποι, which Solomon had for his chariots—fourteen hundred war chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. The Pharaoh chariots were those which the king had imported from Egypt (1 Kings 10:28, 1 Kings 10:29; 2 Chronicles 9:28). It may be that the reference is to the splendid decoration of the trappings. Delitzsch very rightly sees in such a figure a confirmation of the view that Solomon himself was the author. The horses from Egypt were famed at that time as those of Arabia became afterwards. The names both of horses and chariots in the Egyptian language were borrowed from the Semitic, as they were probably first imported into Egypt by the Hyksos, or shepherd kings. Other examples of the same comparison are found in poetry, as in Horace, Anacreon, and Theocritus. In the last (’Idyl.,’ 18.30, 31) occur the following lines, rendered into English verse:— "As towers the cypress ’mid the garden’s bloom, As in the chariot proud Thessalian steed, Thus graceful, rose-complexioned Helen moves." The idea is that of stately beauty and graceful movements. The old commentators see the Divine love of espousals (Jeremiah 2:2), as in the wilderness of the Exodus, and afterwards in the wilderness of the world. The Bible is full of the expression of Divine tenderness and regard for man. Son 1:10, Son 1:11 Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, thy neck with strings of jewels. We will make thee plaits of gold with studs of silver. This language may be suggested by the comparison first employed—the trappings of the horse. "The head frame of the horse’s bridle and the poitral were then certainly, just as now, adorned with silken tassels, fringes, and other ornaments of silver. Torim, ’round ornaments,’ which hang down in front on both sides of the headband or are also inwoven in the braids of hair in the forehead." The strings of jewels were necklaces—three rows of pearls. The ornamentation is, however, quite in accordance with female dress. The king makes the promise of gold and silver decoration as an expression of his personal delight in his bride and acceptance of her. Gold and silver were closely connected; hence silver was called, in the Old Egyptian language, "white gold." The idea seems to be that of silver points sprinkled over golden knobs. Compare the description in ’Faust’ of Margaret’s delight in the casket she finds in her room. The LXX. and Vulgate have mistaken the word torim for a similar word for "doves," taking the simile to be the beautiful colours of the dove’s neck. The bride does not seem to reply immediately to the king; but we may suppose that the king takes his bride by the hand, and leads her into the banqueting chamber. But the next three verses, which are certainly in the lips of the bride, may be taken as her expression of delight in her husband, either while he feasts in the banquet or when it is over. The banquet is a familiar emblem of the delight of mutual love. Hence the feasts of love in the primitive Church were regarded, not only as seasons of fellowship between Christians, but times of rejoicing, when the soul entered into the full appreciation of the Saviour’s presence. Son 1:12-14 While the king sat (or, sits) at his table, my spikenard sent (sends) forth its fragrance. My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, that lieth betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of Engedi. The preterite is best taken poetically for the present. The words are evidently a response to those of the king. As such they refer to present feeling and not to a past state. The bride expresses her delight in the king. The table is used generally. The Hebrew word is from a root "to sit round." The habit of reclining at table was introduced much later, during the Persian, Greek, and Roman period. The spikenard was a powerful perfume, probably of Indian origin, as the Indian word nalada, meaning "that which yields fragrance," shows. The Persian is nard, the Old Arabic nardu. It was made from an Indian plant, the Valeriana, called Nardo-stachys ’Gatamansi, growing in Northern and Eastern India. The hairy part of the stem immediately above the root yields the perfume. That it was "very precious" we see from the account of Mary’s offering, which was worth more than three hundred denarii, i.e. £8 10s. (Mark 14:5; John 12:2). Horace promised Virgil a whole cask, i.e. nine gallons, of the best wine in exchange for a small onyx box full of the perfume. The metaphor represents the intense longing of love. Myrrh was an exotic introduced into Palestine from Arabia, Abyssinia, and India. Like frankincense, it is one of the amyridae. The Balsamodendron myrrha is the tree itself with its leaves and flowers. From the tree came a resin or gum (Gummi myrrhae), which either dropped from the leaves or was artificially obtained by incisions in the bark. The natural product was the more valuable. It was much prized as a perfume, and employed for many purposes. The Hebrew women were accustomed to carry little bags or bottles of myrrh suspended from their necks and hanging down between the breasts under the dress, diffusing an attractive fragrance round them. The word tseror is, properly, "a little bag," sacculus, "that which one ties up," rather than a "bundle." The meaning, of course, is rhetorical—He is at my heart and delightful to all my thoughts as the fragrance to my senses. The henna flowers, or cypress, in the vineyards of Engedi, is a very beautiful figure. Copher, the cypress cluster,—in Greek, κύπρος: in Arabic, al-henna (Lawsonia)—grows in Palestine and Egypt, as we are told by Pliny (’Nat. Hist.’ 12.24). It is a tall shrub reaching to eight or ten feet, exceedingly beautiful in appearance, and giving forth a delightful odour. It is named from a root "to be white or yellow-white." The Moslem women stain their hands and feet with it to give them a yellow tint. Engedi was a lovely district on the west of the Dead Sea—Hazezon Tamar, now Ain Tidy, where Solomon made terraces on the hillsides and covered them with gardens and vineyards. The allusion confirms the date of the writing as contemporary with Solomon, as the gardens would then be in their perfection. The figure is, perhaps, intended to be an advance in rhetorical force upon that which preceded—the fragrance diffused and almost overpowering, as of a blossoming tree. Son 1:15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves; literally, thine eyes are doves. The king receives the worship of his bride and delights in her. She is very sweet and fair to him. The dove is a natural symbol of love; hence it was attached by the classical nations to the garden of love, together with the myrtle, rose, and apple, all of which we find introduced in this Hebrew poem. Hence the Arabic name for a dove, Jemima, as we see in the Book of Job, was the name of a woman (cf. Columbina). The language of the king is that of ecstasy; hence the interjection and repetition. The enraptured monarch gazes into the eyes of his beloved bride, and sees there only purity, constancy, and affection. In So Job 7:4 the eyes are compared to fish ponds, no doubt for their clear, liquid depth and serenity. Some have thought that the allusion is to the very lovely eyes of the doves; but there is no need of the limitation. Verse 1:16-2:1 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant; also our couch is green. The beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters are firs. I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley. We take these three verses together as being, in all probability, the address of the bride to her royal husband. This was the view taken by the Masoretic editors and preserved in our present pointing of the Hebrew, as we see in the masculine form of the first word, הִגֶּךָ, which replies to the feminine form in Son 2:15, הִגָּךְ. The seventeenth verse is apparently abrupt. Why should the bride pass so suddenly from the general address of affection, "Thou art fair, thou art pleasant," to a particular description of a rural scene? The explanation suggested by some of the critics is not farfetched, that Solomon whispers to her that she shall go back with him to her country life if she pleases, or she reminds him of his promise made at some other time. Undoubtedly the point of Shulamith’s response lies in Son 2:1, "I am not at ease in this palatial splendour; I am by nature a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley. Take me to the green couch, and let me lie under the cedars and the firs." The couch is the divan (cf. Amos 6:4), from a root "to cover over" (like "canopy" in Greek, κωνωπεῖον, so called from its protecting the person under it from the κώνεπες, or "gnats). It is not that the nuptial bed is particularly intended, or even the bridal bower, but the home itself as a bowery resting place. "Our home is a sweet country home; take me, there, beloved one." The word "green" is very suggestive in the Hebrew. It is said to "combine in itself the ideas of softness and juicy freshness, perhaps of bending and elasticity, of looseness and thus of overhanging ramification, like weeping willow." Beams, from a root "to meet," "to lay crosswise," "to hold together." But the meaning depends upon the idea of the whole description. Some would render "fretted ceilings," or "galleries;" but Dr. Ginsburg gives it, "our bower is of cedar arches," which excludes the idea of a formal structure made of cedar beams. The same meaning is conveyed in the last clause, "our rafters are firs." The word rendered "rafters" (יָחִיט) literally signifies "a place upon which one runs" (like שׁוּק, a "street"), i.e. a charming or pleasant spot. The beroth is the cypress tree, an Aramaic word, or one used in the north of Palestine. The meaning is, "our pleasant retreat is cypresses"—is beautiful and fragrant with the cypress tree. Delitzsch, however, and others would take it differently as describing the panels or hollows of a wainscoted ceiling, like φατναί, lacunae, lacunaria, and the LXX; φατνωμάτα: Symmachus, φατνωσεῖς: Jerome, laquearii (cf. Isaiah 60:13). But the concluding words would then be unfitting. The bride is not describing a splendid palace, but a country home. "I am a tender maiden," she says, "who has been brought up in retirement; take me to a forest palace and to the green, fragrant surroundings, where the meadow flower, the valley lily will be happy." We are so accustomed to the rendering of So Son 2:1, which our Revised Version has adopted from the Authorized, that it would be wrong to destroy the effect which it borrows from long familiarity unless it were absolutely necessary. The word chavatseleth, however, has been differently translated; it is literally any wild flower—rose, saffron crocus (Colchieum autumnale), tulip, narcissus, lily. The crocus is, perhaps, nearest to the meaning, as the name is probably derived from a root "to form bulbs" or bulbous knolls. It occurs only once again, in Isaiah 35:1, where it is rendered "rose" in the Authorized Version; LXX; ἄνθος: Vulgate, flos. Some derive it from the root chavaz, "to be bright," with ìas termination. Sharon may be here a general denomination of the open field or plain, from יָרַשׁ, "to be straight, plain." There was a district called Sharon on the coast from Joppa to Caesarea. There was another Sharon beyond the Jordan (see 1 Chronicles 5:16). According to Eusebius and Jerome, there was yet another, between Tabor and Tiberias, and this, as being in the north, may be referred to. Aquila renders "a rosebud of Sharon." The lily (shoshannah) is only found as here in the feminine form in the Apocrypha. The red and white lily were both known. Some would derive the word from the numeral (shesh) "six," because the liliaceae are six-leaved, while the rosaceae are five-leaved; but it is probably akin to shesh, "byssus," shayish, "white marbles" (cf. Hosea 14:5, "He shall bloom as a lily"). Our Lord’s reference to "the lilies of the field" reminds us that they were in Palestine both very beautiful and very abundant. Zockler thinks it is not the strongly scented white lily (Lilium candidam) to which reference is made, but the red lily (Lilium rubens); but either will convey the same idea of a flower of the field which is meant. "My beauty is the beauty of nature—artless and pure." Son 1:1-4 The prologue. I. THE . 1. The title. We are told (1 Kings 4:1-34:82) that the songs of Solomon were a thousand and five. This is the chief of all, the Song of Songs. It stands alone in the Old Testament. It is a pastoral drama of singular loveliness. It shows a delight in the beauties of nature such as we might look for in him who "spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; of beasts also, and of fowl, and of creeping things." It exhibits a touching picture of early affection gradually ripening into the blessed love of wedlock—that love which, when pure and unselfish, tends more than anything that is of this world to elevate and refine the soul. And it has a higher meaning. Holy men of widely different times have seen in it the spiritual Converse of the Church, or of the individual soul, with the heavenly Bridegroom. A famous Jewish rabbi, after saying that all the books of the Hagiographa are holy, describes the Song of Songs as a holy of holies; and a great Father of the Church says that in this book the perfected, who have the world beneath their feet, are joined to the embraces of the heavenly Bridegroom. Thus it combines all the elements which give a charm to poetry—beauty of form and elevation of thought; a delicate appreciation of the attractions of external nature; a deep sense of the sweetness and power of the most universal, the most dominant, of human affections; and an uplook to higher things, an uplook from that love which is of God—for such surely is the love of husband and wife (see Ephesians 5:25-28)—to God who is love. Thus the title is abundantly justified. There are great difficulties here and there; but yet much of the Song of Songs has ever sounded to believing souls like far-off echoes of the new song which only the redeemed from the earth could learn (Revelation 14:3). There are few passages of Holy Scripture sweeter to the Christian heart than those thrice-repeated words, "My Beloved is mine, and I am his." 2. The authorship. "Which is Solomon’s." The Hebrew preposition may be translated "of" or "for." In the titles of Psa 72:1-20, and Psalms 127:1-5. it is rendered in our Authorized Version "for Solomon," "of Solomon" standing in the margin. Psalms 127:1-5; like the rest of the "songs of degrees," is almost certainly post-Exilic; and in Psalms 72:1-20, the LXX. translators are probably right in regarding Solomon as the subject, not the author, of the psalm. If the Song of Songs was written by Solomon himself, we have in it a most awful warning of the fickleness, the sinfulness, of the human heart. Solomon, who knew so well what is the sweetness of pure and holy love, was led astray by that sensual passion which usurps the name of love. Solomon, who was called Jedidiah, "the darling of the Lord," whom "the Lord loved" (2 Samuel 12:24), who himself "loved the Lord" (1 Kings 3:3)—that same Solomon "loved many strange women" (1 Kings 11:1), and "when he was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods." "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall;" "Ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing that is evil." The soul that would live in the love of Christ must hate, and reject with horror and loathing, the very smallest beginnings of that sin of impurity which separates a man from God utterly and with a tearful rapidity. If, on the other hand, it was written by some prophet or poet of Northern Palestine in Solomon’s time, we have an explanation of those peculiar words which some scholars regard as Aramaic, others as dialectic peculiarities of the Lebanon country; and we have a warning not to trust too much in human leaders. We must not put our trust in man, but only in God. When men, once honoured and esteemed, fall into sin, we cannot but be distressed; but we must not allow our faith to waver. God is the truth; he continueth faithful; we must trust in him. The internal evidence of the song itself points to a time anterior to the separation of the northern and southern kingdoms; this is not the place to discuss the arguments for a later origin. 3. The weaning. The song seems to rest on an historical basis; its many details, its geographical notices, its many references to circumstances of Solomon’s time, to its peace and prosperity (such a period of peace and prosperity as perhaps never occurred again during the chequered history of Israel), to its commerce, its magnificence, point to a groundwork of actual fact. It relates the love of the great king for some innocent country maiden—a love that was returned, that for a time at least brought happiness to both, and seemed to refine and elevate the characters of both, as a pure love which leads to a blessed marriage ever does. But holy men of old were led by the Spirit to incorporate this beautiful narrative into the canon of Holy Scripture. That fact invests the song with another and a higher meaning. Jewish rabbis regarded it as a parable of the relations between God and Israel. Many of the Christian Fathers have seen in it the love that is between Christ and his Church; the longings of the Christian soul for the presence of the heavenly Bridegroom; the vicissitudes of the spiritual life; the blessed union of the bride, the Lamb’s wife, with the Lord of her redemption at the last. There are great difficulties in the spiritual interpretation of some passages; but when we consider the position of the song in the sacred book; when we remember that "every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness;" when we remember the great value which many of God’s saints have set upon this book, the great spiritual benefit which they have derived from it, we feel that it must be right to regard it as a parable of Divine love, to see under this earthly story a deep and holy heavenly meaning. II. THE FIRST SONG. 1. The bride’s longing for the beloved. The three verses (2-4) are often regarded as the song of a chorus of virgins, the companions of the bride; perhaps the mingling of the singular and plural pronouns seems rather to suggest that we have in this first song the voice of the bride herself blended with the strains of her virgin friends. The bride yearns for the embrace of love. In the pure love of Christian man and maid, the maiden long desired gives at last the full treasure of her love in answer to that love which had with earnest devotion sought for her affection. Ancient writers see in these words the longing of the Jewish Church for a closer union with God, for the fulfilment of the promise given through the prophet (Hosea 2:16), "In that day, saith the Lord, thou shalt call me Ishi [’my Husband’], and shalt call me no more Baali [’my Lord ’]." The Christian Church, the Christian soul, longs for the enjoyment of the Saviour’s love. We notice the abrupt beginning, "Let him kiss me." The bride is speaking of one well known, greatly loved. There is no need of exact description; the pronoun is enough; there is only One whose image is ever present to that loving heart. When the Christian, taught by the Holy Ghost, is learning, slowly and imperfectly (as, alas! it must be here), to fulfil the first of all the commandments, he will yearn above all things for that manifestation of himself which the Lord promises to them that love him (John 14:21, John 14:23). The traitor’s kiss, treacherous as it was, shows that such a token of affection was usual in the intercourse between our Lord and his apostles. His love is unchanging, everlasting; still the Christian soul may say, "The Son of God loved me, and gave himself for me;’" still the soul longs for the sense of that blessed love; "the love of Jesus, what it is, none but his loved ones know." The woman that was a sinner kissed the Saviour’s feet. The kiss of peace was in apostolic times the token of the love which Christians had one towards another. The kiss of pure and holy love is a parable of the blessed love which is betwixt Christ and his Church. That love is better than wine. Now the bride speaks to the Lord. "Thy love," she says; she feels that he is coming in answer to the call of love. Earthly joys are poor indeed when compared with that joy which is in the Lord. St. Paul contrasts them in the Epistle to the Ephesians (Ephesians 5:18, Ephesians 5:19). Excess in wine brings degradation, misery. The Christian soul needs not this spurious excitement; it has a source of joy higher beyond all comparison. It is filled with the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is joy—joy which manifests itself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. 2. The response of the chorus. The attendant virgins assent. The love of the Bridegroom is better than wine, better than the fragrance of the sweetest of perfumes, sweeter than ointment poured forth which sheds its scent around. The odour of the precious ointment which Mary poured upon the Saviour’s head filled the house; the sweet odour of the name of Jesus fills the whole Church; it sheds its penetrating influence everywhere throughout the Church; "therefore," the chorus sings, "do the virgins love thee." The plural number seems to remind us that the love of Christ is personal, individual. The bride, the Lamb’s wife, is, indeed, the whole company of the elect. But the Lord’s love is not only general; it does not bless only the Church as a whole, an aggregate; he loves all and each; the whole Church and each separate Christian soul; therefore each separate Christian soul, all who take their lamps and go forth to meet the Bridegroom, rejoice in the Bridegroom’s love, and desire above all things to return it. "We love him, because he first loved us." 3. The blended voices of the chorus and the bride. (1) The request: "Draw me, we will run after thee." The bride is listening for the bridegroom’s call; she is ready to answer. Her virgin companions join in assenting chorus; they will accompany her. The Christian soul longs for the fulfilment of the Divine Word, "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love" (Hosea 11:4); it pleads that gracious promise, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." "Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far, Thro’ all yon starlight keen, Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star, In raiment white and clean." It seems too much to ask; none feel their unworthiness, their guilt, so keenly as those whom the Lord is calling nearer to himself. But faith hears his voice and believes in his power. If only he will draw us, we shall run after him. Love is the magnet of love. When God deigns to shine into his people’s hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, when the blessed word, "We have seen the Lord," is realized in the heart, then the soul runneth in ever-deepening desire to respond to that condescending love. None can come to Christ, we know, "except the Father who hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44); therefore that prayer, "Draw me, we will run after thee," is often in the Christian’s heart, often pleaded by the Christian’s lips. We are weak and helpless; but when he draws us with that holy invitation, "Come unto me," we must arise, we must run after him. To look back is ruin. "Remember Lot’s wife." And his call giveth strength to follow, to run after him. So St. Augustine says in well known words (’Conf.,’ 9.1), "How sweet did it at once become to me to want the sweetnesses of those toys; and what I feared to be parted from, was now a joy to part with! For thou didst cast them forth from me, thou true and highest Sweetness. Thou castedst them forth, and for them enteredst in thyself, sweeter than all pleasures, though not to flesh and blood; brighter than all light, but more hidden than all depths; higher than all honour, but not to the high in their own conceits." (2) The answer. The prayer is heard; we hear the voice of the bride: "The King hath brought me into his chambers." Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for her, that he might present her to himself a glorious Church. The chorus answers, "We will be glad and rejoice in thee." Individual believers make up the great Church of Christ. Once we were afar off; now we are brought near; we are "fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." In proportion as we realize our Christian privileges of access unto God we learn to rejoice in the Lord. The fruit of the Spirit is joy; that joy passes all earthly pleasures. Believers will remember the tokens of the Saviour’s love, dwelling on them in holy thought; they will leave no place in their hearts for sensual delights; they will love the Lord in uprightness, in sincerity, and truth. Son 1:5-8 Dialogue between the bride and the chorus. I. THE BRIDE’S SENSE OF . 1. "I am black." The country maiden loved by the great king feels her own imperfections; she artlessly describes her misgivings to the daughters of Jerusalem, who constitute the chorus; she has been accustomed to rustic occupations; she has been ill-treated; the sun has embrowned her cheeks till she is black as the tents of Kedar, the tents of goat’s hair in which the wandering Arabs lived. The Christian soul knows its guilt. Worship begins ever with confession; when we draw near to Christ, we are most sensible of the plague of our own hearts. Christians will find help and comfort in communion with the like minded; they will tell them their spiritual troubles; but such holy communion can be held only with the like minded, with the daughters of Jerusalem. Christians sometimes have home troubles; they seem unable to keep their own vineyard, to attend to their own spiritual needs, because other work is forced upon them, because their time is taken up in matters which seem not to belong to their peace; they must be patient and meek, and wait for the Bridegroom’s call. 2. "But comely." In her artless simplicity she mentions her own beauty: she is fair as the curtains of Solomon. The king, we may suppose, had a stately pavilion in the Lebanon country, near the dwelling of the bride. The Christian recognizes with humble and adoring thankfulness the working of the Spirit of God within his soul. "By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." If God is drawing us nearer to himself we must know it. True unaffected humility recognizes his working in our unworthy hearts, and longs to be found in Christ, "not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." The bride compares herself to the curtains of Solomon; the Christian owes whatever he may possess of the beauty of holiness to his communion with the King of saints. II. THE BRIDE’S LONGING FOR THE ’S . 1. Her seeking love. He is not with her now, but her soul goeth forth to him; she apostrophizes her absent lord, and pours forth her yearning in the presence of her companions. (1) The address: "Thou whom my soul loveth." It is an expression of intense affection, repeated several times in the song (So Son 3:1, Son 3:2, Son 3:3, Son 3:4). The love of Christ is the life spring of the Christian heart. That love, when real and true, makes the Christian seek always, every day and every hour, the blessed presence of the Saviour. That love is the soul’s love. It is not a thing of words and phrases, not a matter of outward form and observance; it is treasured deep in the heart; it is the mainspring of life and action; it comes to Christ with the question, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" and that in the ordinary concerns of life, in the trifles, the little joys and sorrows of everyday life, as well as in the emergencies that come now and then, the dangers and distresses which cross our path from time to time. That true, deep love is exceedingly precious; it is the perfect love that casteth out fear; it can answer like St. Peter, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." It is of all graces the holiest and the best; it is the first of the fruits of the Spirit; it is granted to the believer in answer to fervent persevering prayer. May we whose hearts have long been so cold and dead seek it, and gain it to be our own through the forgiving mercy of our God! (2) She asks where he feeds his flock. The King of Israel is represented as a shepherd like his father David. The bride thinks more of his love than of his magnificence; she would have loved him with the same entire devotion had he been in her own lowly position. Perhaps it was a relief to her to regard him sometimes not as a king, but as a shepherd; perhaps the great king had been pleased to assume such a character for a time to give pleasure to his beloved one. The bride seems sometimes to hint that this description is figurative (So Son 2:16; Son 6:2, Son 6:3); she speaks of the son of David in language like that which David himself had used of Almighty God (Psalms 23:1, Psalms 23:2). The Lord Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd; he laid down his life for the sheep; he knoweth his own, and his own know him. He is King of kings and Lord of lords; but it is a relief to the soul, dazzled by the awful glory of the Godhead, to remember that he laid his glory by that he might save us; and to think of him as made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted, and therefore touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and able to succour them that are tempted. She asks where he feeds his flock. It is like the aspiration of Job, "Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!" The Christian soul yearns for the good Shepherd, to draw ever nearer to him, to share his love and mercy. He maketh his sheep to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth them beside the waters of rest. He feeds them; for he is the Bread of life—the Bread that came down from heaven to give life unto the world. Their prayer is, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." They feed on him in the daily life of faith, and in the blessed sacrament. His presence in the heart is the food, the life of the soul. "He that cometh unto me," he saith," shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." And he maketh his flock to rest at noon. In the hot sultry noon of life, amid troubles and anxieties and cares, he giveth rest. The weary and the heavy laden accept his gracious invitation; they find rest—rest for their souls. There is no other rest for this restless, anxious soul of ours, but only that rest which he giveth—rest in the Lord. He can give rest in the midst of trouble, rest even in the busy noon of life; such rest as Daniel found in his many cares, when he kneeled upon his knees and made his supplications three times a day; such rest as St. Paul found when he had learned to count all things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. 2. Her years. Compare Gesenius, s.v; "Lest I be as one who faints by the flocks of thy companions; lest I should wander in search of thee from flock to flock, languid even to fainting through the noontide heat." The bride seeks the king himself. His companions may be kind and good, but they are not the beloved. The soul seeks the good Shepherd. Other shepherds may be doing what they can to feed the flock of God (see 1 Peter 5:2-4), but they can only bring the flock to the chief Shepherd. He is the Desire of all nations; he only is the Saviour; without him we can do nothing. It is not safe to wander from flock to flock, to heap up to ourselves teachers (2 Timothy 4:3). We must seek Christ himself, for the true sheep are his; they hear his voice and follow him. They that are his shall never perish; no man is able to pluck them out of his Father’s hand. But they must not listen to other voices which are not his; they must watch with earnest attention for the voice of the good Shepherd, and attend to every intimation of his will; they must ask him with loving entreaty—"O thou whom my soul loveth"—by what way, in what path, he is to be found; they must not weary themselves in wandering from teacher to teacher, seeking always, like the Athenians, to hear some new things; they must walk in the old paths, where is the good way; and they will find rest, for they will find, not Solomon, whose name means "peace," but the Prince of Peace himself, who giveth peace, the peace of God, to all who seek his face with faithful and true hearts. III. THE COUNSEL OF THE OF . 1. The address. "O thou fairest among women." The bride is addressed by the chorus in the same words in two other places (So Daniel 5:9; Daniel 6:1). She had described herself as "black, but comely." The daughters of Jerusalem see in her the fairest among women. Jerusalem was the holy city, the dwelling place of the great King. Her daughters are the saints, the children of the kingdom. The true Christian knows his own sinfulness, though he feels with thankfulness the work of grace within his heart; other Christians recognize in him the beauty of holiness. There must be no jealousies among the people of God; they must not dispute among themselves, as even apostles once did, who should be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; they must gladly acknowledge the workings of the grace of God in other Christian souls; they will do so the more generously, the nearer they themselves are to the Lord. 2. The direction. "If thou know not," they say; as if to intimate that one so highly favoured must surely know the way herself. They can but guide her to the old way where all the saints have walked; she must follow the tracks of the sheep, the footsteps of the flock. They have followed the good Shepherd; she must do the like. "Be ye followers of me," said St. Paul, "even as I also am of Christ." It is good to read the lives of the saints, to study the graces of holy men. Holy Scripture bids us to follow their faith, considering the end of their conversation. But the bride is also told to feed her kids beside the shepherds’ tents. We shall most surely find the Lord in faithful work for him. It he is to us what he was to the bride, "O thou whom my soul loveth;" if we can say in truth, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee," we shall surely hear his voice speaking in our hearts, "Feed my lambs;" "Feed my sheep." Those who, like St. Paul, labour most abundantly for Christ (if only that labour is wrought in faith and love) are sure, like St. Paul, themselves to win Christ and to be found in him. "He that watereth shall be watered also himself;" "They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever." Christ is most surely found by those faithful servants who do their best to bring others to the Lord. Son 1:9-17 The communion of the bridegroom and the bride. I. THE OF THE . 1. His address. He compares the bride to a beautiful mare of his own in the chariots of Pharaoh. The words come fitly from the lips of the speaker. He was the first king of Israel who took delight in horses and chariots, and he imported them from Egypt. The words are thought to have suggested a similar comparison in Theocritus (’Idyll,’ 18.30); they indicate the stateliness of the bride’s beauty; they remind us of Psa 147:10,Psalms 147:11, "He delighteth not in the strength of a horse ... The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Men like Solomon take delight in horses; the Lord in the graces of his people. The king calls the bride "my love," or "my friend;" the word is derived from a verb which in its secondary sense means to take delight in the companionship of those whom we love. We are reminded of the Lord’s gracious words, "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you" (John 15:15). The king proceeds to commend the graces of the bride; he promises costly gifts. She was wearing the simple ornaments of a country maiden (the words "jewels" and "gold" are not in the original of Psa 147:10). "We will make thee," he says (that is, his servants will make at his order), "borders of gold with studs of silver." Whatever graces the Church possesses come from the gift of the heavenly Bridegroom; it is he who will "present her to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;" but holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). It is only God who can "keep us from falling, and present us at the last faultless before the presence of his glory with. exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). The fine linen, clean and white, the wedding garment of the bride, is the Bridegroom’s gift (Revelation 19:8). 2. The bride’s delight in the bridegroom. The king is come; he sitteth at his table in the midst of the circle of his friends. We are reminded that the presence of his father David was once required to complete such a circle. "We will not sit around" (the literal translation of Samuel’s words) "till he come hither" (1 Samuel 16:11). The bride anoints him with "ointment of spikenard very costly;" the house is filled with the odour of the ointment. While the heavenly Bridegroom is present in the blessed sacrament, or in the circle of true worshippers, whenever two or three are gathered together in his Name, the sweet odour of prayer and adoration giveth forth its fragrance. Such worship, worship in spirit and in truth, is always acceptable. "My Father," he saith in his condescending love, "seeketh such to worship him." It is his presence which draws forth that holy worship. While he is with us, in the circle of worshippers, the heart goeth forth unto him. "Lord, it is good to be here;" "Thy Name is as ointment poured forth." It is sweet to the believer; it refreshes his soul in sorrow, and in the hour of death; therefore do thy people love thee. The King’s presence is very sacred; those whom he deigns to visit must respond with their heart’s love, with the sweet odours of true spiritual worship. 3. What the bridegroom is to her. The odour of her spikenard is pleasant to him; he is to her as a bag of myrrh, or a cluster of henna flowers. So, in Psalms 45:8, the royal Bridegroom’s garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia. The bag of myrrh was kept in the bosom for its sweetness and its medicinal properties; the henna flowers which grew abundantly among the vines of Engedi were highly esteemed for their fragrance. The Savior’s presence in the heart sheds a fragrance through the soul. "He that hath the Son hath life;" a principle of life which preserves the soul from the corruption of sin, which heals its diseases, which prepares it for the hour of death. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Son 2:2 As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. The king responds, taking up the lovely simile and giving it a very apt and charming turn, "My love is beyond comparison the chief and all around her are not worthy of notice beside her." The meaning is not thorns on the tree itself. The word would be different in that case. Rather it is thorn plants or bushes (choach); see 2 Kings 14:9. The daughters; i.e. the young damsels. The word "son" or "daughter" was commonly so used in Hebrew, the idea being that of simplicity, innocence, and gentleness. Son 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. That these are the words of the bride there can be no doubt. The apple tree is noted for the fragrance of its blossom and the sweetness of its fruit; hence the name tappuach, from the root naphach, "to breathe sweetly." The trees of the wood or forest are specially referred to, because they are generally wild, and their fruit sour and rough, and many have no fruit or flower. The Chaldee renders, "citron;" Rosenmuller and others, "quince." The word is rare (see Proverbs 25:11; Joe 1:12). It is sometimes the tree itself, at other times the fruit. It occurs in proper names, as (Joshua 12:17), "The King of Tappuah," etc; and that shows that it was very early known in Palestine. It occurs frequently in the Talmud. The word is masculine, while "lily" is feminine. "I sat with delight" is expressed in true Hebrew phrase, "I delighted and sat," the intensity of feeling being expressed by the piel of the verb. By the shadow is intended both protection and refreshment; by the fruit, enjoyment. Perhaps we may go further, and say there is here a symbolical representation of the spiritual life, as both that of trust and participation. The greatness and goodness of the tree of life protects and covers the sinner, while the inner nature and Divine virtue of the Saviour comes forth in delicious fruits, in his character, words, ministry, and spiritual gifts. If there is any truth in the typical view, it must be found in such passages as this, where the metaphor is so simple and apt, and has been incorporated with all religious language as the vehicle of faith and love. Hymnology abounds in such ideas and analogies. Son 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love; literally, to the house of the wine. Not, as some, "the house of the vines"—that is, the vineyard. The Hebrew word yayin corresponds with the AEthiopic wain, and has run through the Indo-European languages. The meaning is—To the place where he royally entertains his friends. Hence the reference which immediately follows to the protection with which the king overshadows his beloved. He covers me there with his fear-inspiring, awful banner, love, which, because of its being love, is terrible to all enemies. The word which is used for "banner" (דֶּגֶל) is from a root "to cover," that which covers the shaft or standard; the pannus, "the cloth," which is fastened to a shaft (cf. pennon). Her natural fear and bashfulness is overcome by the loving presence of the king, which covers her weakness like a banner. Some versions render it as an imperative. There can be no doubt of the meaning that the banner is the military banner, as the word is always so used (see Psalms 20:6; Numbers 1:52; Numbers 2:2). Perhaps there is a reference to the grandeur and military strength in which the young bride felt delight as she looked up at her young husband in his youthful beauty and manly vigour. The typical significance is very easily discovered. It would be straining it too much to see any allusion to the ritual of the Christian sacraments; but whether we think of the individual soul or of the people of God regarded collectively, such delight in the rich provisions of Divine love, and in the tender guardianship of the Saviour over those whom he has called to himself, belong to the simplest facts of believing experience. Son 2:5 Stay me with raisins, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. Again the intensive form of the verb is chosen. She is almost sinking; she cries out for comfort. The food for which she longs is the grape cakes—the grapes sufficiently dried to be pressed together as cakes, which is very refreshing and reviving; not raisins as we know them, but with more of the juice of the grape in them. So date cakes are now offered to travellers in the East. "Refresh me; for I am in a state of deep agitation because of the intensity of my love." Ginsburg thinks the cakes are baked by the fire, the word being derived from a root "to burn." The translation, "flagons of wine," in the Authorized Version, follows the rabbinical exposition, but it is quite unsupported by the critics. Love sickness is common in Eastern countries, more so than with us in the colder hemisphere. Perhaps the appeal of the bride is meant to be general, not immediately directed to the king, as if a kind of exclamation, and it may be connected with the previous idea of the banner. The country maiden is dazzled with the splendour and majesty of the king. She gives up, as it were, in willing resignation of herself, the rivalry with one so great and glorious in the expression of love and praise; she sinks back with delight and ecstasy, calling upon any around to support her, and Solomon himself answers the appeal, and puts his loving arm around her and holds up her head, and gives her the sweetest and tenderest embraces, which renew her strength. We know that in the spiritual life there are such experiences. The intensity of religious feeling is closely connected with physical exhaustion, and when the soul cries for help and longs for comfort, the presence of the Saviour is revealed; the weakness is changed into strength. The apostolic seer in the Apocalypse describes himself as overcome with the glory of the Saviour’s appearance, and being brought back to himself by his voice (Revelation 1:17). Son 2:6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. We may render the verb either as indicative or imperative. The hand gently smooths with loving caresses. The historical sense is more in accordance with the context, as the next verse is an appeal to the attendant ladies. Behold my happiness, how my Beloved comforts me! Son 2:7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the toes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awaken love, until it please. The fact that these words occur again in So Son 3:5 and Son 8:4 shows that they are a kind of chorus or refrain. It is also evident that they are in the lips of Shulamith the bride. Some have suggested that they are uttered by some one else, e.g. the queen-mother subsequently referred to, Solomon himself, the heavenly Bridegroom, the shepherd lover from whom Shulamith had been taken. But all these suggestions are unnecessary and unsupported. The natural and simple view is that the same voice is speaking as in Son 8:6. But what is the meaning of this adjuration? Is it merely, "I throw myself on the sympathy you have already expressed"? Ewald well remarks, "In common life people swore by things which belonged to the subject of conversation or were especially dear to the speaker. As, therefore, the warrior swears by his sword; as Mohammed by th e soul, of which he is just about to speak (see Koran, ch. 91:7); so here Shulamith by the lovely gazelles, since she is speaking of love." The Israelites were permitted to adjure by that which is not God, but they would only solemnly swear by God himself. Delitzsch thinks this is the only example of direct adjuration in Scripture without the name of God. The meaning has probably been sought too far away. The bride is perfectly happy, but she is conscious that such exquisite happiness may be disturbed, the dream of her delight broken through. She compares herself to a roe or a gazelle, the most timorous and shy of creatures (see Proverbs 5:19). The Septuagint has a peculiar rendering; which points to a different reading of the orignial ἐνδυναμέσικαὶἰσχυσέσιτοῦἀγροῦ "by the power and virtues of the field." Perhaps the meaning is the same—By the purity and blessedness of a simple country life, I adjure you not to interfere with the course of true love. It is much debated whether the meaning is, "Do not excite or stir up love," or, "Do not disturb love in its peaceful de light." It certainly must be maintained that by "love" is meant "the lover." The refer once is to the passion of love itself. A similar expression is used of the feeling of jealousy (Isaiah 42:13). The verb עוֹרר (piel) is added to strengthen the idea, and is always used in the sense "to excite or awaken," as Proverbs 10:12 of strife; Psalms 80:3 of strength or power. We must not for a moment think of any artificial excitement of love as referred to. The idea is—See what a blessed thing is pure and natural affection: let not love be forced or unnatural. But there are those who dispute this interpretation. They think that the main idea of the whole poem is not the spontaneity of love, but a commendation of pure and chaste conjugal affection, as opposed to the dissoluteness and sensuality fostered by polygamy. They would therefore take the abstract "love" for the concrete "loved one," as in So Psalms 7:6 The bride would not have the beloved one aroused by the intrusion of others; or the word "love" may be taken to mean "the dream of love." Which ever explanation is chosen, the sense is substantially the same—Let me rejoice in my blessedness. The bride is seen at the close of this first part of the poem in the arms of the bridegroom. She is lost in him, and his happiness is hers. She calls upon the daughters of Jerusalem to rejoice with her. This is, in fact, the keynote of the song. The two main thoughts in the poem are the purity of love and the power of love. The reference to the toes and gazelles of the field is not so much to their shyness and timidity as to their purity, as distinguished from the creatures more close to cities; hence the appeal to the daughters of Jerusalem, who, as being ladies of the metropolis, might not sympathize as they should with the country maiden. The rest of the poem is a remembrance of the part which illustrates and confirms the sentiment of the refrain—Let the pure love seek its own perfection; let its own pleasure be realized. So, spiritually, let grace complete what grace begins. "Blessed are all those who trust in him." Verse 2:8-3:5 Part II. SONG OF IN THE EMBRACE OF SOLOMON. Recollections of the wooing time in the north. Son 2:8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. There can be little doubt as to the meaning of this song. The bride is going back in thought to the scenes of her home life, and the sweet days of first love. "The house stands alone among the rocks and deep in the mountain range; around are the vineyards which the family have planted, and the hill pastures on which they feed their flocks. She longingly looks out for her distant lover." The expression, "The voice of my beloved!" must not be taken to mean that she hears the sound of his feet or voice, but simply as an interjection, like "hark!" (see Genesis 4:10, where the voice of the blood crying merely means, "Hark how thy brother’s blood cries;" that is, "Believe that it does so cry"). So here, "I seem to hear the voice of my beloved; hark, he is coming!" It is a great delight to the soul to go back in thought over the memories of its first experience of the Saviour’s presence. The Church is edified by the records of grace in the histories of Divine dealings. Son 2:9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart; behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh in at the windows, he showeth himself through the lattice. The tsevi is the gazelle, Arabic ghazal. Our word is derived through the Spanish or Moorish gazela. The young hart, or chamois, is probably so called from the covering of young hair (cf. 2 Samuel 2:18; Proverbs 6:5; Hebrews 3:19). Shulamith represents herself as within the house, waiting for her friend. Her beloved is standing behind the wall, outside before the house; he is playfully looking through the windows, now through one and now through another, seeking her with peering eyes of love. Both the words employed, convey, the meaning of searching and moving quickly. The windows; literally, the openings; i.e. a window broken through a wall, or the meaning may be a lattice window, a pierced wooden structure. The word is not the common word for a window, which is shevaka (now shabbaka), from a root meaning "to twist," "to make a lattice." Spiritually, we may see an allusion to the glimpses of truth and tastes of the goodness of religion, which precede the real fellowship of the soul with God. Son 2:10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The word "spake" Conveys the meaning in answer to a person appearing, but not necessarily in answer to a voice heard. We most suppose that Shulamith recognized her beloved, and made some sign that she was near, or looked forth from the window. As the soul responds, it is more and more invited; the voice of the Bridegroom is heard calling the object of his love by name, "I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine" (Isaiah 43:1). Son 2:11-13 For, lo, the winter is the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree ripeneth her green figs, and the vines are in blossom, they give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Winter; i.e. the cloudy stormy time (sethauv). The Jews in Jerusalem to this day call rain shataa. The rain; i.e. the showers. The flowers, or the flowery time, corresponding with the singing time. Several versions, as the LXX. and other Greek, Jerome in the Latin, and the Targum and Venetian, render, "the time of pruning," taking the zamir from a root zamar, "to prune the vine." It is, however, regarded by most critics as an onomatopoetic word meaning "song," "music," like zimrah, "singing." The reference to the voice of the turtledove, the cooing note which is so sweet and attractive among the woods, shows that the time of spring is intended. Ginsburg says wherever zamir occurs, either in the singular or plural, it means "singing" (cf. 2 Samuel 23:1; Isaiah 24:16). The form of the word conveys the idea of the time of the action, as we see in the words for "harvest" (asiph) and "ploughing time" (charish). The fig tree and the vine were both employed as symbols of prosperity and peace, as the fig and grape were so much used as food (see 1 Kings 5:5; 2 Kings 18:31). The little fruits of the fig tree begin, when the spring commences, to change colour from green to red. The word "to ripen" is literally, "to grow red or sweet." The blossoming vines give forth a very delicate and attractive fragrance. The description is acknowledged by all to be very beautiful. The invitation is to fellowship in the midst of the pure loveliness of nature, when all was adapted to meet and sustain the feelings of awakened love. The emotions of the soul are blended easily with the sensations derived from the outward world. When we carefully avoid extravagance, and put the soul first and not second, then the delights of the senses may help the heart to realize the deepest experience of Divine communion. But the bridegroom first solicits the bride. We reverse the true spiritual order when we place too much dependence on the influence of external objects or sensuous pleasures. Art may assist religion to its expression, but it must never be made so prominent that the artistic pleasure swallows up the religious emotion. Love of nature is not love of Christ. Love of music is not love of Christ. Yet the soul that seeks him may rejoice in art and music, because they blend their attractions with its devotion, and help it to be a joy and a passion. Son 2:14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep places, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. The wood pigeon builds in clefts of rocks and in steep rocky places (see Jeremiah 48:28; and cf. Psalms 74:19; Psalms 56:1; Hosea 7:11). The bridegroom is still addressing his beloved one, who has not yet come forth from the house in the rocks, though she has shown herself at the window. The language is highly poetical, and may be compared with similar words in Homer and Virgil (cf. ’Iliad.’ 21.493; ’Aeneid.’ 5.213, etc.). The Lord loveth the sight of his people. He delightcth in their songs and in their prayers. He is in the midst of their assemblies. Secret religion is not the highest religion. The highest emotions of the soul do not decrease in their power as they are expressed. They become more and more a ruling principle of life. There are many who need this encouragement to come forth out of secrecy, out of solitude, out of their own private home and individual thoughts, and realize the blessing of fellowship with the Lord and with his people. Son 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom. There is some difficulty in deciding to which of the persons this speech is to be attributed. It is most naturally, however, assigned to the bride, and this is the view of the majority of critics. Hence she refers to the vineyards as "our vineyards," which the bridegroom could scarcely say. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that the words are abrupt regarded as a response to the beautiful appeal of the lover. The following are the remarks of Delitzsch on the subject: "This is a vine dresser’s ditty, in accord with Shulamith’s experience as the keeper of a vineyard, which, in a figure, aims at her love relation. The vineyards, beautiful with fragrant blossoms, point to her covenant of love, and the foxes, the little foxes, which might destroy those united vineyards, point to all the great and little enemies and adverse circumstances which threaten to gnaw and destroy love in the blossom ere it has reached the ripeness of full enjoyment." Some think that Shulamith is giving the reason why she cannot immediately join her beloved, referring to the duties enjoined upon her by her brethren. But there is an awkwardness in this explanation. The simplest and most straightforward is that which connects the words immediately with the invitation of the lover to come forth into the lovely vineyards. Is it not an allusion to the playful pleasure which the young people would find among the vineyards in chasing the little foxes? and may not the lover take up some well known country ditty, and sing it outside the window as a playful repetition of the invitation to appear? The words do seem to be arranged in somewhat of a lyrical form— "Catch us the foxes, Foxes the little ones, Wasting our vineyards, When our vineyards are blossoming." The foxes (shualim), or little jackals, were very numerous in Palestine (see Judges 15:4; Lamentations 5:18; Psalms 63:11; Nehemiah 4:3; 1 Samuel 13:17). The little jackals were seldom more than fifteen inches high. There would be nothing unsuitable in the address to a maiden to help to catch such small animals. The idea of the song is—Let us all join in taking them. Some think that Shulamith is inviting the king to call his attendants to the work. But when two lovers thus approach one another, it is not likely that others would be thought of. However the words be viewed, the typical meaning can scarcely be missed. The idea of clearing the vineyards of depredators well suits the general import of the poem. Let the blossoming love of the soul be without injury and restraint. Let the rising faith and affection be carefully guarded. Both individuals and communities do well to think of the little foxes that spoil the vines. Son 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feedeth (his flock) among the lilies. These are the words of the bride. The latter clause is repeated in So Son 6:2, with the addition, "in the gardens," and it is evident that Solomon is lovingly regarded as a shepherd, because Shulamith delights to think of him as fully sympathizing with her simple country life. She idealizes. The words may be taken as either the response given at the time by the maiden to the invitation of her lover to come forth into the vineyards, or as the breathing of love as she lies in the arms of Solomon. Lilies are the emblem of purity, lofty elevation above that which is common. Moreover, the lily stalk is the symbol of the life of regeneration among the mystical mediaevalists. Mary the Virgin, the Rosa mystica, in ancient paintings is represented with a lily in her hand at the Annunciation. The people of God were called by the Jewish priests "a people of lilies." So Mary was the lily of lilies in the lily community; the sanctissima in the communio sanctorum. There may be an allusion to the lily forms around Solomon in his palace—the daughters of Jerusalem; in that ease the words must be taken as spoken, not in remembrance of the first love, but in present joy in Solomon’s embrace. Some would render the words as simply praise of Solomon himself, "who, wherever he abides, spreads radiancy and loveliness about him," or "in whose footsteps roses and lilies ever bloom." At least, they are expressive of entire self-surrender and delight. She herself is a lily, and the beloved one feeds upon her beauty, purity, and perfection. Son 2:17 Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. This is generally supposed to be the voice of the maiden addressing her suitor, and bidding him return in the evening, when the day cools, and when the lengthening shadows fall into night. Some have seen in such words a clear indication of a clandestine interview, and would find in them a confirmation of their hypothesis that the poem is founded on a romantic story of Solomon’s attempt to draw a shepherdess from her shepherd. But there is no necessity to disturb the flow of the bride’s loving recollections by such a fancy. She is recalling the visit of her lover. How, at first, she declined his invitation to go forth with him to the vineyards, but with professions of love appealed to him to return to the mountains, and in the evening come once more and rejoice in her love. But the words may be rendered, "during the whole day, and until the evening comes, turn thyself to me," which is the view taken by some critics. The language may be general; that is, "Turn, and I will follow." "The mountains of Bether" are the rugged mountains; Bether, from a root "to divide," "to cut," i.e. divided by ravines; or the word may be the abstract for the concrete—"the mountains of separation" i.e. the mountains which separate. LXX; ὄρητῶνκοιλωματῶν, "decussated mountains." The Syriac and Theodotion take the word as for beshamim, i.e. offerings of incense (θυμιαματῶν). There is no such geographical name known, though there is Bithron, east of Jordan, near Mahauaim (2 Samuel 2:29). The Chaldee, Ibn-Ezra, Rashi, and many others render it "separation" (cf. Luther’s scheideberge). Bochart says, "Montes scissionis ita dicti propter ῥωχμοῦς et χασματὰ." The meaning has been thus set forth: "The request of Shulamith that he should return to the mountains breathes self-denying humility, patient modesty, inward joy in the joy of her beloved. She will not claim him for herself till he have accomplished his work. But when he associates with her in the evening, as with the Emmaus disciples, she will rejoice if he becomes her guide through the newborn world of spring. Perhaps we may say the Parousia ot the Lord is here referred to in the evening of the world" (cf. Luke 24:1-53.). On the whole, it seems most in harmony with the context to take the words as preparing us for what follows—the account of the maiden’s distress when she woke up and found not her beloved. We must not expect to be able to explain the language as though it were a clear historical composition, relating facts and incidents. The real line of thought is the underlying connection of spiritual meaning. There is a separation of the lovers. The soul wakes up to feel that its object of delight is gone. Then it complains. Son 2:1-7 Converse of the bridegroom and the bride continued. I. THE VOICE OF THE BRIDE. 1. The rose of Sharon. They were sitting, it seems, in a forest glade at the foot of some lofty cedar, sheltered by its embowering branches; beneath was their grassy seat, bright with many flowers. The bride feels that she is as one of those fair flowers in the bridegroom’s eyes. "I am the rose of Sharon," she says, in her artless acceptance of the bridegroom’s loving approval. We cannot identify the flower called here and in Isaiah 35:1, the rose. Our rose, we are told, was brought from Persia long after the time of Solomon; it is first mentioned in the Apocrypha (Ecclus. 24:14; 39:13; 50:8). The rose of the canonical Scriptures may be, as many have thought, the narcissus, which is very common in the Plain of Sharon, and is still the favourite flower of the inhabitants. The word "Sharon" may mean simply "a plain;" but, as it has the article, it probably stands here for the famous Plain of Sharon, so celebrated in ancient times for its fertility and beauty. The bride is like a lowly flower of the field, not majestic like those lofty cedars, but yet lovely in the bridegroom’s sight. The Christian is humble of heart; he is helpless and short-lived as a flower. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." But because Christ hath loved him and died for him, he knows that he is dear to his Saviour. 2. The lily of the valleys. Here, too, there is an uncertainty. The word rendered "lily" (shushan, the name of the famous Persian city, the "Shushan the palace" of the Book of Esther) is used of many bright-coloured flowers, We infer from So Isaiah 5:13 that this lily was red; hence some writers identify it with the scarlet anemone, which is very abundant all over Palestine. Solomon’s bride compares herself to the lily; but even Solomon himself, the Lord said, "in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these." The Lord bids us "consider the lilies." When we look up to the heaven, to the vast distances, the enormous magnitude of the heavenly bodies, in their ordered movements, we think, as the psalmist thought, "Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" But when we consider the lilies, we see that he who framed the universe in its vastness regards things small and humble. The delicate pencilling, the gorgeous colouring of the flowers of the field, the complicated structure of many of them, the arrangements, for instance, for fertilization, show a wisdom, an exact accommodation of means to ends, as astonishing as the celestial mechanism; a great and loving care, too, for us men, in providing us not only with the necessaries of life, but also with objects of rare and exquisite loveliness, to give us pure and innocent pleasures, to teach us lessons of truthfulness. He who thus clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will surely clothe us, though, alas! we are of little faith. The bride is as one of these flowers, frail as they are; she trusts in the bridegroom’s care. The Christian must learn to cast all his anxiety upon God. He careth for us. II. THE REPLY OF THE . The king takes up the words of the bride. She is to him as a lily; other maidens, when compared with her, are but as thorns in the bridegroom’s eyes. Alas! there are tares in the Lord’s field, barren fig trees in his garden. They are as thorns; his chosen are as lilies. The thorns set forth by contrast the beauty of the lily; the deformity of sin brings into sharper contrast the beauty of holiness. But whatever beauty the Christian soul possesses comes only from the Bridegroom’s gift; he gives it. In his infinite love he condescends to be pleased with that which is truly his, not ours; we hope to be "found in him, not having our own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Philippians 3:9). III. THE OF THE BRIDE. 1. The excellence of the bridegroom. He had compared the bride to a lily among thorns; she compares him to an apple tree among the trees of the wood. As the apple tree with its sweet fruit and its fragrant smell excels the barren trees of the wood, so the bridegroom excels all other men in the eyes of the bride. It is uncertain what the tappuach, called in our version "apple tree," really is; it has been identified by different writers with the quince, the citron, or the orange. It is enough for our purpose to know that it excels the trees of the wood, that its foliage gives a pleasant shade, that its fruit is sweet and fragrant and possesses certain restorative properties. The fact that it is five times mentioned in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 12:17; Joshua 15:34, Joshua 15:53; Joshua 16:8; Joshua 17:7) in connection with the name of various towns or fountains, Beth Tappuach or En Tappuach, shows that in the old times it must have been widely cultivated and greatly valued. It excels other trees; so does the beloved excel all other men in the estimate of the bride. Christ is very dear to the Christian soul. He is the Treasure hid in the field, the Pearl of great price; those who have found him and known him by a real spiritual knowledge count other objects of human desire as nothing worth in comparison with him. "What things were gain to me," says St. Paul, "those I counted loss for Christ;" and again, "I do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him." 2. The bride’s delight in him. The tappuach offered a pleasant shade; the bride delighted in it; she sat down beneath its bower of foliage; its fruit was sweet to her taste. We think of the holy women who stood by the cross of Jesus (John 19:25). The shadow under which the Church finds rest must be the shadow of the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ is to the believer "a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat;" "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Isaiah 25:4; Isaiah 32:2). He bids the weary and heavy laden to come to him that they may find rest—rest for their souls. There is no other true and abiding rest for these restless, dissatisfied souls of ours, but only the rest which he giveth—rest in the Lord. But it was the agony and bloody sweat, the bitter cross and passion, which made the Lord Jesus what he is to the believer; it is the exceeding great love of our Master and only Saviour manifested forth in that sacred suffering; it is the blessed atonement for the sins of the world wrought once for all through the virtue of the precious blood;—it is this which makes the Saviour’s cross a place of rest and refreshment for the weary soul, which causes the Christian to take delight in the shadow of the cross rather than in any form of earthly joy; hence the words of St. Paul, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14). As St. Paul gloried in the cross, so the bride delighted in the shadow of the beloved. "In his shadow I delighted, and I sat down," is the literal rendering of the Hebrew words. It is delight in the Saviour’s love which draws the penitent to the cross; as the Lord said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." The Lord’s love draws the penitent soul burdened with the sense of sin; the cross is to such a soul like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; there only is a sure refuge from the heat and turmoil of the world, from the cares and the manifold temptations of this life. Therefore the Christian sits down beneath it, taking the cross for his portion, meditating much on the Saviour’s cross, seeking to live ever nearer and nearer to it, within the inner depths of its awful shadow, and finding there a deep and holy peace which the world can neither give nor take away. Under the shadow of the cross we learn ourselves to take up the cross, and to follow after Christ; there we learn that in patient self-denials practised in the faith of Christ there is a spiritual delight, a joy severe indeed, but far more abiding, far more precious, than any joy this world can give. There we learn what St. Paul means when he says, "We glory in tribulations also" (Romans 5:3); what St. James means when he says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." For "his fruit is sweet to the taste." The soul that sits under the shadow of the cross of Christ feeds upon Christ, in spiritual conmmnion with him, and in the blessed sacrament which he ordained, and finds in that holy food a Divine sweetness, which wholly passes every form of earthly delight. But it is only they who sit under the shadow, who live very near to Christ in daily bearing of the cross, in patient continuance in well doing, who can realize that blessed sweetness; they "by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14); they know that Christ is the Bread of life, that his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed; their earnest, persevering prayer is, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." 3. Her remembrance of his love. "He brought me to the banqueting house," she says; literally, "to the house of wine." The bride passes from metaphor to facts. The bridegroom is no longer a fair and fruitful tree; he is once more the King of Israel who sought and loved the lowly maiden; she recounts her past experience of his love. He had brought her, humble as she was, into his palace, into the banqueting house. The literal translation brings to our thoughts the Lord’s words, "I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom" (Matthew 26:29). It is he who must bring his people into his banqueting house; it is his presence manifested to faith which makes the holy communion what it is to the believer. He gives us then the wine that maketh glad the heart of man, when he saith, "Drink ye all of it: for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under his table; but when he brings us thither, when we come led by the Spirit, drawn by the constraining love of Christ, then we know that it is his banqueting house, the house to which he calls his guests, where he seats them at his own board. "With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." There he bids us drink: "Drink ye all of it;" we all need that cup, for it is the cup of the new covenant. When we take it in faith and love, the new covenant, the covenant of grace, is confirmed to us afresh; for he gives us the blood that was shed for the remission of sins, the blood that cleanseth from all sin those who walk in the light. But we must ask him to bring us; without him we can do nothing. If we approach without him, without his grace and guidance, without faith in him, we shall bring no blessing away with us, but only the judgment of those who discern not the Lord’s body (1 Corinthians 11:29). The banqueting house of the King of Israel was signalized by the royal banner, the standard which had often led to the battle the warriors of Israel. That standard was the centre round which the king’s followers were wont to flock, to guard him in the hour of peril, to honour him with their attendance in the time of peace. But what drew the bride thither was the love of the bridegroom; that was the banner which was beautiful in her eyes, which was over her. The banner of the cross goeth onwards before the followers of the Lord; it is the centre round which they press, which is ever drawing them nearer and nearer. The banner which draws Christians to the blessed sacrament is the love of Christ. The banner tells of battle and of victory. We are told that after the conflict between Israel and Amalek in Rephidim, when the victory was won through the sustained persevering prayer of Moses, "Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: for he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Exodus 17:15, Exodus 17:16). Moses said, "Jehovah is my Banner;" the bride says, "His banner over me is love." The Hebrew words, indeed, are different, but the thought is similar. Jehovah will have war against the enemies of his people. "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19). The Lord is his people’s banner, their rallying point, the centre round which they range themselves in the hour of danger, when trials and temptations thicken, and the fiery darts of the wicked one are most frequent and most deadly. The banner is the Lord himself—his presence, his love. But as the standards round which our troops have fought are cherished and honoured, and reverently preserved in our cathedrals; so the royal banner which had led the soldiers of the cross to victory floats over the banqueting house of the King. It is the token of his presence. He is there with his faithful ones; he receives them to his board; his banner is love. His love, which was their strength in the day of conflict, is the joy of their souls in the blessed hour of holy communion with their Lord. But the words run, "His banner over me was love;" "The Lord is my Banner." We seem to see here a foreshadowing of those very precious words of Holy Scripture, "The Son of God loved me, and gave himself for me." The love of the Lord Jesus Christ is a personal, an individual love. "The Lord knoweth them that are his;" he knows them one and all. His banner is over each of them as he brings them into his banqueting house, as he draws them ever nearer to himself; and that banner is love. That unutterable love is their defence in times of danger, their joy and delight in seasons of spiritual enjoyment. Their earnest effort is so to lift up their hearts unto the Lord that they "may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." The banqueting house to which he brings the faithful here is the ante-room of the true presence chamber of the King. "Here we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: here we know in part; but then shall we know even as also we are known." That banqueting house is the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. There also his banner, which is love, will be over his elected saints. But it will no longer lead them to the battle, to hard and difficult struggles; it will tell of victory and glory, and of the unveiled presence of the King. Heart of man cannot tell what is the joy of those who in that banqueting house sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Then the bride shall be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, the fine linen which is the righteousness of saints (Revelation 19:8). Then each true soldier of the cross, who with that banner floating over him has fought the good fight of faith, shall see that banner in all its glorious beauty, and sit beneath it very near the King; for it is written, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." 4. The bride’s longing. She is sick of love. The joy of the bridegroom’s love is too great and overwhelming; she is fainting in delight too sweet for her powers. She asks for restoratives, "cakes of raisins" (as the word seems to mean, not "flagons") and other fruits which were supposed to possess strengthening or reviving powers. When the Christian comes into the very presence of the King, he is oppressed with the deep sense of his own unworthiness, his own cold unloving heart, and the King’s awful holiness and adorable, incomprehensible love; he needs the support of the fruit of the Spirit; he needs to be strengthened with all might by the Spirit in the inner man. When God reveals his great love to us, it makes us feel all the more the depth of our ingratitude, the coldness, the hardness, of this stony heart of ours. "O Love Divine, how sweet thou art! When shall I find my willing heart All taken up by thee? I thirst, I faint, I die to prove The greatness of redeeming love, The love of Christ to me." The bride longs for yet tenderer tokens of affection. Perhaps the words of verse 6 would be better rendered as a wish or prayer, as in So 8:3, where they occur again: "Oh that his left hand were under my head, and his right hand should embrace me!" The Christian longs to be drawn ever closer into the Lord’s embrace; he longs to lie in spirit, as the beloved apostle once actually lay, "on the breast of Jesus." Especially he hopes and prays to be supported in those tender, those protecting arms, when he must pass through the dark valley of the shadow of death; then it will be sweet to feel that "the eternal God is thy Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord," in his presence, in his embrace. But if we would have the holy comfort of that dear embrace in our dying hour, we must try to live "in the Lord" now, to walk with him all our days, to cling to him with the embrace of faith. The Hebrew verb "embrace" is that from which the name of the Prophet Habakkuk, the prophet of faith, is derived. He longed for the Lord’s coming; he ever watched to see what the Lord would say to him; he had learned to rejoice in the Lord in the midst of great distress; he taught us the holy lesson which St. Paul so earnestly presses upon us, "The just shall live by his faith." Such holy souls, being justified by faith, shall have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 5. The bride’s charge to the chorus. There is an error in the old version of this thrice-repeated charge (So Habakkuk 2:7; Habakkuk 3:5; 8:4). The bride is not cautioning the chorus not to awake her love, the bridegroom; she is adjuring (the literal translation) them not to awaken love, that is, the emotion, the affection, of love till it please, till it rise spontaneously in the heart. Hence the adjuration by the gazelles and the hinds of the field. They are gentle, timid creatures. Such is love true and pure; it is retiring; it shrinks away from observation; it is a sacred thing, between the lover and the beloved. The bride longs for the bridegroom’s love, but the daughters of Jerusalem must not try to excite it; it is more delicate, more maidenly, to wait till love pleases to stir itself, till it springs up spontaneously in the heart of the beloved. The relations of the soul with Christ are very sacred; they may be mentioned only to the like-minded, and even that with a certain awe and reserve. And there are communings of the heart with the heavenly Bridegroom which may be divulged to none, not even to the nearest and dearest. And we must wait in patience for the Bridegroom. If for a time we cannot see him, or discern the tokens of his love, we must wait for his good time. "The vision is yet for an appointed time," wrote the prophet of faith; "at the end … it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Habakkuk 2:3). God’s people must not be impatient; they must trust; they must believe that "he who hath begun a good work in them will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6); that he will at last "fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power" (2 Thessalonians 1:11). Son 2:8-17 The visit of the beloved. I. THE BRIDE’S . 1. The description of his first coming. The bride seems to be relating to the chorus the circumstances of her first meeting with the bridegroom. The King of Israel sought her in her humble home among the mountains of Lebanon; there he wooed and won her to be his bride. So the heavenly Bridegroom, the true Solomon who built the spiritual temple of living stones, came from his glory throne to seek his bride, the Church; so he cometh now to seek and to save that which was lost. The bride hears the voice of the beloved; "my beloved," she says. In that little pronoun lies a great meaning. If we can only say in sincerity "my Saviour," "my Lord and my God," "my King," "my Beloved," then we can realize more or less the language of this holy Song of Songs, and see the spiritual meaning which underlies its touching parable of love; then we shall often look back with wondering gratitude and tender joy to the days of our first conversion, when we first heard the Saviour’s voice calling us to himself; when we first felt that "he loved me, and gave himself for me;" when we first tried to give him that poor love of ours, which in his blessed condescension he sought in return for his own exceeding great love. The beloved is seen bounding over the mountains; he is like a gazelle or a young hart, fair to look upon and graceful, fleet of foot; he stands by the clay-built wall of the humble cottage; he looks in at the windows. So the Lord came to this poor earth of ours to seek the Church, his bride; he despised not the stable or the manger. So now he seeketh his chosen often in the lowliest homes; he looks for them shining (such is one possible interpretation of the word) through the lattice, bringing brightness into the poorest abode; the true Light "lighteth every man" (John 1:9). 2. The call. Those first words of love are treasured up in the memory of the bride; she remembers every tone of the bridegroom’s voice, the place, the time, all the surroundings. The Hebrew word is that which the Lord used when he called the little daughter of Jairus from the sleep of death: "Talitha, cumi." So now he calls his chosen one by one: "Rise up." They that have ears to hear listen to the gracious voice, and, like Matthew the publican, rise and follow Christ. The soul must sleep no longer when that call is heard; it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation near at hand. When he bids us rise, we must be up and doing; we must ask, "Lord, what wouldest thou have me to do?" we must follow whither he is leading, and give him the love which in his love he desireth. His call is sweet, exceedingly full of gracious love: "My love, my fair one." "My love," perhaps better, "my friend" (see So Matthew 1:9). The Lord would have his Church "a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." The Church, alas! is not without spot; it is stained with many sins; it numbers many evil men within its fold. But the Lord said of the twelve, the first germ of the Church, "Ye are the light of the world," "Ye are the salt of the earth," though there was a Judas among them; and so now his great love for the Church makes the Church with all her faults fair in the Bridegroom’s eyes. Whatever beauty of holiness she possesses comes only from his beauty, who in his love has chosen her, and brought her near to himself, making her shine with the reflection of his light, who is the true Light. But the call comes, not only to the Church in the aggregate, but in God’s good time to each elect soul. The Lord knows his own; he calls them by their name. "Jesus said unto her, Mary." And they who answer, "Rabboni, my Master," are fair in the Bridegroom’s sight. Each awakened soul, as it rises and comes to Christ, and sees something of his heavenly beauty, and of its own deformity and unworthiness, is filled with thankful wonder. There are, alas! so many stains of sin, and yet he says, "My fair one;" so much weakness and unbelief and selfishness, and yet, "My fair one;" so much ingratitude and hardness of heart, and yet, "My fair one." It is the Saviour’s great love which makes our sinful souls fair in his sight. If there is any answering love in our hearts; if we rise when he bids us and come to him; if we can say in any sincerity, though, alas! It must be with trembling and a deep sense of sin, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee;"—then the soul that gives its love to Christ, though feebly and imperfectly, is fair in the sight of the Bridegroom. For it is our love that he seeketh. Love covereth a multitude of sins: "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much." The soul that hears the Bridegroom’s call must rise and come away; it must give the whole heart to Christ, and come away from other masters, saying, "Rabboni, my Master," and giving itself wholly to the one Master’s love; it must come away daily from every little thing which tends to impede its communion with the Lord, or to deaden its sense of his love and presence; it must part with lower ambitions, lower desires, if it is to win the pearl of great price, the hidden treasure. So we are told in Psalms 45:1-17; which is so like the Song of Songs, "Hearken, O daughter, and consider: incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; so shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty." The soul comes; for the Lord’s call is very sacred, and touches the heart with thrilling power. The soul comes; for the joys to which he invites us are beyond all comparison more blessed and holy than all besides. The winter is past when the Lord’s voice is heard—the winter of coldness and indifference and unbelief; the spring of hope and holy joy begins; the heart singeth unto the Lord, making in itself a melody which is the foretaste of the new song which only the redeemed of the Lord can learn; the voice of the holy Dove is heard in the heart, which then becomes "our land"—the kingdom of God. "And his that gentle voice we hear, Soft as the breath of even, That checks each fault, that calms each fear, And speaks of heaven." When the Holy Spirit dwelleth in the heart, the fig tree is no longer barren, the Lord’s vineyard no longer bringeth forth wild grapes; there is promise of the fruits of the Spirit in ever fuller abundance. Again the Bridegroom calls in the earnestness of his blessed love, "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." It may be that in that second call we may discern an anticipation of the midnight cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him." Then he will call his chosen into that blessed Paradise, the true garden of the Lord, into which he led one forgiving soul on the day of his own most precious death. Then the winter will be past indeed; the eternal spring will begin to shine; angel voices will welcome the redeemed into that blessed rest which remaineth for the people of God. They that are ready shall enter in; and they will be ready who have listened to the first call of the heavenly Bridegroom, who have arisen in answer to his bidding and come to him, giving him their heart’s best affections, and forsaking for his dear love’s sake earthly desires and earthly ambitions. II. THE AND THE BRIDE. 1. The voice of the bridegroom. He has climbed the steep rock by the ladder-like path, he has found the secluded cottage; he calls the bride his dove; he desires to see her and to hear her voice. The King of Israel climbed the rocks of Lebanon in search of the malden whom he loved. The heavenly Bridegroom climbed the steep ascent of the awful cross that he might draw to himself the love of the Church, his bride (John 12:32). The bridegroom had already compared the eyes of the bride to doves (So Son 1:15); now he says, "O my dove." It tells us how dear the Christian soul is to the Lord; it tells us what that soul ought to be—"harmless as doves." The rock dove lives in clefts of the rocks. The soul which the Lord in his holy love condescends to call his dove, must dwell in the clefts of that true Rock which is Christ. The Rock of ages was cleft for us; the Christian soul must hide itself therein; there only are we safe. The dove is in the secret place, which can be reached only by climbing up the precipitous path. There is a steep ascent to be climbed before we can be hidden in the clefts of the Rock, before we can live that hidden life which is hid with Christ in God, before we can be safe, hidden in the wounded side of our dear Lord. That ascent is the path of self-denial, leading ever upward, ever closer to him who trod the way of the cross for our salvation. That life is hidden. "In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock" (Psalms 27:5). The saint-like character is like the dove, retiring, shrinking from observation; some of God’s holiest saints live silent, humble lives, in lowly circumstances, unseen of men. But our Father which seeth in secret knows their prayers, their charity, their self-denials; he will reward them openly. The heavenly Bridegroom deigns to see a sweetness and a beauty in a lowly Christian life; such a life is comely in his eyes, for it hath the beauty of holiness—a beauty derived only from communion with him who is the eternal Beauty. The voice of hymn and psalm ascending from that lowly dwelling is sweet in the Saviour’s ear. The loftiest melodies of choir and organ, if love and faith and reverence are absent, cannot reach to heaven; but the heart that is practising the new song in thankfulness and adoration maketh a melody which causeth joy in the presence of the angels of God. 2. The song of the bride. "Take us the foxes, the little foxes." Some scholars regard this as a fragment of a vintage song. The bride sings it in order to intimate to the bridegroom, as she does more plainly in verse 17, that the care of the vineyards (see So Son 1:6) must prevent her from joining him till the shadows lengthen in the evening. The foxes waste the vineyards, and the vines are in blossom; therefore the little foxes must be caught. The little sins as they sometimes seem to us, the small neglects, the prayer carelessly said, the worldly thought, the idle word,—these things spoil the vineyard of the Lord, which is the Christian soul; they check its blossoming, and so prevent the fruit from being formed. The believer must watch, for these things are enemies of his soul; they may seem to be like little foxes, small and of no strength, but they mar the beauty of the Christian character, and tend to check the promise of the fruit of the Spirit. Therefore they must be caught and destroyed by diligent watchfulness, by earnest persevering prayer. The little foxes do not, indeed, root up and devour the vineyard like the wild beasts of Psa 80:1-19; but they check its fruitfulness. And the small transgressions, if they do no worse, at least prevent the Christian from attaining that saintliness to which we are called. The little foxes hide and skulk about; the small sins are apt to escape detection. Therefore there is need of constant watchfulness and of very careful and diligent self-examination. For we are "called to be saints" (1 Corinthians 1:2; Romans 1:7); we are bidden to follow after holiness, to aim at perfection, to walk in the light. The little hindrances must be overcome, the little shadows must be driven away. 3. The happy union of love. "My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth his flock among the lilies." The favoured maiden, it may be, could not at the moment join her royal lover; but her heart was wholly his, and she knew that his love was fixed upon her. She describes him as a shepherd, but her words are figurative; he feedeth his flock, not in common pastures, but among the lilies of his garden, the garden of spices mentioned again in So Psalms 6:2. She delights in dwelling on the union of their hearts; three times she repeats the happy words (verse 16; So Psalms 6:3; Psalms 7:10). The Church is the Lord’s. He loved her, and gave himself for her, and presenteth her to himself as his bride (Ephesians 5:25, Ephesians 5:27); and he is hers, her Bridegroom, her King, her Lord. The Christian soul is the Lord’s. "Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s" (Romans 14:8). He gave himself to each one of us individually when he called us to be his own; we give ourselves to him at the moment of our first spiritual awakening; we renew the gift continually in the hour of prayer, in the holy communion: "We offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to he a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee." "My Beloved is mine, and I am his"—to know that with the knowledge of personal experience is the highest of spiritual blessings. He gives himself first to us, and by that gift he enables us, cold and selfish as we are, to give ourselves to him. None can tell the blessedness of that inner spiritual union with the Lord save those happy souls to whom it is given; and they to whom he has manifested himself must very jealously keep their souls from any unfaithful leaning to other masters, that they may be wholly his, that no unfaithfulness may mar the pure clear truth of their heart’s love for him who loved them even unto death, and deigns now to irradiate their hearts with his most sacred presence. He is their Lord, and he is their good Shepherd; he knoweth his own, and his own know him. Once he gave his life for the sheep; now he feeds them, and leads them on their way, tilt they come to the lilies of Paradise, the garden of the Lord. 4. The adieus of the bride. She has expressed her confidence in her lover’s affection and her own devotion to him; but now, apparently, she repeats the intimation of verse 15 in plainer words: her duties in the vineyard will occupy her time till the evening. She wishes her lover to continue his hunting excursion on the mountains of Bether, or, it may be, "of separation"—the mountains which for the time separate the lovers. She invites him to return when the day is cool, when the day breathes; that is, when the breeze comes in the evening, and the shadows lengthen and flee away (see Jeremiah 6:4). The Christian must not neglect the ordinary commonplace duties of life; he must not allow himself, like the Thessalonians, to be so distracted with spiritual excitement as to be unable to attend to the pursuits of his calling. The bride tends the vineyards which have been committed to her charge; the Christian must do with his might whatever his hand findeth to do. He must not neglect his duties even for the sake of giving all his time to religious exercises. Laborare est orare. If, whatever he does, he does all to the glory of God, Christ is his, and he is Christ’s, as fully in the midst of daily work as in the hour of prayer. Daniel, who kneeled upon his knees, and prayed and gave thanks three times a day, was faithful in all things to the king his master; no error or fault could be found in the administration of his arduous office. The bride will welcome her lover back in the cool of the evening, when she has finished her work; the Christian will take delight in his evening prayers when the tasks of the day have been performed. BY S. CONWAY Son 2:1 The rose and the lily. We have suggested here the self-consciousness of the renewed soul as to its true character and condition. It is the maiden who speaks, not her beloved, who in the next verse lovingly responds to what she says of herself. She likens herself— I. TO THE ROSE OF SHARON. That is, to a common field flower, not rare or distinguished, but of the lowliest if also of the loveliest kind. 1. It is the utterance of humility. (Cf. Paul’s word of himself as "less than the least of all saints.") Lowly thoughts of themselves are ever the characteristics of saints. It is not so strong an expression as the "I am black" of So Son 1:5, but it is of similar order (cf. on So Son 1:5) 2. But not of false humility. For though a lowly it is yet a lovely flower. The rose of Sharon was that "excellency of Sharon" which Isaiah couples with "the glory of Lebanon." Here, too, the resemblance between this and the "but comely" of So Isaiah 1:5 is evident. And the saintly soul is lovely—in the sight of its Lord, in the sight of the Church, and in the sight of men. Of our Lord it is said that "the grace of God was upon him," and that he grew "in favour with God and man." And this is so with his people, for he makes them beautiful and precious in his sight. She who is here the type of such soul is called "the fairest among women." 3. And the rose is also fragrant. True, to it as to others the poet’s lines apply— "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its fragrance on the desert air." but the saintly soul is what it is because it is its nature to be so, whether admired or not (cf. on So Isaiah 1:12). And such souls are: 4. The glory of the places where they are found. The Plain of Sharon is remembered in the minds of men for this its "excellency"—the roses that grow there. The world would not say that the glory of a place was its saints. It would point to its popular heroes, and those whom it calls its great men. But by the side of such flowers Solomon in all his glory fades by comparison. How plainly the Divine estimate of men is seen in God’s choice of Israel—a small, insignificant people, contemptible in the eyes of the great empires of ancient and modern days! But because in them, as in none other, the saints of the Lord were found, therefore on them and on their land the eyes of the Lord rested night and day. According to our character, according as we are governed by the faith, the fear, and the love of God, are we a blessing and an honour to our land and age. And they: 5. Delight in the sunshine of his love. The rose is the child of the sun. Its bright rays must rest upon it or its radiant beauty will not be revealed. And we are to "walk in the light," and to be "children of the light." II. THE LILY OF THE VALLEYS. This is another emblem of the saintly soul. 1. Of their character. Purity, sweetness, power of self-multiplication. What numbers of them there are! Bushnell speaks in his ’Christian Nurture’ of "the out-propagating power of the Christian stock," by which he means the power given to Christian faith to reproduce itself beyond, the like power possessed by that which is unchristian. And it has been so. How soon was the whole Roman empire converted to Christianity! It is the truth taught in the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:1-58). And it will be so yet more. "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord." 2. Their home is in the "valleys." (1) The lowly places. They "mind not high things." They "learn of" him who said, "I am meek and lowly in heart;" and, "When thou art bidden to a feast, take the lowest place." It is in such valleys that some of Christ’s fairest flowers are found. Amongst the poor. The afflicted. The persecuted. (2) Where, though exposed to much peril, they are yet preserved. How wonderful has been the preservation of the Church when we think of the perils it has had to encounter! As sheep amongst wolves Christ sent them. But yet the sheep outnumber the wolves, and have long done so. The lilies liable to be plucked by any passer by, trampled on or devoured by any beast, yet they live on, and each spring sees the valleys covered with them again. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Son 3:1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The bride is probably relating a dream. The time referred to is the close of the day on which she had been visited by her lover. She is retired to rest, and dreams that she searches for the beloved object in the neighbouring city (cf. Job 33:15). It is another way of telling her love. She is always longing for the beloved one. She had been waiting for him, and he came not, and retired to rest with a heart troubled and anxious because her lover did not appear as she expected at the evening hour. The meaning may be "night after night (לֵילוֹת)" (cf. So Son 3:8), or the plural maybe used poetically for the singular. Ginsburg observes that "by night on my bed" is opposed to midday couch (cf. 2 Samuel 4:5), merely to express what came into her thoughts at night in her dreams or as the result of a dream. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the bride intends to represent herself as suffering from self-reproach in having grieved her lover and kept him away from her. In that case the typical meaning would be simple and direct. The soul grieves when it is conscious of estrangement from him whom it loves, and the sense of separation becomes intolerable, impelling to new efforts to deepen the spiritual life. Son 3:2 (I said) I will rise now, and go about the city, in the streets and in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. Delitzsch renders, "So I will arise, then." The words of the maiden are quite inconsistent with the hypothesis of a shepherd lover, for in that case she would seek him, not in the streets, but outside the city. Some think the city referred to is Jerusalem, with its markets and streets—the royal city (cf. Proverbs 7:11). If it is a dream, it will be unnecessary to decide to what city the words refer. The idea of the speaker would seem to be either that she was at the time within the walls of the city referred to, or that she was in some dwelling near. But a dream is not always consistent with the real circumstances of the dreamer. Taking it as a reminiscence of first love, it seems better to understand the city as only imaginary, or some neighbouring town in the north. Son 3:3 The watchmen that go about the city found me: (to whom I said) Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? The simplicity of these words is very striking. They confirm the view that the bride is recalling what occurred in her country life. The watchmen make no reply, and do not treat her ill, as in the dream related in So Son 5:7, where they are keepers of the walls, and smite her and wound her. In a small country town she might have been recognized, or known to be really in trouble. But such incidents must not be pressed too much in a poem. The allegorical view finds considerable support in the fact that it is difficult on any hypothesis exactly to explain the language as descriptive of real occurrences. In such instances as Psalms 127:1 and Isaiah 52:8 the reference to watchmen in the city shows that such a metaphor would be familiarly understood. Whether adopted from Solomon’s Song or not, the figure of a city watched and guarded, and the people of God as watching for the glory of Zion, was common in the prophetic writings. The soul seeking for its object and for the restoration of its peace calls in the aid of the faithful guardians of the holy city, the friends alike of the Saviour and of those who desire to be his. Son 3:4 It was but a little that I passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. This verse plainly points to the search referred to in the previous verse being limited to the neighbourhood of Shulamith’s home. The lover was not far off, though he had delayed his coming. Possibly it is a real occurrence which is related. In that case we must suppose that the night was not very far advanced. But the hypothesis of a dream is the most natural explanation. The word cherer, which is used of the house, denotes the inner part, penetralia. The modesty of the last clause is very beautiful. The mother would, of course, at that time be in her sleeping chamber. There alone would the maiden receive her lover at such a time. The mother would gladly welcome the young man, and thus the love which Shulamith declares is set upon the ground of perfect chastity and homely purity. The object of this little episode introduced by the bride into her song as she lies in the arms of Solomon is to show that, ecstatic and intense as her devotion is, it is not the lawless affection of a concubine, but the love of a noble wife. The religious emotions are always presented to us in Scripture, not as wild fanaticism or superficial excitement, but as pure offering of the heart which blends with the highest relations and interests of human life, and sanctifies home and country with all their ties and obligations. The mother and the child are one in the new atmosphere of bridal joy. No religion is worthy of the name which does not bring its object into the chamber of her who conceived us. We love all that are bound with us in life not the less, but the more, because we love Christ supremely. We revere all that is just and holy in the common world the more, and not the less, because we worship God and serve the Lord. What a rebuke to asceticism, monasticism, and all unsocial religion! Son 3:5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awaken love, until it please. This is the refrain which divides the poem. We thus perceive that the whole of the preceding passage has been uttered by the bride in the presence of the ladies. There is no occasion to connect a refrain very closely with the words which go before it. Like the ancient Greek chorus, it may express a general sentiment in harmony with the pervading feeling of the whole composition. In this case it seems to be a general note of praise, celebrating the preciousness of pure, spontaneous affection. There have been several beautiful and celebrated imitations of this first part of Solomon’s Song, though they all fall far short of the original. Paul Gerhard has caught its spirit; Laurentius has copied it in his Advent Hymn. Watts, in bk. 1:66-78 of his ’Divine gongs;’ ’Lyra Germanica;’ Schaff’s ’Christian Song;’ and Miss Havergal, in some of her compositions, will furnish examples. Delitzsch quotes an ancient Latin imitation— "Quando tandem venies, meus amor? Propera de Libano, dulcis amor! Clamat, amat, sponsula. Veni, Jesu; Dulcis veni Jesu." This ends Part II; which sets before us the lovely beginning of this ideal love. We must then suppose that the writer imagines himself in Jerusalem, as though one of the court ladies, at the time that Solomon the king returns from the north, bringing with him his bride elect. We pass, therefore, from the banqueting chamber, and recall the scenes which accompanied the arrival of Shulamith at Jerusalem. The remainder of the poem is simply the celebration of married love, the delight of the bridegroom in the bride and of the bride in her husband. The whole book concerns a bride, and not one who is about to be made a bride. Here the dream which is introduced is not the dream of a lover awaiting the beloved one, but the dream of a young wife whose bridegroom tarries. The third part is the nuptial rejoicings; the fourth part is the reminiscence of love days or of the early married life; and the fifth part, which is a conclusion, is a visit of Solomon and his bride to the country home of the latter, pointing to the depth and reality of the influence which this pure maiden had upon his royal nature. Verse 3:6-5:1 Part III. NUPTIAL . Son 3:6 Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the powders of the merchant? This may be taken as spoken by a single voice, one of the ladies or inhabitants of Jerusalem, or it may be regarded as the exclamation of the whole population going out to see the splendid sight—a gorgeous procession coming towards the city. "Who is this coming?" (עֹלָה, feminine); that is, "Who is this lady coming?" There could be no difficulty in discerning that it was a bridal procession which is seen. Curiosity always asks, "What bride is this?" "Who is she?" not, "Who is he?" A maiden from Galilee is being conducted to Jerusalem; the procession naturally passes through the valley of the Jordan (Ghor). There is splendour and majesty in the sight. It must be some one coming to the royal palace. The censers of frankincense are being swung to and fro and filling the air with fragrant smoke. Columns of dust and smoke from the burning incense rise up to heaven, and mark the line of progress before and after. "The spices of Arabia" were famous at all times. Hence the names of the perfumes are Arabic, as murr, levona, and the travelling spice merchant, or trader, was Arabic (cf. the Arabic elixir). We can scarcely miss the typical colouring in such a representation—the wilderness, typical of bondage and humiliation, sin and misery, out of which the bride is brought; the onward progress towards a glorious destination (see Isaiah 40:3; Hosea 1:1-11:16; Psalms 68:8). The Church must pass through the wilderness to her royal home, and the soul must be led out of the wilderness of sin and unbelief into everlasting union with her Lord. Son 3:7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon; three score mighty men are about it, of the mighty men of Israel. The litter, or palanquin, is easily recognized. The word is mittah, which is literally "bed," or "litter," but in the ninth verse we have another word, appiryon, which is a more stately word. "the royal car." It is the bringing home of the bride which is described. In the forty-fifth psalm the idea seems to be that the bridegroom betook himself to the house of the parents and fetched his bride, or that she was brought to him in festal procession, and he went forth to meet her (see 1 Macc. 9:39). That was the prevailing custom, as we see in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). In this case, however, there is a vast difference in rank between the bride and bridegroom, and she is brought to him. The long journey through the wilderness is implied in the mention of the bodyguard (cf. Isaiah 4:6; Isaiah 25:4). The intention evidently is to show how dear the bride was to Solomon. His mighty men were chosen to defend her. So the Church is surrounded with armies of guardian attendants. Her Lord is the Lord of hosts. The description reminds us of the exquisite lines in Shakespeare’s ’Antony and Cleopatra,’ in which he describes the lovely Egyptian in her barge "like a burnished throne," lying "in her pavilion (cloth of gold, of tissue)," with the smiling cupids on each side, while "... from the barge, A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs." (Acts 2, sc. 2) The word mittah, "a bed, or litter," comes from a root "to stretch out," and is also used of a bier (see 2 Samuel 3:21). The idea is that of a portable bed, or sitting cushion, hung round with curtains, after the manner of the Indian palanquin, such as is still found in the Turkish caiques or the Venetian gondolas. It was, of course, royal, belonging to Solomon, not to any nobleman or private person; hence its magnificence. The bearers are not named. The bodyguard, consisting of sixty chosen men, forming an escort, were one tenth part of the whole royal guard, as we see from 1 Samuel 27:2; 1 Samuel 30:9. Delitzsch suggests that in the mention of the number there may be a reference to the twelve tribes of Israel—60 being a multiple of 12. The term, "mighty men," is explained in the next verse as warriors, that is, men "held fast by the sword" (אֲחֻזִיִ חֶרֶב), i.e; according to Hebrew idiom, men practised in the use of the sword; so it is explained by some; but others take it as meaning that they "handle the sword;" hence our Revised Version. Son 3:8 They all handle the sword, and are expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. The guard of warriors round the litter secured the bride from any sudden alarm as she travelled through the wilderness, and so gave her quiet rest. The journey from Shunem to Jerusalem would be about fifty miles in a direct course, and it was therefore necessary to pass at least one, if not two, nights on the way; the course being through a wild and solitary region. The Church of God may be often called to pass through dangers and enemies, but he that loveth her will provide against her destruction—she shall have rest in the love of. her Lord. He will surround her with his strength. "My peace I give unto thee"—provided by me, coming from myself, the fruit of my self-sacrificing love. Son 3:9, Son 3:10 King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the seats of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, from the daughters of Jerusalem. The palanquin is described, that the attention may be kept fixed awhile on the bridal procession, which, of course, forms the kernel of the whole poem, as representing the perfect union of the bride and bridegroom. The Greek versions translate φορεῖον: the Vulgate, ferculum. We read in Athenaeus (Son 5:13) that the philosopher and tyrant Athemon showed himself on "a silver-legged φορεῖον with purple coverlet." There probably is some connection between the Hebrew appiryon and the Greek phoreion, but it is exceedingly doubtful if the Hebrew is merely a lengthened form of the Greek. Delitzsch derives the Hebrew from a root parah, "to cut or carve" anything of wood. The Greek would seem to be connected with the verb φερω, "to bear," "carry." The resemblance may be a mere coincidence. The rabbinical tradition is that the Hebrew word means "couch, or litter." Hitzig connects it with the Sanscrit paryana, meaning "saddle," "riding saddle," with which we may compare the Indian paryang. "bed." Others find a Chaldee root for the word, פָרָא, "to run," as currus in Latin, or from a root גָּאַר, "to shine," i.e." to be adorned." At all events, it would not be safe to argue the late date of the book from such a word as appiryon, on account of its resemblance to a Greek word. The "wood of Lebanon" is, of course, the cedar or cypress (1 Kings 5:10, etc.). There may be a covert allusion intended to the decoration of the temple as the place where the honour of the Lord dwelleth, and where he meets his people. The frame of the palanquin was of wood, the ornaments of silver. The references to the high value set upon silver, while gold is spoken of as though it was abundant, are indications of the age in which the poem was composed, which must have been nearly contemporaneous with the Homeric poems, in which gold is spoken of similarly. Recent discoveries of the tomb of Agamemnon, etc; confirm the literary argument. The palanquins of India are also highly decorated. The daughters of Jerusalem, i.e. the ladies of the court, in their affection for King Solomon, have procured a costly tapestry, or several such, which they have spread over the purple cushion. Thus it is paved, or covered over, with the tokens of love—while all love is but a preparation for this supreme love. (For the purple coverings of the seat, see Judges 5:10; Amos 3:12; Proverbs 7:16.) The preposition מִן in the last clause is rendered differently by some, but there can be no doubt that the meaning is "on the part of," that is, coming from. The typical interpreter certainly finds a firm ground here. Whether we think of the individual believer or of the Church of God, the metaphor is very apt and beautiful—we are borne along towards the perfection of our peace and blessedness in a chariot of love. All that surrounds us speaks to us of the Saviour’s love and of his royal magnificence, as he is adored by all the pure and lovely spirits in whose companionship he delights. Son 3:11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. This seems to be an appeal to a larger company of those who will rejoice in the bride and her happiness. The daughters of Zion are perhaps intended to represent the people generally as distinguished from the ladies of the court, i.e. let all the people rejoice in their king and in his royal bride. The mention of the royal mother seems to point to the beginning of Solomon’s reign as the time referred to. The crown, or chaplet, with which the proud mother adorned her son, was the fresh wreath round a young king’s head, a wedding coronet, no doubt made of gold and silver. It was not the crown placed on the head of Pharaoh’s daughter, which would not be so spoken of. According to the Talmud, the custom remained even to later times. There can be no doubt of Bathsheba’s special delight in Solomon (see 1 Kings 1:11; 1 Kings 2:13). We must not, of course, push too far the typical interpretation of such language, which may be taken as the poetical form rather than the spiritual substance. And yet there may be an allusion, in the joy and pride of Bathsheba in her son’s gladness, and the consummation of his nuptial bliss, to the Incarnation and the crowning glory of a Divine humanity, which is at once the essential fact of redemption, and the bright expectation which, on the head of the Saviour, lights up eternity to the faith of his people. Son 3:1-5 The dream of the bride. I. THE ABSENCE OF THE BELOVED. 1. The bride’s distress. In the last chapter the bride related to her female friends some of the incidents of her early love; here she seems to be relating a dream of those same well remembered days. The whole narrative, like that of So Son 5:2-8, has a dream-like character. The circumstances are not such as would be likely to occur in real life; but the longing, the wandering, the search, represent in a vivid truthful way the images of dreams. She was lying asleep on her bed; her thoughts were full of the absent bridegroom. "I sought him," she says," but I found him not." We notice the dream-like repetition, the dwelling upon phrases. Four times in these five verses we have the fond description of the bridegroom, which occurred for the first time in So Son 1:7, "him whom my soul loveth." Twice we have the utterance of unsatisfied longing, "I sought him, but I found him not." She was sleeping, but (as in So Son 5:2, "I sleep, but my heart waketh") her thoughts were busy and active. Her whole heart was given to her beloved. Those oft-repeated words, "him whom my soul loveth," imply a very deep affection, a great love. The believer remembers God in the watches of the night. The psalmist says, "In the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life;" and again, "I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search" (Psalms 42:8; Psalms 77:6). If our heart is given to the heavenly Bridegroom, we shall think of him as we lie on our beds; our first waking thoughts will be of him. Alas! our love for Christ is not like the bride’s love in the Song of Songs. How few of us can in truth speak of the Saviour as "him whom my soul loveth"! The bride dwelt upon those words as the simple truth, the sincere expression of her feelings. We dwell upon them, too; but, alas! with a sense of much coldness and ingratitude, a remembrance of much insincerity and unreality. "God only knows the love of God; Oh that it now were shed abroad In this poor stony heart! For love I sigh, for love I pine; This only portion, Lord, be mine, Be mine this better part." The Christian dwells on the words, longing for grace to make them his own, the utterance of his inmost heart. Here is the spiritual value of the Song of Songs. We see what a great love is; how it absorbs the heart and fills the soul. Such should be our love to Christ; such should be our "songs in the night" (Job 35:10). The bride sought her beloved in the visions of the night. We seem sometimes in our dreams to be going on long trackless journeys, wandering ever in search of something we know not what. So the bride could not find him whom her soul loved. Such are sometimes the experiences of the Christian soul. So Job once complained, "Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even unto his seat!… Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him" (Job 23:3, Job 23:8). The Lord has said, "Seek, and ye shall find;" "Every one that seeketh findeth." But he has also said, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Those who seek shall surely find at last; but the seeking must be diligent seeking, patient, persevering; there must be striving too, struggling to Overcome obstacles, wrestling against the spiritual enemies who would bar our way. It is not enough to seek by night on our beds; there must be effort, sustained effort, not mere dreamy aspirations; and that not only by night, not only in the hour of darkness: "in the day of my trouble I sought the Lord" (Psalms 77:2). We must seek the Lord always; in the hour of health and strength, in the days of our youth; giving him our best, doing all things to his glory. Such seeking will surely find him. 2. The search. "I will rise now," she says. The Hebrew tense is cohortative. She is addressing herself, arousing herself. Dreaming as she is, she feels that this is not the way to seek; she must leave her bed, she must rise. Perhaps she remembered the bridegroom’s words spoken in the freshness of their first love: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." She seems to rise; in her dreams she goes about the city in the streets, seeking him whom her soul loved. We must arise and seek the Lord; we must not lie still in careless slumber; we must seek him wherever his providence has set us, whether in the quiet country or in the bustling, crowded city. We may find him in any place, provided it be one where a Christian may safely tread; in any employment, provided it be lawful and innocent; in the city, in the streets, and in the broadways. "There are in this loud stunning tide Of human care and crime, With whom the melodies abide Of the everlasting chime; Who carry music in their heart Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, Plying their daily task with busier feet, Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." Still the bride found not the beloved; she repeats her first lament like a plaintive refrain: "I sought him, but I found him not." The soul does not always find the Lord at once when it first feels its need of the Saviour. We try one plan after another; we make effort after effort; but for a time all our efforts are vain. We know that he may be found, that others have found him and have felt the blessedness of his love. But the search seems long fruitless. God would have our search to be sincere, thoughtful, earnest. Therefore he tries our faith. He proves us, as once he proved Abraham; as the Lord Jesus tried the faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman. Again and again she sought his help, but for some time there was no response; silence at first, then what seemed to be a stern refusal. Still she persevered, she urged her prayer; her case was like that of the bride—she sought him, but she found him not. We must follow her example, remembering the Lord’s teaching, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. We must imitate the bride in her dream, and seek on, though for a long season our search may seem unsuccessful—though we find him not. II. THE SUCCESS OF THE BRIDE’S SEARCH. 1. She meets the watchmen. The watchmen found her (as again in So Job 5:7). Sheasks them the question which was so near her heart, "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" They were going about the city; they might be able to guide her to the object of her search. But they were like the watchman of Psa 127:1-5, waking but in vain for the bride’s purpose, unable to help her. It is not always that Christian friends, or the ministers of God’s holy Word and sacraments, who "watch for our souls" (Hebrews 13:17), can help us in our search for Christ. We ask them, we seek their help; it is right to do so; sometimes they can help us. But each soul must find Christ for itself. "Work out your own salvation," St. Paul said to the Philippians; and that, "not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence" (Philippians 2:12). 2. She finds the bridegroom. The watchmen could give her no good tidings; but she did not faint; she did not return home or throw herself down in despair; she continued her search alone. She would search on till she found the beloved of her soul. And her search was rewarded at last. "It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth." God is not far from us even in the hour of deepest gloom, when we seem to strain our eyes through the darkness, and can see no light. If we seek him earnestly we shall surely find him at the last; for he, we know, is seeking us. The Lord Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. He seeketh the lost sheep until he find it. He giveth his life for the sheep. Then we may be quite sure that he who loved us with such a love, a love stronger than death, will not suffer any penitent soul that seeketh him in faith, in sorrow for the past, in earnest painful longings for forgiveness, to lose its way, to wander on without finding, to inquire everywhere without result, "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" He will surely manifest himself according to his blessed promise, as he did to the two disciples who on the first Easter Day were mourning for their lost Master, and would not be comforted by the words of the women who "had seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive." He will come in his gracious love, and then our heart will burn within us as he manifests himself, and our eyes shall be opened, and we shall know him; and that knowledge is eternal life (John 17:3). 3. She brings him to her home. The long wanderings of the dream were over. She had found him whose love filled her waking thoughts, of whom her dreams were full when she slept. She would not let him go. The anguish of that long, almost despairing search should not be in vain. She held him fast, and brought him to her own home, into its inmost chambers. The soul that once has found Christ clings to him with the strong embrace of faith. He may "make as though he would go further" (Luke 24:28), to try our faith, that we may feel our need of him. But as the two disciples then "constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent," so the soul holds him and will not let him go. The soul, weak as Jacob was weak, struggles with the strength that the sense of weakness gives. "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." "Yield to me now, for I am weak, But confident in self-despair: Speak to my heart, in blessings speak; Be conquered by my instant prayer: Speak! or thou never hence shalt move, And tell me if thy name is Love. My prayer hath power with God: the grace Unspeakable I now receive; Through faith I see thee face to face, I see thee face to face, and live! In vain I have not wept and strove: Thy nature and thy name is Love." This noble hymn of Charles Wesley’s expresses the feelings of a soul that has found Christ. We must not let him go, not for any perplexities, not for any temptations. St. Paul tells us that no difficulties can draw us back from him if we really give him our heart. "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38, Romans 8:39). Then we must cling very closely to him, not letting go any one desire to serve him better and to love him more. We must stimulate every such desire into activity by actual self-denying effort. We must try with all our heart to realize his presence always, at all times and in all places, in our business, our amusements, our intercourse with friends and relations, as well as in the hour of private prayer or public worship. We must try with conscious effort to please him always; seeking, indeed, to serve him much, like Martha, but still more to please him perfectly, like Mary. And we must bring him into our home, into the very inmost chambers of our heart, opening them all to him, dedicating them all, every purpose of ours, every hope, every aspiration, to him, beseeching him to accept our imperfect offering, to make our hearts his temple, to fulfil in us his blessed promise, "If any man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode [our dwelling, our abiding place] with him" (John 14:23). And now we have again the adjuration of So Philippians 2:7. The bride has related her dream to the daughters of Jerusalem. The subject of that dream was love—pure and innocent love; its sorrows and its joys; separation and blessed reunion. It is a sacred thing. The daughters of Jerusalem were to listen in silent sympathy; they were not to praise or to blame; they were not to endeavour to stimulate or increase the love of bride or bridegroom; they were to leave it to its free spontaneous growth in the heart. Human love is a holy thing. The love that is between Christ and his Church, the love that is between the Lord of our redemption and every elect soul, is holier yet by far. It is not to be much talked of; it is to be treasured in the heart; it is the inmost spring of that life which is hidden with Christ in God. It must not be stirred by irreverent talk or disclosure; it must rest unseen "till it please"—till the fit time shall come for speaking of its blessedness. Son 3:6-11 The espousals. I. THE OF THE BRIDE. 1. The question. "Who is this?" We have here one of those refrains which form a striking characteristic of the song. The question, "Who is this?" (the pronoun is feminine, "Who is she?") is three times repeated (Son 3:6; So Son 6:10; Son 8:5). It indicates always a fresh appearance of the bride. Here the words seem to be chanted by a chorus of young men, the friends of the bridegroom. They are struck with admiration at the beauty of the bride, and the royal state bestowed upon her by the king. She is coming up to Jerusalem from the distant Lebanon country, here described as the wilderness—which word in the Hebrew Scriptures often means, not a desert, but a thinly populated country, fit for feeding flocks, a pasture land. She comes like pillars of smoke perfumed with myrrh and frankincense. Perfumes are burned around her in such profusion that pillars of smoke appear to attend her progress. The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. She is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. She comes up from this lower world to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The incense of adoration and thanksgiving rises as she moves onward. She is the holy Catholic Church, the great congregation of Christian people dispersed throughout the whole world. But the Church is made up of individual Christian souls. And that the Church may come as a whole to Christ the Bridegroom, each soul must come personally, individually. The soul cometh up out of the wilderness, out of the far country, where the world, the flesh, and the devil rule; up to Mount Zion, to the city of God, where is the true temple, where God is worshipped in spirit and in truth, where he manifests himself to them that seek him. And the prayer of the faithful, as they draw ever nearer, is set forth in God’s sight as the incense, and the lifting up of their hands as the evening sacrifice. The Lord is pleased, in his infinite condescension, to regard our poor prayers when lifted up in faith as holy incense (Revelation 8:3, Revelation 8:4), because the great High Priest is praying for us. Our poor prayer joins itself through the power of faith with his prevailing prayer, and therefore rises up before the throne as a pillar of sweetest incense smoke, acceptable to God through Christ. The thought that God is pleased so to honour the prayers of the faithful, that he condescends to seek such worship, worship offered up in spirit and in truth, makes prayer a very sacred thing. The approach of the Christian soul to God is very solemn. The soul cometh out of the wilderness, away from its old haunts; it is ascending up to Mount Zion, to the presence chamber of the King of heaven; it must come with reverence and godly fear, remembering that God’s presence is very awful as well as very blessed; it must come with the perfume of holy thoughts and heavenly aspirations, with the offering of prayer and praise rising up like the smoke of holy incense before the mercy seat. 2. The bed of Solomon. The chorus calls attention to the litter (for such seems here to be the meaning of the word) in which the bride is borne in her progress to the royal city. "It is his litter," they say. They add the royal name itself, "Behold his litter, which is Solomon’s," to give emphasis to the honour bestowed upon the bride. The king has sent his own litter to convey his bride to the palace, the palanquin in which he himself was carried. It was King Solomon’s; it is the bride’s, for the king has given it to her. God has given us all things, St. Paul says (Romans 8:32). If only we are Christ’s, then all things are ours—the world, life, death, things present, things to come (1 Corinthians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 3:22). And the Lord himself says, "The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them" (John 17:22). It is his will that his chosen should be with him where he is. He gives them now all that is necessary to convey them thither. "God rode upon a cherub" (Psalms 18:10). The Lord will "send his angels … and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:31). The angels carried the soul of Lazarus into Abraham’s bosom. But we may learn here another very solemn lesson. The litter of Solomon bore the bride up to Mount Zion; the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ brings the Christian soul to heaven. The Lord was lifted up upon the cross. Several ancient writers tell us that in Psalms 96:10 the earliest reading was, "The Lord hath reigned from the wood." The cross is his throne; it drew, and still draws, all faithful souls to him; it has lifted him up to reign over the hearts of all the best and truest. It behoved him first to suffer, and then to enter into his glory. "He humbled himself even unto the death of the cross; wherefore God also hath highly exalted him" (Philippians 2:9). And he brings his elect to God by the same way which he trod himself. The cross lifts the Christian soul to God. "Nearer my God, to thee, Nearer to thee; E’en though it be a cross That raiseth me." The Christian is "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20). He is lifted up by the cross of atonement, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then by the cross of spiritual self-sacrifice, the cross borne with Christ, into the very presence of the King. Nothing else can bear him thither. He must pray, "Thy will be done," before he asks, "Give us this day our daily bread." He must learn from the suffering Lord the inner meaning of his own holy prayer. "Not my will, but thine be done." He must remember that the cross is the cross of Christ; that the Lord, who was himself lifted up upon the cross, sends the cross to his followers to lift them also upwards; that, purified and refined by holy self-denials, and by suffering meekly borne, they may at length be with him where he is, and behold his glory, and sit with him in his throne (Revelation 3:21). 3. The guard. The king had sent his own guard to escort the bride to her new home. King David had a guard of thirty mighty men; Solomon, it seems, had double the number. All were expert in war; all bore the sword because of fear in the night. From Psalms 10:1-18, especially Psalms 10:7-10, we learn that parts of Palestine were in David’s time dangerous from bands of brigands. The king had cared for the safety of the bride; the escort was not given her merely for honour. So now the Lord giveth his angels charge over his people to keep (to guard) them in all their ways; so now "the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them" (Psalms 91:11; Psalms 34:7). They "shall not be afraid for the terror by night" (Psalms 91:5), for "they that be with us are more than they" that be against us (2 Kings 6:16). The description of the armed guard reminds us that we too have to fight the good fight of faith, that we have to wrestle "against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness" (Ephesians 6:12). We have to take to ourselves the panoply of God, the armour of light; like the mighty men of Israel who guarded the bride, we must take "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." That sword will save us from the "fear of the night," because it is "through patience and comfort of the Scriptures" that we have hope (Romans 15:4). Thus the Holy Scriptures are not only the sword of the Spirit; they furnish us also with hope, the hope of salvation, which is the helmet of the Christian warrior. To gain that sword and that helmet we must study the Word of God in faith; that living faith which (St. Paul tells us) is the shield whereby we may "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." If we do our part, quitting ourselves like men, fighting manfully under the banner of the cross, we need fear no evil. Our angel guard, sent forth because of them that shall be heirs of salvation, called in Holy Scripture "their angels," because they have charge over them, as well as God’s angels, because he is their God and King, will ever encamp around us and keep us till we appear before God in Zion. II. THE KING GOES FORTH TO MEET THE BRIDE. 1. The chariot of the king. The bride approaches in a litter sent for her by the king. Solomon himself goes forth to receive her in his car of state. He had had it made according to his own plans, with that artistic skill and magnificence which were characteristic of him. It was made of the fragrant and imperishable cedar wood brought from Lebanon, the country of the bride. Its decorations were of the richest—gold and silver, and the costly Tyrian purple; in the midst was a tesselated pavement, a gift of love from the daughters of Jerusalem. The bride, the Lamb’s wile, shall have the glory of God (Revelation 21:9, Revelation 21:11). When she is "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," then, we are told, "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). When Christ, the true Solomon, the Prince of Peace, shall bring his bride, the Church, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the foundation of peace, he will manifest himself to her in his glory. Now he is interceding for us, that then we may be with him where he is, that we may behold his glory. Then, if we are his indeed, we shall see him as he is, and shall be made like unto him (1 John 3:2). It was a great thing for the poor bride from the Lebanon to be brought into the court of the king whose magnificence filled the Queen of Sheba with wonder and delight. But "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). None can tell the blessedness of those happy souls who, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, "shall see the King in his beauty" (Isaiah 33:17); shall sit with him in his throne amid the glories of the golden city; shall see his face, and his Name shall be in their foreheads. Heart of man cannot conceive the exceeding great joy of that moment of most entrancing bliss, when the heavenly Bridegroom shall bring home the Church, his bride. King Solomon issued out of Jerusalem in royal pomp to meet his betrothed. When the marriage of the Lamb is come, "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 4:17). 2. The glory and great joy of the king. The chorus calls upon the daughters of Zion to go forth and see the splendour of the royal espousals. King Solomon has brought home his bride; his heart is glad; his mother has crowned him with the royal diadem; he is happy in the love of his bride. The Prophet Isaiah comforts Zion with the blessed promises that "as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee" "Thou shalt no longer be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah [’my delight is in her’], and thy land Beulah [’married’]: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married" (Isaiah 62:4, Isaiah 62:5). So the Lord "Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for her; that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word,: that he might present her to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). It was for the joy set before him that Christ endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). The Lord bringeth home the lost sheep rejoicing. He saith, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep that was lost" "Rejoice with me!" And they do rejoice, the Saviour of the world and the holy angels round his throne. The Lord’s exceeding great love for our poor dying souls makes the salvation of those souls very precious in his sight. Nothing can show the depth and tenderness of the blessed love with which he yearned for our salvation except the great agony of Gethsemane, the awful anguish of the cross. Therefore the day of the resurrection of the blessed will be a day of joy in heaven. "Let us be glad, and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7). He is King of kings, and Lord of lords; on his head are many crowns (Revelation 19:12, Revelation 19:16). His virgin mother saw him once wearing the crown of thorns; now he wears the crown of boundless sovereignty. He had come down from heaven to seek his bride; now she is with him in his glory. "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11). BY S. CONWAY Son 3:1-5 Love’s dream. It is a dream that is told of in these verses. It was natural for her who tells it to have dreamt such a dream. Lifting up the story to the higher level of things spiritual, what these verses say suggests— I. DREAMS . They are often revelations of life and character. Sometimes they are mere folly, the misty vapours exhaled by a gross and over-fed body. But at other times, as here, they have a deeper meaning. They show the manner of a man’s life, the bent of his inclinations, the character of his soul. Our dreams never play us false. The motives that govern their acts are the motives that govern ours. A man dreams about the sins he loves too well; about the sorrows that haunt his life; about the joys on which his heart is set. Dreams have played a large part in God’s governance of men. They often show us what we should avoid and what we should seek after. Though some are foolish, we cannot afford to despise them as if all were so. II. THIS DREAM. In both its stages it reveals the fervent love of the dreamer. 1. It began sorrowfully. She thought she had lost her beloved (Son 3:1, Son 3:2). This the deepest of distresses to the renewed soul (cf. Psalms 77:1-4). If heaven would cease to be heaven, as it would were Christ’s presence withdrawn, how much more must this life be all dark and drear if we have him not! And she tells how she sought him. (1) In the city, amid the business and turmoil of men. But it is but little that he is there. They would most probably crucify him if they found him, so deadly is the hate the world hath for him. It is not true that virtue needs only to be seen to be loved. As our Lord was dealt with, so would it be. (2) And in the assemblies, in society. And we cannot be surprised that he was not there. Society! does that word summon up the idea of a community who would cherish Christ’s presence? (3) But even the watchmen could not tell her of him. How wrong this! Zion’s watchmen, and not know where Christ is to be found! They had found her, and very likely found fault with her, but they could not help her to find him. Such pastors there are, and to them "the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed." We can picture the soul’s distress when these failed her. To have gone to the house of God hungering for direction Christwards, and to come back with none at all—that is a sorrow not unknown nor slight. But her dream did not end so. 2. It ended joyfully. (1) Her beloved revealed himself to her. She "found him." But what is our finding other than his showing? (cf. the four findings of Christ told of in John 1:1-51.). How often when we have "passed from" Sundays and services and sermons, and have not found Christ, he is found of us in some other season, place, and circumstances! If he be found of them that seek him not—as he says he is—how much more will he fulfil his word, "They that seek me shall find me"! (2) And she clave to him. "I held him," etc. The soul thus holds her Lord by her prayers, her trust, her communion, her service, her self-surrender. These grasp the Beloved, and will not let him go. (3) And she will be content with nothing less than the full assurance of his love (Son 3:4). We should resolve to have a religion that makes the soul happy. The religion that does not do this does but little at all. Cf. the elder son in the parable of the prodigal, he had a religion, but it was all gloom. Let us not be satisfied so. And if we seek, and find, and cleave, and so continue as set forth here, the joy of the Lord shall be ours. III. THE AWAKING. Son 3:5 shows that she is awake, and conscious of the love of her beloved, and would not be torn therefrom until he pleased (cf. on So Son 2:7). But, awake, the soul finds that what was sad in her dream was but a dread, but what was joyful is an abiding reality. We cannot lose Christ really, though we may think we do; and the soul that seeks him shall find him.—S.C. Son 3:3 The watchmen. In this verse very much that it concerns Christ’s ministers to give heed to is suggested. I. THE WATCH THEY HAVE TO KEEP. Christ’s ministers are meant (Isaiah 52:8; Isaiah 62:6; Ezekiel 33:7). Their watch is to be over themselves, over their teaching, over the Church of God. II. THE REASON OF THEIR . It is night, when men sleep, when the foe takes advantage; hence the need of watchmen (Isaiah 21:11, Isaiah 21:12). III. THE DUTY THEY HAVE TO . "To go about the city." The ways and windings of the human heart. The highways of the Word of God. The streets of the city of God, the Church. They need to be acquainted with all these. IV. WHAT THEY WILL MEET WITH. Such as they found here. They "found me;" that is, a wearied and sorrowful soul. They find such through their preaching or their pastoral work (1 Corinthians 14:24, 1 Corinthians 14:25). So souls are found. True watchmen are sure to find such. V. THE THEY WILL BE ASKED. (Cf. John 12:21, "Sir, we would see Jesus.") This the suggestion of what we read here. "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" And this is what such souls need; and the more they are directed to him, the more will the watchmen be valued and their word heeded. This is what our congregations want from us, and the question which in reality they put to us. VI. THE OF THEIR ANSWER. Had they told her where he was whom she sought, she would have passed from them with gratitude and joy; as it was, because they could not tell her, she went away in deep distress. Such issues depend upon their word. It is good when they have seen Jesus for themselves. It is better when they can direct seeking souls to him. But it is sad indeed if they have neither seen him nor know how to direct inquirers to him. So was it with these watchmen; so let it not be with us.—S.C. Son 3:6-11 Solomon in all his glory. (For explanation of details in these verses, see Exposition.) We have set before us here such glory as pomp and splendour, strength and power, great riches and sensual pleasure, could give. All that in which Solomon delighted, and for which his name became famous. Now, these things suggest— I. A GREAT . They were so: 1. To Solomon, for he yielded to it. All that these things could do for him he enjoyed to the full. The tradition of "Solomon and all his glory" came down through the centuries that followed. And the like things are a great temptation to men now. What will they not do for them? They were the last of the temptations with which Satan tempted our Lord. And to the good, the temptation of them lies in the suggestion that was doubtless made to the mind of our Lord—so much good may be done by them; they will so help in establishing the kingdom of God. His mind was, we may well believe, absorbed with the question how the great work he bad come to do, the establishment of this kingdom, could be accomplished. And here was the point and force of this temptation. To yield to it would have been as if he had fallen down and worshipped the evil one. Hence he spurned both it and him. And still "in the multitude," not of "words" only, but even more of riches, "there wanteth not sin." Therefore these things are not to become the object of desire in a good man’s soul. 2. They were designed to tempt her of whom this song tells. Solomon would dazzle her with his splendour and wealth, and so would make her "forget" her "kindred" and her "father’s house;" for the king desired her beauty. And in like manner the same temptation is held out still. For the sake of these things what sacrifices are made of loyalty and truth and goodness! She resisted by the might of her affection for her "beloved;" the power of her true love enabled her to overcome. And only the presence in our hearts of a higher love, and, best of all, the highest, even the love of God, will drive out and overcome all lower and evil love. II. A GREAT LACK. There is nothing in all this glory of pomp and wealth which marks the presence of those Godward riches which alone are real; nothing to satisfy the soul of man or to help it in its life. The soul might starve, as Solomon’s did, in spite of all this glory; and, on the other hand, the soul can prosper well though it can call none of this glory its own. We cannot help desiring earthly riches—they are designed in due measure to attract and stimulate us; and they will do us no harm if we are careful, all the while we seek them, to be rich towards God; to possess, as we may, "the unsearchable riches of Christ." But poor and miserable is that soul, though he have all Solomon’s glory, if he have not these. III. A VIVID TYPE. This is what expositors in all ages have mostly seen in the pomp these verses describe. Some have seen a setting forth of the glory of Christ on his return to heaven. He comes up out of the wilderness of this dreary world. The incense of praise, fragrant and precious, is given to him. He is borne in stately triumph (cf. Psalms 24:7-10). He is attended by his angel guards. He has prepared a place for them that love him, and will receive them unto himself. All who love him are to go forth and behold his glory. Thus the triumph of Jesus, the King of Zion, is shown forth. Others have read in these verses the unseen glory of the redeemed soul. He comes up out of the wilderness, as Lazarus was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom. The entrance into glory is with joy and praise. Angel guards surround. The King hath prepared a place, a throne—his own throne—on which the redeemed with their Lord shall sit. Love—Christ’s love—has paved all the way. The vision of Christ in his glory which the redeemed shall enjoy. In such ways as this have devout souls found this Scripture full of profit; in this or in other ways may we find it likewise.—S.C. BY J.D. DAVIES Son 3:1-4 The search for the true King. When once the Spirit of truth has begun his work in the heart, there is a strong yearning after Jesus. In fulfilling his mission as the Revealer of Christ, the Spirit excites within us intense longings to have the friendship of Jesus. We take this as clear proof that a work of grace has begun in us if we feel that none but Christ can satisfy. Now we can part with all we have to obtain this goodly pearl. As the man who had inadvertently slain a fellow flees with lightning speed toward the city of refuge, feeling that the blood avenger is at his heels, so the convicted sinner has an eye for only one object—Christ. This persistent search for the Saviour is a token for good. The tree that does not easily languish in summer drought, but grows, blossoms, unfolds its fruit, has most certainly deep roots in the soil; so, if under manifold discouragements we steadily seek after Christ, we may be sure that we are planted in the soil of grace by the Lord’s right hand. Three main thoughts are in this text. I. JESUS SOUGHT. "I sought him whom my soul loveth." 1. True love to Christ glows brightly ever, in his absence. Genuine love is of all things the most unselfish. We love him not so much for the benefit to be obtained; we love him because he is lovable. Having once known him, we cannot restrain our love. To give the shrine of the heart to another would be self-degradation, idolatry. On this account it may be that Jesus keeps away. He sees some growing rivalry within. He sees some need for our self-purging. He wants the soul to realize a deeper need. He wants to make his love more prized. Many worthy reasons has Jesus for hiding himself. ’Tis a temporary winter in order to bring about a more prolific harvest. So, whether we have any assurance of his love or not, we will love him; we will seek after him. 2. The absence of Jesus makes midnight for the soul. "By night … I sought him." If Jesus has been our Sun of Righteousness, then his departure makes our night. All the things relating to the spiritual world are dark to us if Jesus be absent. We cannot see the face of our Father. We cannot read our titles clear to the heavenly inheritance. There is no growth of holy virtues in us. We cannot run the heavenly race. It is a time of wintry darkness and wintry barrenness if Jesus keeps away. No artificial light can take the place of Immanuel. 3. There is sound resolution. The soul has reached a noble resolution. "I will rise now." Some resolutions which we make are worthless. They are made under excited feeling, or from a passing fear, or they are the outcome of a shallow nature, which lightly esteems a pledge. But a resolution made in the strength of God is a firm step taken in advance. It is the first step in a series; for the strength of God is behind it. Genuine resolution never waits. It moves onward at once. No sooner had the prodigal boy resolved to return, than "he arose and came to his father." So here the bride says in the same breath, "I will seek him I sought him." The future is instantly translated into the present. Good resolution is not a pillow to sleep on; it is a horse which we should instantly mount. 4. There is active and persistent search. No journey is too great if we can only find our Beloved. Thousands travel every year over hot sands to Mecca in the hope of getting nearer to Mohammed, and so gaining his empty favour. Sharp privations are gladly endured in order to purchase this worthless merit. Gold seekers will voyage to the antipodes, and will run a thousand risks to obtain the virgin ore. Then does not highest wisdom impel us to seek the "unsearchable riches of Christ"? Shall the common adventurers of earth put us to shame? We must seek everywhere, in all likely places. If in one search we have been disappointed, we must try another. Columbus was not easily daunted when he was on the search for a new continent. Many noble lives have been sacrificed in the effort to find a searoute over the North Pole. Joseph and Mary did not easily abandon the search for the child Jesus. Pressed down with sorrow, they sought him in one company after another, nor gave up their effort until they found the lad. "The subtle chemist can dissect And strip the creature naked till he find The callow principles within their nest. What hath not man sought out and found But his dear God?" 5. First disappointments will not deter us. "I sought him, but I found him not." The earnest seeker after Christ is not easily daunted. The first hindrance will not depress him, nor the second, nor the twentieth. Delays in finding Jesus only whet his appetite, and spur him on to fresh search. Failure in finding Christ is in no sense a detest. It is a gain in knowledge. It is helpful in experience. It is part of the process in the attainment of success. Difficulties make the man. If one road does not lead to righteousness and rest, another road will; for there is a road. And Christ is watching us carefully to see if we are faint hearted. The first experiment to utilize electricity for illuminating a city did not succeed, nor the second; yet mechanicians persevered until they reached the goal. And every awakened sinner is resolved to find Christ, or to die in the attempt. Our own blunders, as a rule, are the cause of delay. 6. There will be inquiry for Christ from qualified persons. "The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" These watchmen fifty represent the pastors of the Church. They know the haunts and habits of the Prince. They know the proneness of man’s heart to err. They know the subtleties of the adversary and the deceitfulness of sin. Therefore a faithful pastor is a good guide for seeking souls. These under-shepherds are ever on the look out for Christ-seekers. We read, "They found me." Then they were searching for such. This is their business. As a man who has navigated a ship a hundred times through an intricate rocky channel makes the best pilot, so they who have themselves found Christ and walk daily with him are best qualified to lead wanderers into his fold. Shrink not from asking counsel. Avail yourself of every help. II. JESUS FOUND. "I found him whom my soul loveth." 1. Jesus uses consecrated men to bring his chosen ones into his presence. Those who know him best are honoured to be chamberlains in his palace, and to introduce guests to his banquet table. His employment of us in this sacred and noble work is an unspeakable honour. A consecrated man is sure to become a guide to others, whether he fill an office in the Church or not. The pious women who talked with each other of Christ in the cottage porch at Elstow led John Bunyan into the friendship of Christ. As men who have travelled through a terra incognita erect guide posts for those who may follow, so every friend of Christ will find a heavenly pleasure in guiding wayward feet into the right way. Never was Paul the apostle a nobler man than when he put into words the burning desire of his heart, "I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." 2. Diligent search is always rewarded. If, in self-diffidence, we follow the light of Scripture, sooner or later we are sure to succeed. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." Men have searched long for the philosopher’s stone and for the secret of perpetual motion—have searched long, and searched in vain. But no sincere lover of Christ yet sought him and failed to find him. Not more surely may you expect a harvest where you have sown good seed than success from seeking Christ. It prevails with the uniform regularity of law. "Then shall we find him when we seek him with all the heart." When there is a seeking sinner and a seeking Saviour, they are sure to meet ere long. Calvary is an old trysting place. 3. Genuine love appropriates Christ. "I held him." We naturally value anything a great deal more if we have taken many pains to acquire it. A jewel is valued for its rarity as well as for its intrinsic beauty. There is but one Christ; hence when we find him we hold him fast. But in what way can we hold him? We hold him by frequent communing with him. We hold him fast when we hourly try to please him. We hold him if our love is strong and fragrant. We hold him if in our heart garden there are ripe fruits of holiness. We hold him if there is harmony of purpose, will, and life. He loves companionship. 4. Every attempt of Jesus to depart is energetically resisted. "I would not let him go." In this way Jesus often tests our love. We have displeased him, and he rises to depart. Then will we confess the evil thing? Will we make some fresh self-sacrifice in order to detain him? He is not easily offended. He hateth putting away. But he loves to see in us a delicate sensitiveness of feeling. He delights to find a tender and childlike affection. It is for our highest good that he should be appreciated. As he did at Emmaus he sometimes deals with us: "he made as though he would have gone further; but they constrained him." And now he gladly yields to our constraints. It brings him delicious joy to feel the embraces of our love. If he can only strengthen and elevate our love, he has conferred on us the very highest good. If love grows, every grace will grow. If love grows, we grow like Christ. And this is love’s firm resolve, "I would not let him go." III. JESUS MADE KNOWN. "Until I had brought him into my mother’s house." 1. We wish our best friend to accompany us everywhere. The genuine disciple desires to take Jesus with him into every circle and into every occupation. He is not content to have Jesus only on sabbath days and on special occasions. He wants Jesus always at his side—yea, better, always in his heart, he has no friend whom he cannot introduce to Jesus. He has no occupation, no recreation, he wants to keep from the eye of Jesus. Into every chamber of the house Jesus is welcome. He is a fitting Guest for every room, a fit Companion on every journey, a fitting Partner in every enterprise. We do all things in the name of Jesus. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Son 4:1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil; thine hair is as a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Mount Gilead. We commence, at this verse, the loving converse of the bridegroom with the bride, which we must suppose is heard as they travel together in the bridal procession. The words of adoring affection are chiefly spoken by the bridegroom, as is natural in the circumstances, and the reference to the journey, and its consummation in Son 4:8, make it certain that the intention is to carry us in thought to the palanquin and the breathings of first love in bridal joy. The poetry is exquisite and truly Eastern, while yet absolutely chaste and pure. The praise of the eyes is common in all erotic poetry. Her eyes gleam, in colour, motion, and lustre, like a pair of doves from behind the veil; showing that the bride is thought of as travelling. The bride was always deeply veiled (see Genesis 24:65), as the Roman bride wore the velum flamineum. The LXX. have mistaken the meaning, rendering, ἐκτὸςτῇςσιωπήσεώς. The veil might typify silence or reserve, but the word is tsammah, which is from a root "to veil," and is righty rendered by Symmachus κάλυμμα. The hair was long and dark, and lay down the shoulders uncovered and free, which added much to the graceful attraction of the bride. In later times it was customary for the hair to be adorned with a wreath of myrtle or roses, or a golden ornament representing Jerusalem. The goats in Syria and the neighbouring countries are mostly black or dark brown, while the sheep are white. Delitzsch says, "A flock of goats encamped upon a mountain (rising up, to one looking from a distance, as in a steep slope and almost perpendicularly), and as if hanging down lengthwise on its sides, presents a lovely view adorning the landscape." It would be especially lovely amid the romantic scenery of Gilead. The, verb rendered "lie along" is otherwise taken by the LXX; ἀπεκαλύφησαν, and by the Vulgate ascenderunt. The rabbis differ from one another in their renderings. One says, "which, look, down;" another, "make bare," "quit," or "descend;" another, "are seen." The modern translators vary. Luther says, "shorn;" Houbigant, "hang down;" Kleuken and Ewald, "shows itself;" Gesenius and others, "lie down;" Ginsburg, "rolling down," "running down." Our Revised Version gives, lie along, which is a very probable meaning. The reference is to the luxuriance and rich colour of the hair. Gilead would be a recollection of the bride’s native place. Son 4:2 Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes that are newly shorn, which are come up from the washing; whereof every one hath twins, and none is bereaved among them. The simile is very apt and beautiful Thy teeth are perfectly smooth, regular, and white; the upper set corresponding exactly to the lower set, like twin births in which there is no break (cf. So Son 6:6). The moisture of the saliva dentium, heightening the glance of the teeth, is frequently mentioned in love songs. The whiteness of wool is often used as a comparison (see Isaiah 1:18; Daniel 7:9; Revelation 1:14; Book of Enoch 46:1). Some think that קְצוּבוֹת. should not be rendered "newly shorn," but "periodically shorn" (see Ginsburg)—a poetical epithet for וְחֵלֵים. The newly shorn would be washed first, תָּאַם, "to be double,....to be pairs," in the hiph. is "to make double," "to make pairs," "to appear paired." Perhaps the reference is to the sheep being washed in pairs, and going up side by side from the water. This would seem almost more exact than the idea of twin lambs, because the difference in size between the ewe and the lamb would suggest irregularity. The word שַׁכֻּלָּת, "deprived," "bereaved" (Jeremiah 18:21), may point merely to the loneliness of the single sheep going up by itself, suggesting one tooth without its fellow. Ginsburg says, "all of which are paired." Each keeps to its mate as they come up from the pool. This is a decided improvement on the Authorized Version. But the figure is clear with either rendering, and is very striking and suggestive of the pleasant country life to which the bride was accustomed. Son 4:3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy mouth is comely; thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind thy veil. Scarlet; that is, shining, glistening red colour. Thy mouth (מִדְבָּרֵךְ). Thy mouth as speaking. So the LXX; Jerome, and Venetian, "thy speech," eloquium, conversation. But this is questioned, as it should then be דְּבוּרֵךְ. The word midhbar undoubtedly means "the mouth," from davar, "to speak," with the îpreformative, as the name of the instrument. It is the preterite for פִיךְ, but perhaps as referring specially to speech. Thy temples; Latin tempora, from the adjective רַק, "weak," meaning the thin, piece of skull on each side of the eyes, like the German schlafe, from schlaff, "slack." The inside of the pomegranate is of a red colour mixed and tempered with the ruby colour. Ginsburg, however, thinks that the cheeks are intended, and that the comparison is with the outside of the pomegranate, in which the vermilion colour is mingled with brown, and resembles the round cheek; but then why say, "piece of a pomegranate"? פֶלַת, from the root "to cut fruit" (see 1 Kings 4:1-34:39), certainly must refer to the cut fruit and the appearance of the inside. The meaning may be a segment, that is, so as to represent the roundness of the cheek. Possibly the reference may be to blushes on the bride’s cheek, or to ornaments which appeared through the veil. We can scarcely expect to make out every particular in an Eastern description. Son 4:4 Thy neck is like the tower of David, builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all the shields of the mighty men. There is an evident change here in the character of the similitudes. The royal bridegroom does not forget to praise the majesty of his bride. The description now suits a royal queen. She is full of dignity and grace in her bearing. The tower referred to was no doubt that which was sometimes called "The tower of the flock" (Micah 4:4), that from which David surveyed the flock of his people (cf. Nehemiah 3:16, Nehemiah 3:25)—the government building erected on Mount Zion which served as a court of justice. The word talpiyoth is an ἅπαξλεγόμενον: LXX. θαλπίωθ, as if a proper name. Hengstenberg would render it "built for hanging swords," supposing it composed of two words—tal, from a root "to hang," and piyoth, "swords." But the word piyoth does not mean "swords," but the "double edges" of the swords. Kimchi renders. "an erection of sharp-cornered stones." Gesenius takes it from two roots, "to perish" and "to go," that is, exitialibus armis, which is very doubtful. Ewald’s explanation seems the best, "built for close troops, so that many hundreds or thousands find room therein," taking it from a root, connected with the Arabic, meaning, "to wrap together." Delitzsch, however, observes that both in Aramaic and Talmudic Hebrew words occur, like this, in the sense of "enclosure," i.e. joining together, one working into the other, so that it may be taken as meaning, "in ranks together." This view is supported by Doderlein, Meier, Aquila, Jerome, Vulgate (propugnacula), and Venetian (ἐπάλξεις). If this be accepted, it may mean "terraced," i.e. built in stories one above another. This would convey the appearance of the tall, straight neck better than any. Surrounded with ornaments, the neck would so appear. There is another suggestion, supported by Ginsburg and taken from Rashi and Rashbun, Jewish writers, that the word is a contraction for a noun meaning "instruction," and means "the model tower"—the tower built for an architect’s model. It would be rendered, "built for the builder’s model." The meaning "armoury" takes it as composed of two words, tael," a hill," and piyoth," swords." It was decorated with a thousand shields, which was a customary adornment of towers and castles (see Ezekiel 27:11). All the shields of heroes. We can scarcely doubt the reference in such words to the time of Solomon, and therefore to his authorship, as the allusion to heroes, or mighty men of valour, would be customary soon after the time of David. Son 4:5 Thy two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe, which feed among the lilies. This is a beautiful and yet perfectly delicate figure, describing the lovely equality and perfect shape and sweet freshness of the maiden’s bosom. The meadow covered with lilies suggests beauty and fragrance. Thus the loveliness of the bride is set forth in seven comparisons, her perfections being sevenfold. "A twin pair of the young of the gazelle, lying in a bed covered with lilies, representing the fragrant delicacy and elegance of a chaste virgin besom, veiled by the folds of a dress redolent of sweet odour" (cf. So Son 1:13). The bridegroom, having thus delighted himself in praise of his bride’s loveliness, then proceeds to declare his desire for her sweet society, but he is interrupted by the bride. Son 4:6 Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. If this be the language of the bride, which most modern interpreters think, the meaning is to check the ardour of her lover, in the modesty of her fresh and maidenly feeling—Let me retire from such praises. They are too ardent for me. It is only a moment’s interruption, which is followed by still more loving words from the bridegroom. We must naturally connect the words with So Son 2:17, where the bride certainly speaks. Louis de Leon thinks that the meaning is general, "shady and fragrant places." Anton suggests that she is desiring to escape and be free. It cannot be included as a description of the neighbourhood of the royal palace. She might, however, mean merely—Let me walk alone in the lovely gardens of the palace until the shades of night shall hide my blushes. It is unlikely that the words are in the mouth of Solomon; for then it would be impossible to explain their use by Shulamith previously. She is not referring to Lebanon and its neighbourhoed, and there can be no idea of looking back to a lover from whom she is torn. The interpretation which connects it with maidenly feeling is certainly the most in harmony with what has preceded. Perhaps the typical meaning is underlying the words—Let me find a place of devout meditation to feed my thoughts on the sweetness of this Divine love into which I have entered. Son 4:7 Thou art all fair, my love; and there is no spot in thee. The bridegroom speaks. The sweet humility and modesty of the bride kindles his love afresh. He praised the loveliness of her bodily form, and she by her response showed the exceeding loveliness of her soul. It must not be forgotten that, whether borrowed from this book or not, such language is undoubtedly employed in Scripture of the Church, the bride, the Lamb’s wife, who is described as "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27). It should be noticed that the king immediately addresses his love as "bride," and "sister-bride," to show that there is more than admiration of her person in his thoughts. She is his by assimilation and by eternal union, and he invites her to enter fully into the new life which he has prepared for her, as in Psalms 45:1-17; "forgetting her own people, and her father’s house." It is not enough that feeling should be stirred, or even that it should take possession of the soul, if it be only feeling; it is required of us that our inner life of emotion should become practical devotedness, "counting all things but loss" for the sake of him we love. Son 4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. This seems to be simply the bridegroom rejoicing over the bride, the meaning being, "Give thyself up to me"—thou art mine; look away from the past, and delight thyself in the future. Delitzsch, however, thinks that the bridegroom seeks the bride to go with him up the steep heights of Lebanon, and to descend with him from thence; for while ascending the mountain one has no view before him, but when descending he has the whole panorama of the surrounding region lying at his feet. It is stretching poetical language too far to take it so literally and topically; there is no necessity to think of either the lover or his beloved as actually on the mountains, the idea is simply that of the mountainous region—Turn thy back upon it, look away from it. This is clearly seen from the fact that the names connected with Lebanon—Amana, Senir, Hermon—could have no reference to the bride’s being in them. as they represent Anti-Libanus, separated from Lebanon by the Coelo-Syrian valley, stretching from the Banias northwards to the plain of Hamath (see 2 Kings 5:12, where Amana is Abana, overlooking Damascus, now the Basadia). Shenir, or Senir, and Hermon are neighbouring peaks or mountains, or possibly different names for the same (see Deuteronomy 3:9). In 1 Chronicles 5:23 they are mentioned as districts. Hermon is the chief mountain of the range of Anti-Libanus on the northeast border of Palestine (Psalms 89:12). The wild beasts abounded in that district, especially lions and panthers. They were found in the clefts and defiles of the rocks. Lions, however, have now altogether disappeared. In the name Amana some think there is an allusion to truth (amen) (see Hosea 2:22); but that would be too obscure. The general intention of the passage is simple and plain—Leave the rough places, and come to my palace. The words "with me" (אִתִּי) are taken by the LXX. and Vulgate as though written אֲתִי, the imperative of אָתָה, "to come," as a word of invitation, δεῦρο. The use of the verb תָּבוֹאִי, "thou shalt come," i.e. thou hast come and be content, renders it improbable that such should be the reading, whereas the preposition with the pronoun is quite in place. The spiritual meaning is not far to seek. The life that we live without Christ is at best a life among the wild, untamed impulses of nature, and in the rough and dangerous places of the world. He invites us to go with him to the place which he has prepared for us. And so the Church will leave its crude thoughts and undeveloped life, and seek, in the love of Christ and in the gifts of his Spirit, a truer reflection of his nature and will (see Ephesians 4:14-16). The Apocalypse is based upon the same idea, the advancement of the kingdom of Christ from the place of lions and panthers to the new Jerusalem, with its perfection of beauty and its eternal peace. Son 4:9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. The bridegroom still continues his address of love, which we must not, of course, press too closely, though it is noticeable that the language becomes somewhat more sober in tone, as though the writer were conscious of the higher application to which it would be put. Some translators take the first clause as though the word "ravished" should be rendered "emboldened." Symmachus, ἐθαρσύναςμε. The Hebrew word לִבֵּב, literally, "heartened," may mean, as in Aramaic, "make courageous." Love in the beginning overpowers, unhearts, but the general idea must be that of "smitten" or "captured." So the LXX; Venetian, and Jerome, ἐκαρδίωσαςμε, vulnerasti cor meum (cf. Psalms 45:6). My sister, my bride, is, of course, the same as "my sisterly bride," a step beyond "my betrothed." Gesenius thinks that "one of thine eyes" should be "one look of thine;" but may it not refer to the eye appearing through the veil, as again one chain of the neck may glitter and attract all the more that the whole ornamentation did not appear in view? If but a portion of her beauty so overpowers, what will be the effect of the whole blaze of her perfection? As the Church advances in her likeness to her Lord, she becomes more and more the object of his delight, and as the soul receives more and more grace, so is her fellowship with Christ more and more assured and joyful. Son 4:10, Son 4:11 How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! How much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all manner of spices! Thy lips, O my bride, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. The expression of thy love, that is, the endearments, the embraces, are delightful. The allusion to the lips may be a mere amplification of the word "love," but it may also refer to speech, and we think of the nineteenth psalm and the description of the words and testimony of the Lord, "more to be desired than gold, and sweeter than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb" (cf. Genesis 27:27; Hosea 4:7; Psalms 45:9). The words of pure, inward joy flowing forth from the lips may be so described. So the Lord has said, in Isaiah 62:5, that he rejoiceth over his people as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride. Son 4:12 A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. We must bear in mind that these words are supposed to be spoken on the journey in the marriage procession. The bride is not yet brought to the royal palace. She is still travelling in the royal palanquin. The idea of a paradise or garden is carried from the beginning of Scripture to the end, the symbol of perfect blessedness. The figure of the closed or shut-up garden represents the bridegroom’s delight in the sense of absolute and sole possession—for himself and no other. The language is very natural at such a time, when the bride is being taken from her home. We may compare with the figures here employed those in Proverbs 5:15-20. Son 4:13, Son 4:14 Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; henna with spikenard plants, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. Thy shoots; i.e. that which comes forth from thee, thy plants, or, as Bottcher puts it, "all the phenomena and life utterances of her personality." All the plants had their meaning in flower language. They are mostly exotics. But it is difficult now to suggest meanings, though they may have been familiar to Jewish readers at the time. The pardes, "park, or enclosure," was adorned especially with foreign and fragrant plants of great beauty. It is an Old Persian word, perhaps, as Delitzsch suggests, from pairi (περὶ) and dez (Pers. diz), "a heap." Precious fruit; literally, fructus laudam, "fruits of renown" or excellence (cf. Syriac magdo, "dried fruit"). The carcom, or saffron, a kind of crocus (Ind. safran), yields the saffron colour from its dried flower eyes, used both as a cosmetic and as a medicine (cf. Sansc. kuakuma). The calamus, simply a reed, the sweet reed, a corn indigenous to the East. Cinnamon (Quinnamon), Laurus cinnamomum, is indigenous on the east coast of Africa and Ceylon, found later in the Antibes. The inner bark peeled off and roiled together forms the cinnamon bark (see Pliny, bk. 12). There are seven spices mentioned. We need not trouble ourselves to identify them all, as they are mostly Indian, and such as Solomon would fetch from the far East in his celebrated ships. The description is highly poetical, and simply means that all sweetness and attractiveness combine in the fair one. But symbolically we may see an allusion to the spread of the Church over the world, and all the glory and honour of the nations" being introduced into it. So the graces of the individual soul expand themselves under the influence of Christian truth and fellowship. Son 4:15 Thou art a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon. Referring, of course, to the clear, cool streams coming down from the snowy heights. The sweet freshness of the country maiden suggested this. May we not see a symbol of the spiritual life in such language (cf. John 7:38)? Ethically, at least, the blending of the freshness of a mountain stream with the luxuriance and fragrance of a cultivated garden is very suggestive. To an Eastern monarch, such purity and modesty as Solomon found in his bride must have been a rare excellence which might well be made typical. Son 4:16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his precious fruits. This is the answer of the bride to the lavish praises of her husband. I am all his. She is yet unworthy of the king and of his love until the seasonal changes have developed and unfolded and spread forth her excellences. The north represents cold; the south, heat. Let the various influences from different quarters flow gently over the garden and call forth the fragrance and the fruits (cf. Esther 2:12). There is rich suggestion in such words. Whether we think of the individual soul or of the Church of Christ, the true desire of those who delight in the love of the Saviour is that all the gifts and graces which can be bestowed may make them worthy of him who condescends to call his people his delight. Surely it is no mere romantic idyll that is before us. Such significance cannot be a mere coincidence when it is so transparent and so apt. Son 4:1-6 The bridegroom with the bride. I. HIS PRAISE OF THE BRIDE. 1. The earthly bridegroom. The bridegroom rejoices over the bride. She is wholly his. He enumerates her beauties; they are very precious to him; his great love leads him to dwell on every point. The love of the espousals (Jeremiah 2:2), the young love of the newly wedded, is a beautiful thing, very tender and touching; it leaves a fragrant memory behind—a memory treasured still after the lapse of many years, when the love of wedlock has become, not less true, not less blessed, but calmer and more mellow; and perhaps even more blessed, when no jealousies, no quarrels, have tended to put asunder those whom God hath joined together, but love has continued to increase with increasing years, with less and less of earthly passion, but more and more of holy tenderness and mutual self-denials for the loved one’s sake. Such, alas! was not the love of Solomon. The fair promise, so very bright and beautiful at first, was soon blighted. Corruptio optimi pessima. Nothing in this world is more beautiful and blessed than that holy estate of matrimony which was instituted of God in the time of man’s innocency, which God has consecrated to such an excellent mystery that in it is signified and represented the spiritual marriage and unity betwixt Christ and his Church. And, on the other hand, nothing is more degrading and ruinous than that sensual passion which is the caricature of wedded love. The early goodness of Solomon, the bright promise of future happiness and usefulness which gilded his youth, excites an interest in him so persona], that it makes us feel a real grief and disappointment when we read that "King Solomon loved many strange women;" that "when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart;" that "he went after Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonians;" that he "did evil in the sight of the Lord." And so it came to pass that that bright beginning ended in utter gloom, in the mournful cry of disappointment. "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity." He could not find satisfaction in his wisdom when he had begun to fall away from God. He found that "in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow" (Ecclesiastes 1:18). And so the wisest of men betook himself to pleasure. "I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth;" "I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house;" "I gat me men singers and women singers;" "Whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy" (Ecclesiastes 2:1, Ecclesiastes 2:7, Ecclesiastes 2:8, Ecclesiastes 2:10). He found, as they that are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God always find sooner or later, that all this was "vanity and vexation of spirit," nothing better than "striving after wind." "Therefore," he says, "I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit." And this is King Solomon, who surpassed all the kings of the earth for glory and riches; who was wiser than the wisest of his time; who had won in his youth the love of the pure and innocent Shulamite; who (and this is the saddest thought of all) once loved the Lord: "Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father" (1 Kings 3:3). While he continued to love the Lord, he was true, we must believe, to the wife of his youth. One who walks in the light of the love of God cannot love the works of darkness, cannot admit into his heart that taint of impurity which so utterly shuts the soul away from the love of God. We wonder whether Solomon repented as his father David did. We know that God warned him, and chastised him for his sins, but we know also that much will be required from those to whom much has been given, and that to fall from such grace as had been bestowed upon Solomon must be a grievous fall indeed; to disobey God who had given him such abundant blessings showed a depth of ingratitude which utterly startles us, till we learn to know in penitence and self-abasement what Solomon impressed upon others, whether he felt it himself or not, "the plague of our own hearts" (1 Kings 8:38). The pure love of wedlock is maintained in ever-growing affection when husband and wife both live near to God. "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another" (1 John 1:7). That fellowship which "is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3) involves of necessity the holiest grace of charity in our mutual relations with our brother Christians; especially those whom God hath joined together must and will, if they are living as the children of God, live together in holy love unto their lives’ end. We wonder whether the fair Shulamite lived to experience the change in her royal bridegroom; if she did, the loss of his affection must have been a bitter trial indeed. Perhaps God in his mercy took her to himself before that trial came. 2. The heavenly Bridegroom. It is the will of the Lord Jesus to present the Church unto himself as a glorious Church, holy and without blemish. The Lord shall rejoice in his works. Through the cleansing power of his most precious blood, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, which he giveth to his chosen, the Church, his bride shall at the last be "all glorious within;" for he is able "to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). Then shall there be joy in heaven, when the Lord, who endured for the Church’s sake the great agony of the cross, sees the reward of his bitter Passion; when he looks upon the Church, a glorious Church indeed, no longer marred and stained by sin and strife and error, but cleansed and purified "even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3), made like unto him in the vision of his love and holiness. Then he will rejoice over her as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride. "In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem … The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing" (Zephaniah 3:16, Zephaniah 3:17). The heavenly Bridegroom will rejoice over his bride; he will see in her the beauty of holiness; he will rejoice in her graces. She is very dear to him, for she is the reward of that long anguish, the agony and bloody sweat, the bitter cross and Passion. And now she is wholly his; she has left all other masters, and given her whole heart to the Lord who bought her, with the fall, pure, holy love which she has learned of him—the infinite love. 3. The bride must make herself ready. (Revelation 19:7.) Without holiness no man can see the Lord. The holiness of the Church consists in the holiness of its members. We must follow after holiness, holiness of heart and life; for without the wedding garment, the white robe of righteousness, none can be admitted to the marriage supper of the Lamb. We must, each one of us, make ourselves ready and prepare to meet our God. The Lord rejoices in the holiness of his people. We must learn, not to seek glory from one another, not to set so much store on human praise, but to seek that glory which cometh from the only God (John 5:44). There were some who would not confess the Lord Jesus because "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:43). We must look onwards to the praise which the heavenly Bridegroom will bestow on the Church, his bride; then shall the true Israelite, who is a "Jew inwardly," "whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Romans 2:29), have praise of God (1 Corinthians 4:5). We must seek that praise with a single heart, walking with God, living to his glory, looking for the blessed hour when we trust to see the heavenly Bridegroom face to face. "He lifts me to the golden doors; The flashes come and go; All Heaven bursts her starry floors, And strews her lights below, And deepens on and up! the gates Roll back, and far within For me the heavenly Bridegroom waits, To make me pure of sin. The sabbaths of eternity, One sabbath deep and wide, A light upon the shining sea— The Bridegroom with his bride!" II. THE ANSWER OF THE BRIDE. 1. She must withdraw for a while. She repeats in her modesty the first clause of her own words in So Son 2:17. Then, apparently, she asked her lover to leave her till she had fulfilled the routine duties of the day. He was to return when the day should be cool, and the shadows should lengthen in the evening. Now it is she who will leave her Lord for a time. Perhaps she felt herself almost overburdened by his commendations; the poor country maiden, true and simple as she was, could scarcely understand such praises from the great and magnificent king; they were too much for her; she must retire to collect herself. When the Lord commends the faithful, and glorifies their works of love as done unto himself, they seem oppressed, as it were, for a season by the greatness of his praise. They were only doing their duty; they did it, all of them, more or less imperfectly; they did not regard those poor works of theirs as so exceeding beautiful; they did not think that they had been conferring benefits upon the Lord himself, that they had so greatly pleased him; they were humble, self-distrustful; they seem almost to shrink from the praises of the King. The grace of humility is a very holy thing; it lies at the entrance of the kingdom of heaven; it is the first of the Beatitudes. "Not he that commendeth himself is approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth" (2 Corinthians 10:18). 2. Whither the bride retires. "I will get me to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense." The words may, taken literally, signify some retired place in the palace garden, as many scholars think; but myrrh and frankincense are words of frequent occurrence in Holy Scripture, and are often used with a more or less mystical meaning. The Wise Men from the East brought gold and frankincense and myrrh as offerings to the infant Saviour; wine mingled with myrrh was given him on the cross; his sacred body was laid in a mixture of myrrh and aloes brought by the faithful Nicodemus. The mountain of myrrh seems to suggest the necessity of purification before the soul can dwell always in the presence of the Lord. The maidens from among whom the Queen of Persia was to be chosen had to go through a time of purification, "six months with oil of myrrh" (Esther 2:12). It tells us also of the bitter draught, the cup of sorrows, which they who are to be nearest Christ must take. "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I must drink of?" Those who aspire to the highest places in the kingdom of heaven must learn the deepest lessons of humility, the severest lessons of entire submission of will to the holy will of God. They must get them to the mountain of myrrh, to the cross. Our self-denials are small and unworthy; the cross of Christ sets before us a mountain of self-sacrifice, a height that reaches unto the heavens. We must draw nearer and nearer to the cross in daily self-denial and self-abasement, if we are to realize at last the full, deep joy of uninterrupted communion with the Lord. And if myrrh means self-denial, the dying unto sin, frankincense means worship. The sweet odour of the incense going up from the golden altar is a meet emblem of the prayers of the saints (see Revelation 8:3, Revelation 8:4). We must learn the blessed lesson of worship on earth before we can join the choir of happy worshippers around the glory throne. We must get ourselves to the hill of frankincense, to the Lord’s house, where the incense of prayer and thanksgiving ever ascends, where he himself is in the midst, among those who are gathered together in his name. There we may be trained, if we come in the Spirit as Simeon came when he found the Lord Christ, in that holy worship, worship in spirit and in truth, which is the true preparation for the glad adoring worship of triumphant saints in heaven. Till the evening of life comes, till the shadows lengthen into the night, we must get ourselves to the work which the Lord has given us to do—the work of self-discipline, the work of worship here below, that we may be ready when he cometh to take our part in the never-ceasing worship of heaven, and there to be ever with the Lord. Son 4:7-16 Further conversation. I. THE WORDS OF THE . 1. His entire love for the bride. If the view of Son 4:6 indicated above gives the true meaning, the bride has left the bridegroom for a time. In the evening they meet again, and the king again expresses his affection: "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." Such shall the Church be in the eyes of Christ, when he has sanctified and cleansed her with the washing of water by the Word; when she is clothed in the fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints; when he "of God is made unto her Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). Such shall the saints be in his eyes when they have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb;" "they are without fault before the throne of God" (Revelation 14:5). But it is Christ who has cleansed them. They were stained with many sins, as David was when he cried in the anguish of his deep penitence, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than show" (Psalms 51:7). We have sinned so long and so greatly, we have so often fallen back into sin after imperfect repentance, that to be "whiter than snow" seems a hope altogether too high for us, out of our reach. But we have the sure Word of God. He is able to "present us faultless before the presence of his glory;" he is able to "cleanse us from all unrighteousness;" "the Lamb of God taketh away the sins of the world." Indeed it is true that "we are all as an unclean things and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6), but we may have, if we come to Christ in faith, "that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ;" that righteousness which is his, not our own; and yet, if we abide in him, it becomes through his grace our own; for it is given to us, imparted to us, infused into us by the indwelling influences of the Holy Spirit of God. Then we may dare to hope for that spotless righteousness; we may, we must, long for it and strive after it. Not to do so is not humility, but unbelief; not distrust of ourselves, but distrust of God; for we have the sacred word of promise, "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." 2. His invitation. The Hebrew words are full of life: "With me from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon shalt thou come." The bride is henceforth to be with the bridegroom, with him always: she is to forget her own people and her father’s house (Psalms 45:10, Psalms 45:11). She is to come away from her old haunts—from Amana, Shenir, and Hermon; for even Hermon in all its grandeur is but a "little hill" in comparison with the spiritual glory of Mount Zion, where God is pleased to dwell (see Prayer book Version of Psa 42:6). She must come from the lions’ dens, from "the violence of Lebanon" (Habakkuk 2:17), to Jerusalem, the foundation of peace. The Church, the bride of Christ, shall be in the eternal blessedness "forever with the Lord." She shall come away from her old habitation, the earth which is filled with violence (Genesis 6:11); away from the raging of the roaring lion, who walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. And the Christian soul, which looks forward in living hope to the inheritance of the saints in light, must now come with Christ away from other masters, from the lusts of the flesh and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. "To depart and to be with Christ," St. Paul says (Philippians 1:23), "is far better"—"by much very far better," for such is the full meaning of the emphatic words. Then the soul that hopes to be with Christ in Paradise must be much with Christ now; with him in the daily life of faith, in prayer and praise and frequent communion. He bids us come. "Come unto me," he says, "and I will give you rest." He only can give peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." If we listen to his voice, and come with him away from Lebanon, which, though fair to look upon, with grand and wide-reaching prospects, was yet the haunt of noisome beasts; if we leave the love of the world, with its enticements and its dangers, for the blessed love of Christ, we shall have all that we need for our soul’s peace and safety. "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 3. His praises of the bride. He calls her repeatedly, "My sister-bride." His heart is hers; every little thing about her, the very smell of her garments, is dear to him; her love is by much better than wine; her voice is sweet as honey. He dwells now less on graces of person, as in Son 4:1-5, than on her looks of affection, the depth and beauty of her love, the music of her voice. These words tell of a great love; but the love of Christ for his Church is beyond the power of language. Solomon left his first love—he loved many strange women; but the love of Christ for his Church is "an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3), unchangeable, unutterable. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends;" but "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). And because he loved the Church with so great a love, the responsive love of the Church is very dear to him. "He is not ashamed to call us brethren" (Hebrews 2:11). The voice of the Church lifted up to him in prayer and praise, making melody in the heart unto God, is sweet to the Saviour. He praises the graces of the Church, though those graces come all from him; they are his gift. He praises in the Book of the Revelation the Churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia; he sees the beauty of holiness in those afflicted and despised Churches: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich;" "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life;" "They shall know that I have loved thee; Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name" (Revelation 2:9, Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:9, Revelation 3:12). 4. He compares her to a garden enclosed. She is like a garden shut up, barred against intruders, kept sacred for its master’s use; she is like a spring shut up, a fountain sealed as with the royal signet which none but the king can touch. The garden, or paradise, is full of the choicest fruits, flowers, and spice-bearing plants, the produce of many countries, some of them brought in Solomon’s time by his navy from Arabia or India. The fountain is a well of living waters, fresh as the gushing mountain streams of Lebanon. Solomon praises the bride not only for her beauty and her rare endowments, but also for her purity and faithfulness. The "garden enclosed," the "fountain scaled," remind us of our marriage vow: "Wilt thou … forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live?" Such should the wedded pair be each to the other; such was not Solomon. We cannot but think and believe that the bride, innocent and artless as she is described, kept herself pure unto the end. The Church, which is the bride of Christ, should be as a garden enclosed, kept sacred for the one Lord. The garden of Eden was a garden enclosed, but Satan marred its sanctity; he, in the words of Milton, "At one slight bound high overleaped all bound Of hill or highest wall, and sheer within Lights on his feet … So clomb the first grand thief into God’s fold: So since into his Church lewd hirelings climb." The Lord has said, "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Again he has said, "I am the Door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture." They who are called to minister in the Church of God must ever remember that it is God’s Church, that "he hath purchased it with his own blood" (Acts 20:28); that it should be "a garden enclosed," kept for the Master, tilled and watered for him; that every barren tree should be carefully tended, that it may bring forth fruit before the awful word goeth forth, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." The trees in the Lord’s garden differ much from one another. There are pomegranates with their pleasant fruit, henna with its fragrant flowers, spikenard with its costly perfume, frankincense for sacred uses; all manner of sweet spices—myrrh and aloes, which tell of the bitter healing cup of sorrow, which point to death and burial. The saints of God differ much from one another. Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, St. Peter, St. John, St. Paul, have each his own place in the garden of the Lord. All bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, but in different forms and degrees; one we call the apostle of love, another the apostle of faith, a third the apostle of hope; "but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will" (1 Corinthians 12:11). It is the Lord himself who giveth the Spirit. Mary Magdalene, on the first Easter Day, supposed him to be the gardener (John 20:15); and in a very true sense he is the Gardener of the garden enclosed. And here we may remember that it was in a garden that he suffered that dread agony, when his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. That blood taketh away the sins of the world; it waters the garden enclosed with its cleansing stream. And again we are told that "in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus" (John 19:41). The Lord suffered in a garden; he has purchased with his own blood the Church to be his own, his garden enclosed. But the Church is also "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;" shut up in a sense, sealed with the Master’s signet, as his own sacred tomb was sealed in the garden of Joseph, but yet (verse 15) "a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon." The fountain is sealed, for it is the Lord’s; it hath "this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). But its living waters go forth to fertilize the Lord’s garden. The healing waters which the Prophet Ezekiel saw in his vision issued out from under the threshold of the temple; they brought fruitfulness wherever they went "because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary" (Ezekiel 47:1, Ezekiel 47:12). In a true sense the whole world is the Lord’s field: "The field is the world" (Matthew 13:38); and the Church has the Lord’s commandment, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). The well is the Lord’s; it is sealed with his seal; but the living waters of that sacred well must issue forth, that "the wilderness and the solitary place may be glad for them: that the desert may rejoice and blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1). And as the Church, the bride of Christ, is for him "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed," so must every Christian soul be wholly his. "We are Christ’s," St. Paul says. "Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s;" and again, "God, whose I am, and whom I serve" (Acts 27:23). Each Christian soul must keep itself as "a garden enclosed" ("barred," or "belted," is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word). We must strive earnestly to keep out earthly passions, earthly ambitions, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. We must keep the gate barred against the entrance of the evil one. And we must take heed that the house be not left empty; it must be kept for "a habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22). We must strive to keep out worldly cares, coming to God in all our troubles, whether great or small, that so the peace of God, which Passeth all understanding, may keep (guard, protect) our hearts and thoughts through Christ Jesus. The garden must be barred; the peace of God must rule there (Colossians 3:15); and it must bring forth fruit, the blessed fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22). The tree that beareth not fruit must be hewn down at last; it cumbereth the ground; "every branch that beareth not fruit is taken away." How carefully, then, we ought, every one of us, to watch for the fruit of the Spirit in our daily life, to see in diligent self-examination whether we are exhibiting these holy graces in our Christian walk and conversation; and if, alas! we find them not, how earnestly we ought to pray, with fervent, untiring supplication for the help of the Holy Spirit of God to work within us, to assist our prayers, to make intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, to lead us nearer to Christ, that we may evermore abide in him, without whom we can bear no fruit, without whom we can do nothing! The garden needs the living water; the saint of God is a fountain sealed. The living water is the Lord’s; it bears his seal. The Lord himself is, in the truest sense, the "Fountain opened … for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1); with him is "the fountain of life" (Psalms 36:9). He leadeth his redeemed to living fountains of waters (Revelation 7:17). But they who have received from him the living water become themselves fountains, as the Lord hath said, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." And again, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 4:14; John 7:37, John 7:38). The saint of God is indeed "a fountain sealed," sealed with the Lord’s seal, dedicated wholly unto him; "a spring shut up" from all other waters save only the living water which the Lord giveth, not "a fountain which sends forth at the same place sweet water and bitter" (James 2:11). But he must be "a fountain of gardens" (verse 15); he that is watered of God must water the thirsty ground (Proverbs 11:25). St. Paul, who had received the gift of the Spirit from the Lord, passed on the living waters to Apollos; Apollos watered the garden of the Lord at Corinth (1 Corinthians 3:6). So must all God’s people do. They know in their own hearts more or less of that holy calm and blessedness which the living waters of the indwelling of the Spirit (John 7:39) bring to the faithful; they must do their best to extend to others the blessings which they have themselves received; they must pray and labour for the spiritual well being of those nearest to them, within the sphere of their personal influence; they must do their best to help missionary work through the world, resting not till "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). But each must keep himself as "a fountain sealed" for the Lord and the work of the Lord, that at the last he may be sealed with the seal of the living God, and stand on the Mount Zion among the mystic hundred and forty and four thousand who have the Lamb’s Name and his Father’s Name written in their foreheads (Revelation 7:2, Revelation 7:3; Revelation 14:1). II. THE VOICE OF THE BRIDE. She accepts the bridegroom’s parable. She is a garden enclosed. She calls upon the winds, north and south, to blow upon the garden, that the fragrance of its spices may flow forth to give pleasure to the bridegroom. The garden is hers; for it is herself, her love. And yet it is the bridegroom’s, for she has given herself, her love, to him; she invites him to come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. So the Church, the bride of Christ, longs for the heavenly Bridegroom; so each Christian soul seeks the Saviour’s presence. The soul that would give itself wholly to the Lord as a garden barred against all other masters, and enclosed for his use, strives ever to please him more and more; she would have her inward life of prayer and meditation and spiritual communion with him to become more and more pleasing to him, more and more fragrant. Therefore she calls for the north wind as well as the south to blow upon the garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. She is willing to submit to the cold blasts of adversity, as well as to be refreshed with the soft breezes of joy and holy gladness. She knows that God will make all things, joy and sorrow alike, to work together for good to them that love him (Romans 8:28). Therefore she prays only that his will may be done in her, whether by chastisements or by spiritual joy and blessing. She would have the garden bring forth more fruit, even though it must be purged with the pruning knife of affliction. For the garden, though it is herself, her own heart, is yet the Lord’s; for she has given it to the heavenly Bridegroom; therefore she yearns for his irradiating presence, praying him to enter into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. BY S. CONWAY Son 4:1-7 What Christ sees in those who love him. As a mere story, these verses may be taken as a further attempt on the part of King Solomon to win her to whom he speaks for himself. Therefore he extols her beauty. Her eyes like the beautiful eyes of the Syrian dove; her dark glossy hair like that of the goats that browse on the slopes of Mount Gilead; her teeth white as the newly cleansed wool, as even and regular as is the fleece that has been first shorn, and perfect as is the breed of sheep he tells of; her lips ruddy; her mouth so comely; her cheeks rosy red, like the opened pomegranate; her neck graceful, and adorned with precious jewels; and so on. Even her home, because it is her home, is as a hill bearing trees of myrrh and frankincense, and thither would he resort. And he sums up his description by declaring that she is "all fair"—that there is no blemish in her. Now, on such flattery, of on So 1:9-2:7. But had these verses no other meaning than this literal one, we cannot think they would have found place in the Holy Scriptures. Therefore we take them as setting forth, under their rich Oriental colouring, the blessed truth that, in the sight of their Lord, his people are without blemish, "all fair." It is the same truth as was meant by that at present unloved phrase, "imputed righteousness." And that it is unloved is owing to the fact that its meaning has been grossly perverted, and made to stand for ideas dishonouring to God and disastrous to the spiritual life of men. But in reality the phrase means just that which in these verses is allegorically set forth. In interpreting these verses it is not the right or reverent way, though many have followed it, to affix some definite meaning to every detail of the description given, but to take the description as a whole, as attesting the beauty of the redeemed in the sight of their Lord. Therefore, though some have interpreted the dove’s eyes as the eyes that are ever towards the Lord in holy desire; and the hair as the unshorn locks of the soul’s consecration to Christ; and the teeth, undecayed and perfect, as the faith which feeds on Christ; and the lips as those of one once leprous, but now purified by the precious blood of Christ, and so like a scarlet thread; the blushing temples no longer bold and brazen, but suffused with crimson as the pomegranate, telling of the soul’s true repentance; the neck, tall, stately, graceful, strong, telling of the liberty and courage Christ has given the soul; the breasts of the twin graces of faith and love, which Paul says are the believer’s breastplate;—all this (cf. Stuart), though interesting and ingenious, appears to us unnecessary and, in some hands, injurious. We therefore take the description generally, and note— I. THE FACT THAT CHRIST DOES REGARD AS THE SOUL. She is spotless in his sight. He says, "The glory thou gavest me I have given them." Christ is made unto us "Righteousness and Sanctification." He shed his blood that his Church might be "a glorious Church, not having spot," etc. (Ephesians 5:27). He will present us "faultless before the presence of his glory" (Jude 1:24). "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you," said our Lord (cf. also 1 Corinthians 6:11). And if he did not so regard his people and count them "precious in his sight" (Isaiah 43:1-28.), wherefore should he have done and suffered for them all that he has? Whatever we make sacrifices for we count beautiful. Our love pierces through the outer husk of circumstance and evil habit, and sees the beauty within; and it is for that we will make sacrifice if need be. And so with our most blessed Lord—his eye of love pierced through the often hideous husk of men’s vile habits and ways to the soul on which his heart was set, that he might redeem and save it, and make it beautiful, like his own. And when that soul turns to him in trust and penitence, then at once that soul is "all fair" in his sight, and "there is no spot in" it. II. WHY SHOULD WE NOT? Men say, "It is wrong to represent God as seeing otherwise than according to the truth of things. Therefore to say of a soul, ’There is no spot in it,’ when we know that ’from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness in it’ (Isaiah 1:1-31.), this is to introduce unreality and make-believe into the most sacred regions." But look at the mother’s joy in her babe. Whence comes that? Is it not largely the loving onlook she takes into the future of that child? She sees, or at least believes she sees, that child grown up in purity, intelligence, goodness, and all that is lovely and lovable. She is a believer, and you cannot move her, in imputed righteousness; for what is she doing but imputing, all that righteousness to her babe. See the shipbuilder in his yard. There is a ship in its earliest stages of construction. You can see nothing but chips and dirt and confusion. But he sees that ship in her completion—in all her strength, the beauty of her lines, and all the perfectness which he intends shall belong to her. And he "imputes" to her all that. And so with our Lord. He sees all that the soul shall be when he has perfected the "good work" which he has already begun for and in it. This is why, even now, it is fitting that he should see and say, "There is no spot in thee." III. AND WHAT IF HE DOES? There is: 1. All consolation for the anxious, mistrusting soul. The soul is, as it well may be, often overwhelmed with the sense of its own vileness and sin. It clings to Christ with the grasp of all but despair. What a help to know that Christ’s estimate of us is not our own! How often we are able to help a man up by letting him see that we believe in him, notwithstanding he has done wrong] Arnold’s word, "Trust a boy, and he will become trustworthy," is most true. The fact we are considering is not only full of consolation, but lull of help to us poor sinful men. 2. Inspiration for the better life. If Christ thinks me so, I will strive to become so. Is this his ideal for me? I will, in his strength, strive to realize it. 3. The enkindling and constant rekindling of our love for Christ.—S.C. Son 4:6 Where Christ is now. "Until the day break," etc. I. BY THIS IS MEANT THE PRESENT LIFE. It does not matter whether the words be taken as telling of the time until the day break or until the day close. In the former case, the speaker would mean that all the night long he would be on the mountains of myrrh, etc.; but in the latter, he would mean that until the day were done he would be there. It matters not, for the present life may be likened to either night or day. If to the night, then night time is meant to suggest the darkness in which men live. As to knowledge: "We see through a glass, darkly." As to happiness: "Man is born to trouble." As to the use of life: men choose to walk in darkness. The land sits "in darkness and in the shadow of death," because they who dwell in such land are in that deep spiritual darkness of which the prophet tells. If to the day, then as the time for toil, the season for diligent work, the period during which the busy affairs of men are transacted—such is our life so long as it continues. On either interpretation the present life is meant. II. THE PLACE WHERE DURING THIS LIFE WE MAY FIND CHRIST. On "the mountains of myrrh," etc. By this is meant, not heaven, for we cannot ascend into heaven; and the place told of here is evidently a place accessible. Therefore we take the "mountains of myrrh," etc; to mean the Church (cf. Isaiah 2:2). And there are many other Scriptures in which the Church is likened to hills or mountains (Psalms 68:15, Psalms 68:16; Psalms 87:1-3, etc.). Some have thought that the throne of grace, the place of prayer, is meant—and so it is; but more than that is included. Nothing less than the Church of Christ. And the similitude employed here is just. For the Church is as a mountain. 1. For elevation. The Church should be above the world. Hence, in the magnificent ministers which adorn this and other lands, the sacred fabric towers in lordly height far above all the dwellings that cluster around it. It symbolizes this very truth. Our Lord said, "Ye are a city set on a hill." 2. For visibility. "Which cannot be hid." Goodness ever betrays itself; like him from whom it comes, and of whom it was said, "He could not be hid." Does the visibility consist in anything else but character? Is not the Church the company of all the good? 3. For its majesty. It is God’s vicegerent here on earth. By it "kings rule, and princes decree justice." Kings were its nursing fathers and queens its nursing mothers (cf. Isaiah 60:1-22). 4. For its immovability. (Psalms 135:1.) "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it," said our Lord. And here it is today, and it never seemed more likely to continue than it does today. 5. For its fruitfulness. The mountains and hills told of are not mere rocky heights, stony and barren, but rich and fruitful, their sides covered with noblest trees. "They that be planted in the house of the Lord," etc. 6. For its delightfulness. Myrrh and frankincense are the product of its trees, and make the whole place fragrant, precious, full of delight to him who dwells or comes there (cf. "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than," etc.). Christ loves to be there, and his people love to meet him there. For it is the place of accepted prayer, of hallowed communion, of adoring worship, of manifold spiritual help. And there Christ is to be found. He is there according to his Word, in his unseen but real presence, and in his gracious power. Myriads attest this. Therefore— III. WE SHOULD SEEK HIM THERE. The verse seems to be a suggestion to this effect. To forsake the assemblies, communion, and fellowship of the Church is to suffer great loss. Some say, "We can pray at home;" and when they must be at home no doubt they can, but when they need not be we doubt if many do. And when we think of the treasure store of help that is gained by them who seek the Lord in his Church, who get them to the mountain, etc; where he is, we commiserate, even whilst we condemn, those who never get themselves there at all.—S.C. Son 4:7 The immaculate soul. "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." This word has many parallels; cf. "Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you;" "Ye are washed, justified, sanctified;" "Ye are complete in him;" "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," etc. Now, how can all this be? We reply— I. THROUGH THE WHICH LOVE FORMS OF THAT WHICH IT LOVES. (Cf. former homily, on Son 4:1-7.) II. THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, WHICH " US FROM ALL SIN." Christ is our Representative, the second Adam. Our connection with him becomes vitalized when our hearts trust in him. But he, in and by his death—his blood—made perfect confession of our sins, and in that confession absorbed them (cf. McLeod Campbell on the Atonement). Forgiveness, therefore, follows for all in him; and thus we are cleansed. III. THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST. He is ever acting on our hearts, to lead them along the various stages that will bring us to perfect purity, to complete sanctification. He works in us that deep sense of sin which leads to a genuine repentance. He reveals Christ to us, which leads to a living trust. He inspires us with love to Christ, which leads to the surrender of our will. He prompts us to and aids us in prayer, which perpetuates and deepens every holy purpose. He keeps us in touch with Christ, which bars the entrance of sin to our souls. He makes all the means of grace full of help to our souls. Thus step by step the blessed work is done. IV. THROUGH CHRIST’S OF THE WORK. He looks on us, not as we are, but as we shall be, and predates what has yet to, but certainly shall, be realized. . What a motive all this supplies to our earnest striving to come up to our blessed Lord’s ideal!—S.C. Son 4:8 The beautiful but dangerous world. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Son 5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. My myrrh with my balsam (see 1 Kings 10:10). There were celebrated plantations at Jericho. The Queen of Sheba brought "of spices very great store;" "There came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon." Is there a reference to the conversion of the heathen nations in this? The wine and milk are what God offers to his people (see Isaiah 55:1) without money and without price. Οἰογάλα is what Chloe gives to Daphnis (cf. Psalms 19:6). It would seem as though the writer intended us to follow the bridal procession to its destination in the royal palace. The bridal night intervenes. The joy of the king in his bride is complete. The climax is reached, and the rest of the song is an amplification. The call to the friends is to celebrate the marriage in a banquet on the second day (see Genesis 29:28; Judges 14:12; Tobit 11:18; and cf. Revelation 19:7 and Revelation 19:9). A parallel might be found in Psalms 22:26, where Messiah, at the close of his sufferings, salutes his friends, the poor, and as they eat at his table gives them his royal blessing, "Vivat cor vestrum in aeternum!" The perfect state of the Church is represented in Scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New, as celebrated with universal joy—all tears wiped away from off all faces, and the loud harpings of innumerable harpers. Can we doubt that this wonderful book has tinged the whole of subsequent inspired Scripture? Can we read the descriptions of triumphant rejoicing in the Apocalypse and not believe that the apostolic seer was familiar with this idealized love song? Verse 2-ch. 8:4 Part IV. OF LOVE DAYS. The bridegroom rejoicing in the bride. Son 5:2 The bride’s reminiscence of a love dream. I was asleep, but my heart waked, It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. There is a resemblance between this account of what was apparently a dream, and that which is related in So Son 3:1-4; but the difference is very clear. In the former case the lover is represented as dismissed for a season, and then the relenting heart of the maiden sought after him and found him. In this case he "stands at the door and knocks," coming in the night; and the maiden rises to open, but finds him gone, and so is drawn after him. The second dream is much more vivid and elaborate, and seems to be an imitation and enlargement of the other, being introduced apparently more for the sake of dwelling on the attractions of the beloved one and his preciousness in the eyes of the maiden than in self-reproach. Is it not possible that the poem originally concluded at So Son 5:1 with the marriage, and that the whole of the latter half was an amplification, either by Solomon himself, the author of the first half, or by some one who has entered into the spirit of the song? This would explain the apparent repetition, with the variations. But, at all events, the second part certainly is more from the standpoint of married life than the first. Hence the bride speaks at great length, which she does not in the earlier portion. Delitzsch thinks that this second love dream is intended to represent what occurred in early married life; but there are two objections to that—first, that the place is evidently a country residence; and secondly, that such an occurrence is unsuitable to the conditions of a royal bride. It is much more natural to suppose that the bride is recalling what occurred in her dream when the lover, having been sent away until the evening, as on the former occasion, returned, and in the night knocked at the door. "My heart waked" is the same as "My mind was active." The "heart" in Hebrew is the inner man, both intellect and feeling. "I was asleep, but I was thinking" (cf. Cicero, ’De Divinatione,’ 1.30). The lover has come off a long journey over the mountains, and arrives in the night time. The terms with which he appeals to his beloved are significant, denoting (1) equal rank—my sister; (2) free choice—my love; (3) purity, simplicity, and loveliness—my dove; (4) entire devotion, undoubting trust—my undefiled. Tammanthi, "my perfection," as Arabic tam, teim, "one devoted to another." as a servant. Similar passages are quoted from heathen love poetry, as Anacreon, 3.10; Propertius, 1.16-23; Ovid, ’Amor.,’ 3.19, 21. The simple meaning of the dream is that she is full of love by night and by day. She dreamed that she was back in her old country home, and that her lover visited her like a shepherd; and she tells how she sought him, to show how she loved him. When we are united to the Saviour with the bonds of a pledged affection, we lose the sense of self-reproach in the delight of fellowship, and can even speak of our own slowness and backwardness only to magnify his grace. We delight to acknowledge that it was his knocking that led us to seek after him, although we had to struggle with the dull heart; and it was not until it was moved by his approach, by his moving towards us, that we hastened to find him, and were full of the thought of his desirableness. There are abundant examples of this same interchange of affection in the history of the Church’s revivals and restorations. Son 5:3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? Evidently the meaning is, "I have retired to rest; do not disturb me." She is lying in bed. The cuttoneth, or χτιών, was the linen garment worn next the body—from cathan, "linen." The Arabic kutun is "cotton;" hence the French coton, "calico, or cotton" shift. Shulamith represents herself as failing in love, not meeting the condescension and affection of her lover as she should. Sloth, reluctance, ease, keep her back. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!" The scene is, of course, only ideally true; it is not meant to be a description of an actual occurrence. Fancy in dreams stirs up the real nature, though it also disturbs it. Shulamith has forsaken her first love. She relates it with sorrow, but not with despondency. She comes to herself again, and her repentance and restoration are the occasion for pouring out the fulness of her affection, which had never really changed, though it has been checked and restrained by self-indulgence. How true a picture both of the individual soul and of the Church in its decline! "Leave me to myself; let me lie at ease in my luxury and my smooth, conventional ways and self-flattering deceit." Son 5:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him. The door hole is a part of the door pierced through at the upper part of the lock, or door bolt (מִן־הַחוֹר), that is, by the opening from without to within, or through the opening, as if, i.e; to open the door by pressing back the lock or bolt from within. There was some obstacle. He tailed to open it. It had not been left so that he could easily obtain admittance. The metaphor is very apt and beautiful. How much he loved her! How he tried to come to her! As applied to the Saviour, what infinite suggestiveness! He would be with us, and not only knocks at the door, but is impatient to enter; tries the lock, and too often finds it in vain; he is repelled, he is resisted, he is coldly excluded. My heart was moved for him. מֵעַי, "my inner being" (cf. Isaiah 63:15, where the same word is used of God). It is often employed to express sympathy and affection, especially with tender regret. The later authorities, as the older translations, have "to him" (עָלָיו), i.e. over him, or on account of him, in the thought of his wounded heart. Son 5:5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the bolt. The meaning seems to be that the lover had come to the door perfumed as if for a festival, and the costly ointment which he brought with him has dropped on the handles of the bolts. Similar allusions may be found in Lucretius and other heathen writers. This description is, of course, inapplicable to the shepherd theory. It would not be a rough country swain that came thus perfumed; but Solomon is thought of as at once king and lover. It would be stretching the poetry too far to suppose that Shulamith meant the natural sweetness of her lover was the perfume. Neither is there any probability in the explanation that she dipped her hand in perfumed oil before she opened the door. That would destroy all the form and beauty of the dream. It is her lover whose fragrance she celebrates, not her own. Whether he brought perfumes with him, or the innate personal sweetness of his presence left its fragrance on that which he touched, in either case it is the lover himself who is spoken of. His very hand, wherever it has been, leaves behind it ineffable delight. His presence reveals itself everywhere. Those who go after him know that he is not far off by the traces of his loving approaches to them. The spiritual meaning is too plain to need much exposition. Son 5:6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone. My soul had failed me when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. The meaning is this—The voice of my beloved struck my heart; but in the consciousness that I had estranged myself from him I could not openly meet him, I could not offer him mere empty excuses. Now I am made sensible of my own deficiency. I call after him. I long for his return, but it is in vain (cf. the two disciples going to Emmaus, Luke 24:1-53; "Did not our heart burn within us," etc.?). Similar allusion to the effect of the voice of the beloved is found in Terence, ’And.,’ Son 1:5, Son 1:16, "Oratio haec," etc. The failing or departing of the soul at the sound of the voice must refer to the lack of response at the time, therefore it was that she sought him and cried out after him. When he spake; literally, in his speaking; i.e. when he said, "I will not now come because at first refused;" cf. Proverbs 1:20-33, the solemn warning against the loss of opportunity. It is a coincidence between the two books of Solomon which cannot be disregarded. If there is any spiritual meaning at all in Solomon’s Song, it certainly is a book which he who wrote the first chapter of Proverbs is likely to have written. Son 5:7 The watchmen that go about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me. The intention is to show into what evil she fell by having to seek her beloved instead of being with him. She is mistaken and misjudged; she is smitten and wounded with reproaches and false accusations, as though she were a guilty and evil minded woman. She is subjected to abuse and ill treatment from those who should be her guardians. She had hard work to escape, leaving her robe behind her (cf. Genesis 39:12). The redhidh, like ridha in Arabic, is a plaid-like upper garment thrown over the shoulders—so says Aben Ezra; but it is derived, no doubt, from the root "to make broad or thin," to spread out—perhaps, therefore, "a thin, light upper robe" which was worn over the chiton, a summer overdress, a cloak (LXX; θερίστρον: Jerome, pallium; Luther, Schleier). If we take the dream thus described, and which seems to conclude at this point, as related to the surrounding ladies, then we must suppose that it is introduced for the sake of what follows. The bride feels that she does not love her beloved one half enough; she is so conscious of deficiencies, that she might even have acted as her dream represented. It had entered her soul and made her ill with inward grief and self-reproach. She might so act, she might so treat her husband. So she adjures her companions to tell him how much she loves him. The spiritual application is not difficult to see. When the soul loses its joy in Christ, it becomes the prey of fears and self accusations, and even of reproaches from Christ’s servants and the guardians of his Church. For when our religion ceases to be a spontaneous delight to us, we are apt to carry on even the active work of our life in a manner to be misunderstood by sincere believers around us. Yea, the very efforts we make to recover peace may bring reproach upon us. Any Christian minister who has had to deal with religious despondency will quite understand this dream of the bride’s. We may often smite and wound, and even deprive of the garment of reputation and esteem, those who are really seeking for Christ, because we have misunderstood them. Son 5:8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. This appeal to the ladies suggests that the bride is speaking from her place in the royal palace; but it may be taken otherwise, as a poetical transference of time and place, from the place where the dream actually occurred, to Jerusalem. It is difficult, in a poem of such a kind, to explain every turn of language objectively. We cannot, however, be far wrong if we say the bride is rejoicing, in the presence of her attendant ladies, in the love of Solomon. He has just left her, and she takes the opportunity of relating the dream, that she may say how she cannot bear his absence and how she adores him. The ladies enter at once into the pleasant scheme of her fancy, and assume that they are with her in the country place, and ready to help her to find her shepherd lover, who has turned away from her when she did not at once respond to his call. The daughters of Jerusalem will, of course, symbolically represent those who, by their sympathy and by their similar relation to the object of our love, are ready to help us to rejoice—our fellow believers. Son 5:9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so adjure us? This, of course, is poetic artifice in order to give the opportunity to the bride to enter upon a glowing description of the object of her love. She wishes to say that he is perfect, everything that he can be. Son 5:10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. The mingling of colours in the countenance is a peculiar excellence. The word tsach, from the root tsahach (cf. Lamentations 4:7), means a bright, shining clearness; it is not the same as lavan, which would mean "dead white." So in Greek λαμπρὸς differs from λεῦκος. The red adhom, from the root dam, which means "to condense," is dark red (rouge puce), no doubt as betokening health and vigour. The pure, delicate white among the Caucasians denotes high rank, superior training, hereditary nobility, as among ourselves the "aristocratic paleness" (cf. Hom; ’I1.,’ 4:141, "ivory with purple;" Virg; ’AEn.,’ 12.65; Ovid, ’Am.,’ 2; ’ Eleg.,’ 5.39; Hor; Od; 1.13, etc.; Tibull; ’Eleg.,’ ext. 4, etc.). The chiefest, that is, the distinguished one, the chosen (so the Greek versions, Syriac, Jerome, Luther). The LXX. has ἐκλελοξισμένος, e cohorte selectus. Another rendering is "bannered," furnished with a banner or pennon (דֶּגֶל) hence the word דָּגוּל as a past participle (so the Venetian σεσημαιωμένος). The numeral (revava) "ten thousand" is simply used to represent an innumerable multitude; "myriad" is so used among ourselves (of. Ezekiel 16:7). Son 5:11-16 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks; washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as banks of sweet herbs; his lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. His hands are as rings of gold set with beryl; his body is as ivory work overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold. His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. This description, which is complete in itself, is best regarded in its unbroken perfection. We must not expect to find a meaning for each separate part of it. There are ten corporeal excellences enumerated. We naturally recall the descriptions in Daniel and in the Apocalypse, which certainly have reference to this, and manifestly combine the attributes of greatness and beauty in the Son of man. Solomon, no doubt, as the son of Bathsheba, was distinguished by his personal attractions. Some of the details of description are differently rendered by different commentators. Delitzsch regards the description of the hair in verse 11 as compared to a hill or hilly range" his locks hill upon hill," i.e. "his hair, seen from his neck upwards, forms in undulating lines hill upon hill." The black colour is no doubt mentioned as a contrast with the fair, white complexion. The eyes are not only pure and clear, but with a glancing moistness in them which expresses feeling and devotion. So Plutarch has ὑρότηςτῶνὀμμάτῶν to denote a languishing look, and we find the same figure in the ’Gitagovinda ’ and Hafiz, and in Ossian. So Luther, "Und stehen in der Falle." The pureness of the white of the eye is represented in the bathing or washing in milk. They are full and large, "fine in their setting," referring no doubt to the steady, strong look of fine eyes. "The cheeks" are compared to towers of plants; that is, there is a soft elevation in them. LXX; ψύουσαιμυρεψικά: Jerome, Sicut areolae aromatum consitae a pigmentariis. The Targum says, "Like the rows of a garden of aromatic plants, which produce deep, penetrating essences, even as a (magnificent) garden aromatic plants"—perhaps referring to the "flos juventae," the hair on the face, the growth of the beard. "The lips" are described as the organs of speech as well as inviting to embrace. They drop words like liquid fragrance. "The bands" may be differently described according as they are viewed. Delitzsch says, "His hands form cylinders, fitted in with stones of Tarshish." Gesenius thinks the comparison is of the closed hand and the stained nails, but that seems farfetched. Surely it is the outstretched hands that are meant. The form of the fingers is seen and admired; they are full, round, fleshy like bars of gold. The word "Tarshish" may mean clay white, as in the Greek versions; that is, topaz, called Tarshish from Tartessus in Spain, where.it is found. The description of the body is of the outward appearance and figure only, though the word itself signifies "inward parts." The comparison with ivory work refers to the glancing and perfect smoothness and symmetry as of a beautiful ivory statue, the work of the highest artistic excellence. The sapphire covering tempers the white. The beautiful blue veins appear through the skin and give a lovely tint to the body. So in the description of the legs we have the combination of white and gold, the white marble setting forth greatness and purity, and the gold sublimity and nobleness; intended, no doubt, to suggest that in the royal bridegroom there was personal beauty united with kingly majesty, as in the following description of his general aspect, which, like the splendours of the mountains, was awe-inspiring and yet elevating and delightful (cf. Psalms 80:11 (10): Jeremiah 22:7; Isaiah 37:24). His mouth, or palate, is sweetness itself; that is, when he speaks his words are full of winning love (cf. Proverbs 16:4; Psalms 55:16). We may compare with the whole description that given of Absalom, Solomon’s brother, in 2 Samuel 14:25, 2 Samuel 14:26. It has been truly remarked by Zockler that "the mention of the legs, and just before of the body, could only be regarded as unbecoming or improper by an overstrained prudishness, because the description which is here given avoids all libidinous details, and is so strictly general as not even to imply that she had ever seen the parts of the body in question in a nude condition." It merely serves to complete the delineation of her lover, which Shulamith sketches by a gradual descent from head to foot, and, moreover, is to be laid to the account of the poet rather than to that of Shulamith, who is in everything else so chaste and delicate in her feelings. Certainly it would be much less delicate regarded as the description of a shepherd lover who is seeking to obtain possession of the maiden taken from him, than of the royal bridegroom to whom Shulamith is at all events affianced, if not already married. The highest spiritual feelings of loving adoration of the Saviour have welcomed some parts of this description, and adopted them into the language of "spiritual songs." To some minds, no doubt, it is repellent; to those to whom it is not so, the warmth and glow of Eastern language is by no means too realistic for the feelings of delight in the Lord which express themselves in rapturous music. 2 Samuel 14:1. Response to So 4:16: The bridegroom accepts the bride’s invitation. He calls her again by the endearing title, "my sister-bride." He comes, as she bids him, into the garden which was hers and yet his. He takes delight in its produce, in the entertainment which she has prepared for him. He invites his friends to share his enjoyment. He addresses, apparently, the chorus of young men, his companions, who have already appeared in So 2 Samuel 3:6-11, calling them "O friends," and "O beloved ones;" unless, indeed, the last clause be translated, as the Hebrew at least permits, "Drink abundantly of love." The heavenly Bridegroom accepts the offering of the Church, his bride. He loved her, and gave himself for her; therefore her love is very precious to him. He comes into her garden. He calls it his—"my garden"—in gracious acknowledgment of the bride’s gift. He uses the same pronoun of all its varied products. They are his, each and all. He gave them to the bride. She offers them back to her Lord. He invites his friends to share his joy. He said once to his friends in his holy parable, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost;" so now he says, "Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly of love." "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19:9). So the Lord listens to the call of the Christian soul that thirsts for him. He answers the cry, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." He will come with the Father, and make his abode with them that love him (John 14:23). He graciously accepts the offerings of love. He welcomes the beauty and sweetness of the fruits of the Spirit in the believing soul. They are his, for it was he who gave the Spirit, who watered the growing fruits with the dew of his grace; his, again, because the heart that gives itself to God gives with the gift of self all its belongings, gladly owning that whatever it has of good comes from his only gift. He acknowledges their imperfect efforts: "I know thy works, thy labour, and thy patience." He saith unto his friends, "Rejoice with me;" and "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over each sinner that repenteth." Then if our love gives joy to the dear Lord who gave up the glory of heaven for us, and for us endured the long torture of the cross, how very earnestly we Christians ought to try to make our heart indeed a "garden enclosed," wholly dedicated unto him, and separated from all profane uses! If our poor growth in holiness pleases him, how earnestly we ought to pray and strive to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; how earnestly we ought to try never to grieve his Holy Spirit, but to give him our whole heart, with all its affections and desires, that we may be wholly his—his forever! Son 5:2-8 The second dream of the bride. I. THE AT THE DOOR. 1. The voice of the beloved. The bridegroom is absent; the bride is alone. There is a temporary separation, something approaching to an estrangement; yet the old love is not lost. The bride is sleeping when she should be awake and watching for the bridegroom’s approach. Yet her heart waketh. She has a dreamy consciousness of what is going on around her; she seems to hear in her dream the voice of her beloved. So the Church sometimes sleeps—leaves her first love—lapses into something like spiritual apathy; yet her heart waketh. The Lord never leaves himself without a witness. At the worst times of indifference there has always been some dim consciousness of his presence, some faint love for him who loved the Church and gave himself for her. So the soul sometimes sleeps when it is high time to awake, when the night is far spent and the day is at hand. The heavenly Bridegroom will not let us slumber on without a warning. He knocks at the door of our heart. "Behold," he saith, "I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). The Church of Laodicea was lying wrapped in a deep sleep: the Lord sought to arouse her. So he knocks at the door of our hearts now by his Word, by his ministers, by his chastisements, by the warnings of his Spirit. If we can in truth call him "my Beloved;" if we have really set our love upon him, and given him our heart in answer to his seeking love, we shall hear him. We shall know his voice, recognizing it in judgments and in mercies, in warnings and in consolations. When duty calls us, even if it be, as it will sometimes be, hard and displeasing to flesh and blood, we shall say, "It is the voice of my Beloved." It is the Master’s call; he speaks. The heart waketh to listen. Does he come with stern reproof for indifference and coldness of heart? No; his words are full of tenderness. "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled." It is the Lord’s great love for the souls of men that produces those utterances of yearning affection. He still calls the bride "my sister," as he had done before the cloud had come upon her love. He still says "my love, my dove," as he said before; and he has a fresh term of endearment, "my undefiled, my perfect one." We know, alas I that we are not undefiled, we are not perfect. ("Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect," says even the great apostle, St. Paul.) But what the Lord would have us to be, what he will make us at the last if we abide in him, that he is graciously pleased to call us now. How those holy words of deep tenderness should excite in us repentance for the past, and earnest effort to become by his grace less unworthy of those most gracious and loving titles! He asks us to open, that he may enter in. He has been wandering in the darkness, and as when he came unto his own there was no room for him in the inn, and as during the days of his earthly ministry he had not where to lay his head, so now he knocks at one heart after another, and heart after heart is closely barred against him. They will not open, that he may enter in and make his abode with them. He comes now to the sister bride of old times, asking her as if for his own sake (such is the unutterable depth of his infinite, self-abasing love), "Open unto me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled." Ah, how can any of those souls of men whom he loved even unto death shut up their hearts against that call of unspeakable affection! He pleads as for himself, as if needing shelter: "My head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." Alas! the bride, still half asleep, scarcely heeds the bridegroom’s call, does not realize its meaning— "For none of the ransom’d ever knew How deep were the waters cross’d; Or how dark was the night that the Lord pass’d through Ere he found his sheep that was lost." It cost more to redeem our souls than our poor thoughts can comprehend. When we try to realize the Lord’s sufferings, we seem to stand afar off beholding, like the people who came together to that sight of awe, who smote their breasts (Luke 23:48). The Church pleads those bitter sufferings in her solemn Litany: "By thine agony and bloody sweat, by thy cross and passion, good Lord, deliver us." "Remember, good Lord Jesus," we say in the ancient hymn, "that it was for me thou didst undertake that long, weary journey; in that long search for me thou didst sit faint and exhausted; it was to redeem me that thou didst endure the cross. Let not that toil and labour be in vain, O Lord." But here it is the Lord himself who pleads with us in our hardness; he so longs for our salvation. He bids us remember what he endured for us. It is the expression of his intense yearning love. He would have us comprehend with all saints something of the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of that great love; to return it in our poor way, to open our heart to him, that he may enter in and take that heart to be his own which he bought with the price of his most precious blood. 2. The answer. The bride does not realize the deep, solemn meaning of the bridegroom’s call. She is half asleep still. She lies dreaming in her bed. She makes excuses to herself. And we, alas! far too often do the like when the Lord calls us to work, to deny ourselves for his sake. We slumber on in careless sleep; we forget what he did for us. We do not hear his voice; or, if we hear, we listen dreamily, lying still in spiritual sloth, not thinking that when the Lord calls it is time to bestir ourselves, to be up and doing, to "pass the time of our sojourning here in fear forasmuch as we know that we were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18). We must not make vain excuses, like those that were bidden in the parable (Luke 14:18), for the time is short. It is our eternal salvation that is at stake. It is Christ the Son of God who is calling us; and he loved us, and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20). Alas! the bride, whom the bridegroom loved with so great a love, makes poor excuses in her dream. She will not rise and open till it is too late; she will not take a little trouble for his sake. 3. The repentance. The beloved put his hand through the hole of the door; he sought to open it. The bride’s heart was moved at last by his earnest appeals. "My bowels were moved for him," she says, as she repeats her dream. She thought of her past love for him, of his great love for her, of the hardships he had gone through in seeking her. She wonders how she could have forgotten all this even in a dream; she rose up to open to her beloved. So the soul that has made many excuses, that has slumbered long, that has spent its time as in a dream, forgetting the solemn realities of life, hears at last through the long suffering grace of God—listens to the patient call of the heavenly Bridegroom. Then our heart burns within us when we think that he has indeed been talking with us, opening the Scriptures (Luke 24:32); our bowels are moved for him. We think that it is the Saviour of the world, our Saviour, who is standing without, waiting for us to answer; that the hand with which he seeks to open the door was once pierced through for us, nailed upon the cross for our souls’ sake. We listen to his voice— "O Jesu, thou art pleading In accents meek and low: ’I died for you, my children, And will ye treat me so?’ O Lord, with shame and sorrow We open now the door; Dear Saviour, enter, enter, And leave us never more." The bride opens to her beloved. The bridegroom’s hand had been dipped in oil of myrrh. Some of the unguent remained upon the bolt; it dropped upon the fingers of the bride. It was a token of the bridegroom’s presence. He had gathered his myrrh (Son 5:1) from the "garden enclosed" before this passing shadow had fallen upon their love. It may be, too, that we may see in the myrrh a parable of self-denial. It may be regarded as a loving warning left by the bridegroom to teach the bride a necessary lesson. She must not slumber on; it is time to wake and to work. Working for Christ is sometimes like the wine mingled with myrrh (Mark 15:23); it has a bitter taste to our pampered palate. But if we take the cup which the Lord gives us to drink, we shall find at last that the smell of it is sweet; even as his yoke, hard at first, becomes easy in the discipline of obedience, and his burden, heavy at first, becomes light when he bears it with us. For self-denials meekly borne for him bring us nearer and nearer to him who bore the supreme self-sacrifice of the cross for us; and in his presence there is a depth of sweetness which takes away the bitterness. 4. It is too late. The beloved had withdrawn himself. "My beloved withdrew himself, was gone," she says, in the plaintive wailing of disappointment (there is no conjunction in the original). "My soul went forth," she continues, "as he spake." My soul, my heart, my affections, went forth to him at the sound of his voice. The well known tones aroused the old love. She had once given her heart to him; and now, though in her dream her love seemed to have been chilled, and she seemed to lie heedless, unwilling to rouse herself to exertion, yet now his words at last reached her heart. Her soul went forth to him in response to his calling. Or the Hebrew words may rather mean, as in the Revised Version, "My soul had failed me when he spake." The same words are used in describing the death of Rachel: "It came to pass, as her soul was in departing" (Genesis 35:18). His words awoke in her soul the fear lest she should lose him by her coldness and selfish neglect. The thought was like death to her. "Love is strong as death" (So Son 8:6). Her soul went forth; it failed her. For the moment she was helpless—prostrate as in a death-like swoon. Then she aroused herself. It was time to act, to bestir herself. He was gone; she might lose him forever; and her heart was bound up in him. To lose him was death—worse than death. She sought him, but she could not find him; she called him in her dream, but he gave her no answer. The dream of the bride is a parable of the Christian life. The soul sometimes sinks into a state of listlessness and apathy. There is no actual transgression, perhaps—no open sin. The evil spirit is not there; the house is empty (Matthew 12:43, Matthew 12:44). But the Bridegroom is absent, and love has grown cold. There is no recollection of the absent Lord—no regret, no longing for his return. The soul lives on, as it were, in a dream, not realizing the solemn meaning of life, not thinking of the awful future. But God in his gracious mercy will not let us dream away our lives without a warning. He calls us by his blessed Son: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Sometimes, alas! we will not hear; sometimes we listen dreamily, half-conscious, recognizing in a sense the Bridegroom’s voice, but not realizing the solemn, holy meaning of the call; not thinking of his love and of our ingratitude, his promises and our broken vows, what he did for us and what return we have made to him; not thinking of his grace and our responsibility, his longing for our salvation and our fearful danger. That lethargy, that slumber of indifference, creeps over us all from time to time when we have not been watchful—when we have neglected our prayers and other blessed means of grace. But the dear Lord seeketh that which is lost until he find it. He "is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He comes again and again, calling us, sometimes in the gentle tones of entreating love, sometimes in the sterner language of reproof and chastisement. Sometimes he makes as though he would force his way. He puts his hand in at the hole of the door; he lays the cross upon us; he reminds us of the burden which he bore for us; he teaches us that the cross is the very badge and mark of his chosen—that whosoever doth not take up his cross cannot be his disciple. At last we are stiffed in our slumbers. We rise from our sleep. But perhaps we are only half awake, half-hearted. Our will goes back to our old slothful rest. We say, like the sluggard in the Proverbs, "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep" (Proverbs 6:10). Then the Lord deals with us as a wise physician of the soul. He would have us feel our weakness, our danger. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick" (Matthew 9:12). He would have us feel our need of him. He withdraws himself; and when we open to him he is gone. He makes as though he would go further, as he dealt with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:28). Then our soul goes forth to him. It faints within us; we feel how helpless we are without him; we feel that without him life is not worth living; and we try to constrain him, like those two disciples, saying, in their words, "Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far slant." We seek him in earnest prayer, sometimes with strong crying and tears. But for a time we cannot find him. We call him, but he gives us no answer. It is in love that he thus deals with us, to arouse us, to make us feel the need of exertion, of active effort. He cannot be found without diligent search. The bride said, in relating her first dream, "By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth" (So Proverbs 3:1). It is not thus that the soul should seek for Christ, still lying, as it were, upon the bed of spiritual sloth, thinking dreamily of Christ, pleasing itself, perhaps, with the poetry of religion, with the beauty of the Saviour’s life, with the comfort which the Scriptures offer. Religion is not a dream; it is not mere poetry, mere love of beauty; it is a life—a life of action and energy—a prolonged effort to imitate Christ, to please Christ, to follow Christ’s holy example. The first cry of the really awakened soul is, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6). The soul that answers in earnest to the Saviour’s call knows and feels instinctively that God has work for us; that that work must be done even in fear and trembling by his help, who worketh in us both to will and to do. The Lord would have us realize this truth; therefore sometimes he withdraws himself, to make us feel that life is blank without him—to make us cry like Job, "Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle!" (Job 29:2-4). The contrast makes us feel that God was certainly with us then, even if we cannot feel his presence now. Therefore we seek him, even though for a time we cannot find him. It was so with Job for a season. "He hideth himself," he said; "I cannot see him." He trusted God even in the midst of darkness. "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:9, Job 23:10). So we must believe in his love even when he seems to hide his face from us and not to listen to our prayers. He seemed long to disregard the supplications of the Syro-Phoenician woman, but at last there came the gracious answer, "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt." II. THE SEARCH. 1. The bride goes forth in her dream. Again, as in So Job 3:2, she goes about the city seeking the beloved; again the watchmen found her. They had not been unfriendly in the first dream, though they were not able to guide her in her search. Now they seemed to treat her with cruelty. They smote her, and wounded her, and took her mantle from her. Difficulties will always arise in our search after Christ—sometimes dangers and persecutions: "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." We may perhaps also see another lesson here. The bride has more trouble now in her search than she had on the former occasion. She has been more blamable. Then she had been for a time listless and slothful; now her sin had been not only sloth, but selfish disobedience. She refused at first to open to the beloved; she did not heed his call; she did not heed the hardships which he had suffered. So it is in the Christian life. To sin against light is very grievous; repeated sin makes repentance each time more difficult. We must be watchful always, as the Saviour bids us: "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch" (Mark 13:35-37). We must learn the prayer of the child Samuel, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." Each time we refuse to listen the old torpor steals more and more over our souls, our slumber becomes deeper, the difficulty of awakening us becomes greater, and repentance more doubtful, more encompassed with dangers, calling for more exertion of will, more determined effort. 2. The charge. The bride cannot find her beloved. She seeks the help of the chorus of maidens, the daughters of Jerusalem. She adjures them in her eager anxiety, "If ye find my beloved, what will ye tell him? That I am sick of love." She had used the last words once before (So Job 2:5), but in a different connection. Then his banner over her was love; then the joy of his love was almost too great for her; she was sick of love. Now it is her longing for the absent bridegroom which produces the heart sickness which she describes. She fondly thinks that if he only knew her yearning for him he would return; he would forgive all that was past, and bring her again under the banner of his love. So the Christian soul, awakened out of sleep, longs for the Saviour’s presence. She feels that she is sick. She needs the great Physician. Without him all is dark; without him there is no spiritual health, no joy, no hope. She seeks him in earnest prayer. She asks for the intercession of Christian friends; she would have them bring her distress and longing before the throne. "My God, my soul is cast down within me;" "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God;" "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." Son 5:9-16 The bride’s praise of the bridegroom. I. THE OF THE OF . 1. The bride. The bride is dreaming still. The chorus seem in her dream to address her again as they had done in So Son 1:8. She is still to them the fairest among women. They awe daughters of Jerusalem, the children of the kingdom; and to them the Church, which is the bride of Christ, must appear exceeding fair. She is not, alas! without spot or blemish now. She recognizes her own faults, her many shortcomings. But the children of the kingdom remember the holiness of the saints departed. They see traces of the beauty of holiness existing always in the Church. Being themselves children of God, they are learning that grace of charity which "believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things; which rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." And so they regard the beauty of the bride rather than her blemishes; they think more of her yearning love for the Bridegroom than of her past shortcomings. It is a sad mistake, a sin against charity, to refuse to recognize the real goodness of Christian people who have from time to time fallen into various inconsistencies. 2. The bridegroom. What is he more than others? "What is thy beloved more than another beloved …that thou dost so charge us?" The daughters of Jerusalem know King Solomon well, but in her dream the bride seems to hear them asking the question of the text. She has always loved the bridegroom for himself, not for his crown, his magnificence. She fancies that the maidens of the chorus take the same view of wedded love, and ask what are the distinguishing merits of her beloved. Sometimes, indeed, that question is asked in scorn or in temptation, "What think ye of Christ?" What is he more than other masters? Those other masters have their attractions; they offer more of earthly pleasure, more of present ease. What has Christ to offer? What are his attractions? What are the rewards of his service? "What is thy Beloved more than another beloved?" men say sometimes to the Christian. "What is thy Master to us, that thou dost so adjure us?" But the daughters of Jerusalem, in this second dream of the bride, do not ask the question in scorn or irony. It is asked with a dramatic purpose to give the bride an occasion for dwelling upon the glorious beauty, the many endowments of her beloved. She gladly takes advantage of it. II. THE BRIDE’S ANSWER. 1. The bridegroom is the chiefest among ten thousand. "My beloved," she says, "is white and ruddy." We think of him whose "garment was white as snow," and "his throne like the fiery flame" (Daniel 7:9). Ancient writers have applied the description to our Lord. He was white in his spotless purity; his sacred body was reddened with the precious blood. These are the first thoughts of the Christian when he meditates upon the Lord’s perfections—the perfect beauty of his most holy life, the glory of self-sacrifice which sheds a golden light upon his atoning death. His life exhibited a picture of holiness such as the world had never seen, such as none of its greatest sages had ever imagined. It stands alone in its pure beauty, unique, unapproachable. We know that no human intellect could have imagined such a life; no merely human pen could have described it. It is unlike the accepted moral ideals of the time; it stands apart by itself, immeasurably higher than all beside. But it was his death, he said, that should draw all men unto himself. It was the great love manifested upon the cross that would constrain the best and noblest hearts of all times and countries to live no longer to themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again (2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:15). Therefore he is our Standard bearer (as the word rendered "chiefest" seems to mean), our bannered One. He is the Captain of our salvation. He goeth before us, bearing the banner of the cross. The thousands of his disciples follow. And he is the chiefest among ten thousand, marked out and distinguished from all others by his unapproachable holiness, by the infinite power and majesty of his self-sacrificing love. The bride enumerates the various points of excellence which together make up the completeness of the bridegroom’s beauty. The Christian loves to meditate upon the various graces which make up the holy beauty of the Saviour’s character—his lowliness, his gentleness, his long suffering kindness, his holy wisdom, his absolute unworldliness, his unselfish devotion to his sacred mission, his meekness, his forbearance, his patience with the many mistakes, the obstinate misunderstandings of his disciples, his endurance, his calm and lofty courage, the majestic bearing which forced even Roman soldiers to exclaim, "Truly this Man was the Son of God." 2. He is altogether lovely. The bride sums up her praises of the bridegroom. "His mouth is most sweet: yea, the whole of him is desires" (for this is the literal translation). The Prophet Haggai, using another form of the same Hebrew word, says, "The Desire of all nations shall come" (Haggai 2:7). Daniel is called three times "a man of desires" (Daniel 9:23; Daniel 10:11, Daniel 10:19). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Desire of all nations. He is the Messiah, the Consolation of Israel, for whose coming so many faithful hearts had yearned. He spake as never man spake. His mouth was all sweetnesses (the literal rendering), both his holy words and his gracious looks. How often we are told significantly that Jesus looked upon his disciples as if that look was (as indeed it must have been) a thing to be remembered all one’s life, full of heavenly meaning, full of Divine love! We know what power his words had, what power they have now. The very tones of that most sacred voice must have had an indescribable sweetness. "Jesus said unto her, Mary," That one word was enough. It brought sweet comfort to the penitent, joy unutterable, heartfelt gladness to the mourner. And who can tell the entrancing sweetness of those most blessed words which with all our heart’s deepest yearning we long one day to hear, "Come, ye blessed children of my Father"? Therefore we desire his presence now. "The whole of him is desires." Therefore God’s people have "a desire to be with Christ" (like St. Paul, Philippians 1:23); for they know that to be with him here, and still more to be with him in the paradise of God, is "far better"—by much very far better, than the greatest of earthly joys. "The whole of him is desires." Every one of those holiest graces which adorn his perfect character should be to us a subject of loving study and adoration, with a longing desire to imitate it and to work it in our poor way into our own hearts by the help of the Holy Spirit. He hath all things who hath Christ. He hath enough, and more than enough, to satisfy all his desires, to fill all the yearnings of his heart. He will count all things else as dross—as very dung—in comparison with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. Then herr earnestly we ought to pray that by the grace of God we may be enabled to make those last words of the bride our very own, "This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." If he is indeed ours, our Beloved, our Friend, our Saviour, then we have all that we can need for our soul’s truest blessedness, both for this life and for the life to come. BY S. CONWAY Son 5:1 Christ’s response. "I am come," etc. Here we have for the second time the name of "sister" prefixed to that of "spouse," and it seems to teach that this song is not to be understood in any mere dry, literal, earthly sense; but is to be regarded in such spiritual way as, in fact, most readers have regarded it. How prompt Christ’s answer is! Cf. Isaiah 65:24, "Before they call I will answer," etc. The soul hears the knock of Christ, opens the door, and at once he comes in (Revelation 3:1-22.). Cf. Jacob, "Surely the Lord was in this place, and I knew it not;" Mary Magdalene at the sepulchre: "She knew not that it was Jesus." In this verse we learn— I. SUCH SOUL IS CHRIST’S GARDEN. For it has been chosen, separated, watered, cultivated, adorned, made fruitful. II. IT HAS CHRIST’S AND IS HIS DELIGHT. 1. The aspirations of such soul proves his presence. They are his footprints, though not perceived to be so. Cf. "Their eyes were holden, that they should not know him" (Luke 24:1-53.). He is the unperceived Author of its holy desires and purposes. 2. And he delights in it. He calls it "my garden" (cf. on So 4:9-15). III. THE ANGELS ARE TO SHARE IN HIS DELIGHT. "Eat, O my friends." Not that we say this address to his "friends" proves this truth, but suggests it. We know that "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over," etc. (Luke 15:1-32.); and see Revelation, passim, where the joy of Christ is ever shared in by all heaven. They know what transpires here, and they rejoice in what is joyful. They are the "great cloud of witnesses" by which we are surrounded and surveyed. And what gladdens Christ must gladden them. They "enter into the joy of their Lord." The good conduct of those whom we behold makes us glad. Can it be otherwise with them? What great encouragement, therefore, we have in our Christian life in knowing that we can further the joy of our Lord and of the holy angels! Be it ours so to do.—S.C. Son 5:2 The flesh and spirit. "I sleep, but my heart waketh." The body sleeping, the heart awake. I. , AS HERE, BUT ONE OF THESE IS AWAKE. 1. Here it was the spirit. (1) This fact an argument against materialism, which insists that the spirit is altogether dependent upon the body. Hence that death ends all. But, as here, the body may be weighed down with sleep, but the mind is active; the body is dead, but the mind alive. Surely, therefore, the mind is something more than some special arrangement of the molecules of the brain. (2) It is well that, if the spirit be willing, the flesh should be weak. As a general rule it is well, for else, unless the wholesome drag of the body were put on, brain workers would not live out half their days. (3) But it is at times the occasion of much harm. It was so here. It was so to our Lord through his disciples yielding to the sleep that weighed on them. And the flesh is a tyrant which will, if allowed, enslave the spirit. Hence we need to "keep under the body." For: 2. Often it is only the flesh that is awake. This a fearful condition. Cf. St. Jude, "These be sensual, not having the Spirit." Men may, do, sink down into gross animalism. It is horrible as well as disgraceful. It was that which led to the destruction of Sodom, of the Canaanites, etc. It is a dread possibility threatening very many. God keep us therefrom! II. NEITHER ARE AWAKE. There are many people of whom one would have much more hope if they were a little better or a little worse than they are. They are such as we have just named. They are generally decent people outwardly; they never offend against the conventionalities; they are to be found in all Churches, more’s the pity; for they are but caricatures of the Christian character. They are dull, cold, selfish, hard, and spiritually dead. What is to be done with such? They are the despair of the earnest Christian, who would almost be willing that they should fall—were it possible—into some miserable sin if so only their present self-content could be shattered and they made to wake up. III. BOTH ARE AWAKE. This the ideal condition. It is that, and more than that, which is meant by the "Sana mens in corpore sano." For wherever this condition is, the spirit will, as is right, rule the flesh, having it well in hand, causing it like a properly trained dog to come to heel at once at the word of command (Huxley). The body will be the active, faithful servant of the master will, the spirit of the man. And when that spirit is inspired by the Spirit of God, then that is salvation, which means "health." May such health be ours!—S.C. Son 5:2-8 The dream of Gethsemane. Under the imagery of this dream devout students have seen pictured forth the pathetic facts of the garden in which our Lord was in agony, and his disciples slept (cf. Matthew 26:40-43 and parallels). We have— I. THE SAVIOR. (Son 5:2.) He desired his disciples to watch with him. He needed and desired their sympathy and the solace which their watchful love would have given him. His soul was troubled. He was as he who is told of here, and to whom the cold drenching dews and the damp chills of the dreary night had caused much distress, and who therefore asks the aid of her whom he loved. So did Jesus seek the aid of those he loved. He had right to expect it. He said to Peter, "Simon, sleepest thou?"—thou so loved, so privileged, so loud in thy profession of love to me, so faithfully warned, sleepest thou? And still the like occurs. The Lord looking for the aid of his avowed disciples, distressed by manifold causes, and that aid not forthcoming, though he has such right to expect it. But he too often finds now what he found then— II. HIS ASLEEP. (Son 5:3.) So the spouse here, as the disciples there, and as man now, had composed herself to sleep. The repeated calls of him who by voice and knock sought to arouse her failed. And so did the repeated visits of Jesus to his disciples fail. And he finds the same still. The poor excuses of Son 5:3 serve well to set forth the excuses of today when he calls on us now to aid and sympathize with him. Who really rouses himself for Christ, and puts forth earnest self-denying endeavour to help his work? No doubt the disciples had their excuses, and Christ then, as now, makes all allowances. But the fact remains the same. Christ wants us, and we are asleep. The sleeper told of in this dream evidently was filled with self-reproach. It can hardly have been otherwise with the disciples, and it is so with us now when in our holier moments the vision of our Lord in all his love for us comes before our hearts. Then we confess, "It is high time to awake out of sleep." III. THE . The sleeper told of here awoke (Son 5:5) to find her beloved gone. And in Gethsemane the disciples awoke at last. In this song (Son 5:5) we are told how he had thrust in his hand by the latch hole (see Exposition). But he had withdrawn it, as she whom he had appealed to had not awaked; and, finding this, her heart was touched, and she rose to open to him. And doubtless when the disciples saw the gleam of the lanterns and heard their Lord’s word, "Arise," and the tramp of the armed multitude who had come to arrest him, then their hearts were touched, and. they arose. But it was too late. And like as the sleeper here (Son 5:5) did not withhold tokens of her affection—she richly perfumed herself, her hands especially, in token thereof as the Oriental manner was—so, too, the disciples in their way made plain their love for their Lord. They would have fought for him—Peter drew his sword at once—had he let them. But the opportunity for real service was gone. The sleeper of this song tells how her heart smote her when her beloved spoke, and we may well believe that it was so when the disciples heard their Lord’s voice. But in both cases it was too late. Who does not know the sorrow that smites the soul when we realize that opportunities of succouring, serving, and making glad the heart of some beloved one have been allowed to pass by us unused, and now cannot be recalled? Oh, if we had only been awake then! IV. THE SEARCH. (Son 5:6.) Cf. Peter’s tears; the sorrow of the disciples. The reproaches of conscience—they were the watchmen who met and sternly dealt with her who is told of here, and made her ashamed. Such failures in duty are followed by unavailing regrets and prayers. "Oh that I knew where I might find him!" Conscience, the Word of God, faithful pastors,—these are as the watchmen who meet such souls, and scant comfort is or ought to be had from them, but only deserved rebuke and reproach. It is all true. What is told of in this verse must have happened then, does happen now. Our Lord has left us, our joy is gone, we cannot find him, tears and prayers and search seem all in vain. V. THE HELP OF THE HOLY WOMEN. (Son 5:8 and So Son 6:1.) It was wise of the sleeper, now awake, to solicit help from the friends of her beloved. And in the Gospel narrative it is plain that the holy women who loved and ministered to our Lord when on earth were a great help to his sorrowing disciples. They were last at the cross and first at the sepulchre; they first brought the glad tidings that he was risen. They represent his true Church. And the sorrowing soul cannot do better than seek the sympathy and prayers of those who love the Lord. Restoration often comes by such means. Here is one of their intercessions: "That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand, to comfort and help the weak hearted, to raise up them that fall, and finally to beat down Satan under our feet." Blessed is he who hath intercessions such as that offered for him. But better still not to need them.—S.C. Son 5:9 The supremacy of Christ. "What is thy beloved more," etc.? The world asks this question. Upon the answer the Church gives depends whether the world remains as it is—alienated from Christ or drawn to him. If the Church makes it evident that Christ is "chiefest among ten thousand" and "altogether lovely," then the blessed era of the world’s conversion will be at hand. The Church asks this question of those whom she receives into communion. It should be clear that Christ is enthroned in the hearts of those whom she receives. They are not really members of the Church unless it is so. We should ask ourselves this question, so that we may see to it that we are giving him the chief place in our hearts, and that in all things he has the pre-eminence. The question may be answered in various ways. As for example— I. BY OF CHRIST WITH THE OBJECTS OF WORSHIP IN OTHER FAITHS. (Cf. Hardwick’s ’Christ and other Masters.’) There have been and are "gods many and lords many;" it is well to compare and contrast with them the all-worthiness of him whom we serve. Missionaries to heathen lands do well to make themselves acquainted with the points of contrast and resemblance—"the unconscious prophecies of heathendom"—which they will find in the faiths they seek to supplant by the pure faith of Christ. Often will they find in such study that he is "the Desire of all nations." II. BY THE OBJECTS OF MEN’S PRESENT AND WITH CHRIST, who is the Beloved of the believer’s heart. Some set their affections only on earthly things—wealth, power, pleasure, fame, the favour of men. Some on those whom God has given them to love—wife, lover, children, friends. It is well to see how Christ surpasses all these, and deserves the chief place in our hearts: such place, when given to him, will not consign to a lower one than they before filled those objects of our lawful love; but, on the contrary, will uplift and enlarge our love for them, making it better both for them and us. But we prefer to take— III. THE ANSWER GIVEN IN THIS SONG ITSELF. See Son 5:10-16, translating its rich imagery into the plain language of "the truth as it is in Jesus." She who was asked this question replied by giving the description of her beloved which we have in these verses. And, translated, they suggest these reasons for counting Christ chief of all. 1. He is the perfect Pattern and Sacrifice that my soul needs. (Son 5:10.) It is a representation of the beauty of perfect physical health: "white and ruddy" (cf. 1 Samuel 16:12; 1 Samuel 17:42). Fit type, therefore, of that perfect moral and spiritual health which we behold in Christ, and which constitutes him our all-perfect Pattern. His perfect sacrifice also has been seen in this same description, and it has been compared with that similar description of him in Revelation 5:6, "a Lamb that had been slain." Not alone the whiteness of purity, but "ruddy" as with the stain of his precious sacrificial blood. 2. He is God in his essential Person. (Revelation 5:11.) Gold is, in the sacred symbolism of Scripture, ever associated with that which is of God. The head of fine gold suggests, therefore, that which St. Paul says (1 Corinthians 11:3), "The head of Christ is God." 3. Yet he consecrated himself for our sakes. The unshorn hair, "his locks are bushy," was the sign of consecration (cf. the vow of Nazarite). 4. And is evermore mighty to save. Youth and strength are signified by the "raven" hair. Whilst others wax old as doth a garment, he is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (cf. Psalms 102:27). 5. Gentleness, purity, and the love and light of the Holy Spirit beam in his eyes. (Revelation 5:12.) Cf. New Testament notices of the look of our Lord—hew he looked with compassion, hew he "looked upon Peter" (Luke 22:61). This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Son 6:1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned him, that we may seek him with thee? The dialogue still continues, possibly because, as Delitzsch suggests, the effect of the dream which Shulamith narrates is not passed away in the morning. Under the influence of it she goes forth and meets the daughters of Jerusalem, who offer their assistance. But there is no necessity for this. The poetry merely demands that the idea of the dream should be still kept before the mind of the reader. The scene is still in the palace. The ladies playfully carry on the bride’s cue, and help her to pour out her feelings. The bridegroom, they know, is near at hand, and is coming to delight himself in his bride; but the bride has not yet drawn him back completely to her side. This is evident from the fact that there is no distress in the language of the bride. She is not complaining and crying out in agony under a sense of desertion; she is waiting for the return of her beloved, and so she calmly sings of his love and his perfect truthfulness, even though absent from her. He is where his perfect beauty and fragrance might well be. Son 6:2, Son 6:3 My beloved is gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth his flock among the lilies. In Ecclesiastes 2:5, Ecclesiastes 2:6 Solomon says, "I planted me vineyards; I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit; I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared." In Revelation 7:17 it is said, "The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be their Shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of water of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes." We can scarcely doubt that the meaning is—The bridegroom is not gone far; he is where he is congenially employed; where his pure and lovely nature finds that which is like itself—beauty and fragrance and innocence. It is his resort, and it corresponds with his perfection. Delitzsch thinks "thoughtfulness and depth of feeling are intended" (cf. Psalms 92:5). "His thoughts are very deep." But it would seem more fitting, in the lips of the bride, that she should dwell on the aspects of her beloved which correspond with her own feelings. She is one of the lilies. The king is coming into his garden, and I am ready to receive him. The shepherd among his flock. They are all like lilies, pure and beautiful. The bride has nothing but chaste thoughts of her husband: because she knows that he is hers, and she is his. Surely such language is not inaptly applied to spiritual uses. Tennyson’s lovely poem, ’St. Agnes’ Eve,’ has caught the spirit of Shulamith. A few of his lines will illustrate this— "The shadows of the convent towers Slant down the snowy sward, Still creeping with the creeping hours That lead me to my Lord. Make thou my spirit pure and clear As are the frosty skies, Or this first snowdrop of the year That in my bosom lies. He lifts me to the golden doors; The flashes come and go; All Heaven bursts her starry floors, And strews her lights below, And deepens on and up! the gates Roll back, and far within For me the heavenly Bridegroom waits, To make me pure of sin. The sabbaths of eternity, One sabbath deep and wide, A light upon the shining sea— The Bridegroom with his bride." Son 6:4-7 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Thy hair is as a flock of goats that lie along the side of Gilead. Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes which are come up from the washing, whereof every one hath twins, and none is bereaved among them. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind thy veil. The king is not far off. The bride knows that he is near. She prepares herself for him with words of love. He is coming among his "rosebud garden. of girls." His voice is heard as he approaches. And as he enters the chamber he bursts forth with lavish praises of his bride. Tirzah and Jerusalem, two of the most beautiful cities of the world, are taken as symbols of the surpassing beauty of the bride—doubtless also with an intended reference to the symbology of Scripture, where the people of God are compared throughout to a city. Tirzah was discovered by Robinson in 1852, on a height in the mountain range to the north of Nablus, under the name Tulluzah, high and beautiful, in a region of olive trees. The name itself signifies sweetness, which might be so employed even if there were no actual city so called. Jerusalem is said to have been "the perfection of beauty" (Psalms 48:2; Psalms 50:2; Lamentations 2:15). Cities are generally spoken of as females, as also nations. The Church is the city of God. The new Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb. If the prophets did not take their language from this Song of Solomon, then the phraseology and symbology which we find here must have been familiarly known and used among the people of Israel from the time of Solomon. The beauty of the bride is overwhelming, it is subduing and all-conquering, like a warrior host with flying banners going forth to victory. Solomon confesses that he is vanquished. This, of course, is the hyperbole of love, but it is full of significance to the spiritual mind. The Church of Christ in the presence and power of the Lord is irresistible. It is not until he appears that the bride is seen in her perfection. She hangs her head and complains while he is absent; but when he comes and reveals himself, delighting in his people, their beauty, which is a reflection of his, will shine forth as the sun forever and ever. The word which is employed, "terrible," is from the root "to be impetuous," "to press impetuously upon," "to infuse terror," LXX; ἀναπτεροῦν, "to make to start up," referring to the flash of the eyes, the overpowering brightness of the countenance. So the purity and excellence of the Church shall delight the Lord, and no earthly power shall be able to stand before it. Heaven and earth shall meet in the latter days. Wickedness shall fly before righteousness as a detbated host before a victorious army. Is there not something like a practical commentary on these words in the history of all great revivals of religion and eras of reformation? Are there not signs even now that the beauty of the Church is becoming more and more army-like, and bearing down opposition? The remainder of the description is little more than a repetition of what has gone before, with some differences. Mount Gilead is here simply Gilead. The flock of shorn sheep is here the flock of ewes with their young. Perhaps there is intended to be a special significance in the use of the same description. The bride is the same, and therefore the same terms apply to her; but she is more beautiful than ever in the eyes of the bridegroom. Is it not a delicate mode of saying, "Though my absence from thee has made thee complain for a while, thou art still the same to me"? There is scope here for variety of interpretation which there is no need to follow. Some would say the reference is to the state of the Church at different periods—as e.g. to the primitive Church in its simplicity and purity, to the Church of the empire in its splendour and growing dominion. The Jewish expositors apply it to the different stages in the history of Israel, "the congregation" being the bride, as under the first temple and under the second temple. Ibn Ezra, and indeed all expositors, recognize the reason for the repetition as in the sameness of affection. "The beloved repeats the same things here to show that it is still his own true bride to whom he speaks, the sameness in the features proving it." So the Targum. The flock of goats, the flock of ewes, the piece of pomegranate, all suggest the simple purity of country life in which the king found so much satisfaction, he is wrapt up in his northern beauty, and idolizes her. One cannot help thinking of the early Jewish Church coming forth from Galilee, when all spoke of the freshness and genuineness of a simple-hearted piety drawn forth by the preaching of the Son of Mary—the virgin-born Bridegroom whose bride was like the streams and flowers, the birds and flocks, of beautiful Galilee; a society of believing peasants untouched by the conventionalities of Judaea, and ready to respond to the grand mountain like earnestness and heavenly purity of the new Prophet, the Shepherd of Israel, "who feedeth his flock among the lilies." There is a correspondence in the early Church, before corruption crept in and sophistication obscured the simplicity of faith and life among Christians, to this description of the bride, the Lamb’s wife. There must be a return to that primitive ideal before there can be the rapturous joy of the Church which is promised. We are too much turned aside from the Bridegroom to false and worthless attractions which do not delight the Beloved One. When he sees his bride as he first saw her, he will renew his praises and lift her up to himself. Son 6:8, Son 6:9 There are three score queens, and four score concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. The account given us of Solomon’s harem in 1 Kings 11:3 represents the number as much larger. Is not that because the time referred to in the poem was early in the reign? The words are an echo of what we read in Proverbs 31:28 and Genesis 30:13. Perhaps the general meaning is merely to celebrate the surpassing beauty of the new bride. But there certainly is a special stress laid on her purity and innocence. There is no necessity to seek for any exact interpretation of the queens and concubines. They represent female beauty in its variety. The true Church is in closer relation to the Bridegroom than all the rest of the world. Even in the heathen and unconverted world there is a revelation of the Word, or, as the ancient Fathers of the Church said, a Λόγοςσπερματὶκος. He was then as light, though the darkness comprehended him not. The perfection of the true bride of the Lamb will be acknowledged even by those who are not professedly Christian. Son 6:10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible as an army with banners? This, of course, is the praise which comes from the lips of the queens and concubines, the ladies of the harem, the daughters of Jerusalem. The word rendered "looketh forth" is literally "bendeth forward," i.e. in order to look out or forth (cf. Psalms 14:2), LXX; ἐκκυπτοῦσα Venet; παρακυπτοῦσα (cf. James 1:25, "stooping down and looking into the Word as into well"). The idea seems to be that of a rising luminary, looking forth from the background, breaking through the shades of the garden, like the morning star appearing above the horizon (ὡςἑωσφόρος, Venetian) (cf. Isaiah 14:12, where the morning star is called הֶן שַׁחַר). The moon is generally יָדֵח, "yellow," but here לְבָנָה, "white," i.e. pale and sweet, as the lesser light, with true womanly delicacy and fairness; but the rest of the description, which plainly is added for the sake of the symbolical suggestiveness of the figures, removes all idea of mere weakness. Clear (or, bright) as the sun. And the word for "sun" is not, as usual, shemesh, but chammah, "heat," the warming light (Psalms 19:7; see Job 31:26; Isaiah 49:2). The fierce rays of the Eastern sun are terrible to those who encounter them. The glory of the Church is a glory overwhelming as against all that opposes it. The description is pure hyperbole as applied to a fair bride, referring to the blazing beauty of her face and adornments, but symbolically it has always been felt a precious contribution to religious language. Perhaps no sentence in the Old Testament has been more frequently on the lips of devout men, especially when they have been speaking of the victories of the truth and the glowing prospects of the Saviour’s kingdom. Son 6:11, Son 6:12 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded and the pomegranates were in flower. Or ever I was aware, my soul set me among the chariots of my princely people. There cannot he much doubt as to the meaning of these words. Taking them as put into the lips of the bride, and as intended to be a response to the lavish praises of the bridegroom, we may regard them as a modest confession that she had lost her heart immediately that she had seen King Solomon. She went down into her quiet garden life to occupy herself as usual with rustic labours and enjoyments, but the moment that her beloved approached she was carried away—her soul was as in a swift chariot. Delitzsch thinks that the words refer to what occurred after marriage. He supposes that on some occasion the king Look his bride with him on an excursion in his chariot to a plain called Etam. He refers to a description of such a place to be found in Josephus, ’Ant.,’ 8.7, 3, but the explanation is far fetched and improbable. The nut or walnut tree (Juglans regia, Linn.) came originally from Persia. The name is very similar in the Persian, AEthiopic, Arabic, and Syriac. One cannot help comparing the lovely simplicity of the bride’s description with the tender beauty of Goethe’s ’Herman and Dorothea.’ The main point is this, that she is not the mere captive of the king, taken, as was too often the case with Eastern monarchs, by violence into his harem; she was subdued by the power of love. It was love that raised her to the royal chariots of her people. She beholds in King Solomon the concentration and the acme of her people’s glory. He is the true Israel; she is the glory of him who is the glory of God. Son 6:13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. Shulem is the same as Shunem (see 1 Kings 1:3; 2 Kings 4:8; Joshua 19:18). Shulamite will, therefore, mean "lady of Shulem." It is the first occurrence of the name. It cannot be a pure proper name, says Delitzsch, because the article is attached to it. It is a name of descent. The LXX. has ἡΣοοναμῖτις, i.e. "she who is from Shunem." Abishag was exceedingly beautiful, and she came from the same district. It is the country in the tribe of Issachar, near to little Hermon, to the southeast of Carmel and south of Nain, southeast of Nazareth, southwest of Tabor. It is found at present under the name Sawlam, not far from the great plain of Jiszeal (now Zer’in), "which forms a convenient way of communication between Jordan and the seacoast, but is yet so hidden in the mountain range that the Talmud is silent concerning this Sulem, as it is concerning Nazareth." It is impossible to resist the impression of the fact that this part of Galilee so closely associated with our Lord and his ministry should be the native place of the bride. Delitzsch thinks that the Shulamite is on her way from the garden to the palace. That the words are addressed to her by the admiring ladies can scarcely be disputed; hence the "we" of the address. "The fourfold ’come back’ (or, ’turn’) entreats her earnestly, yea, with team, to return thither (that is, to the garden) with them once more, and for this purpose, that they might find delight in looking upon her." But Delitzsch is scarcely right in thinking that the garden of nuts to which the bride referred is the garden of the palace. She is, perhaps, turning to leave the company of ladies, Solomon himself beingamong them, as though she would escape from their gaze, which is too much for her in her simplicity, and the ladies, seeing her intention to leave them, call her back. Another view is that the word "return" is for "turn round;" that is, "Let us see thee dance, that we may admire the beauty of thy form and movements." This would explain the appropriateness of the bride’s reply in the latter haft of the verse. Moreover, the fourfold appeal is scarcely suitable if the bride was only slightly indicating her intention to leave. She would surely not leave hastily, seeing that Solomon is present. The request is not that she may remain, but that they may look upon her. It would be quite fitting in the mouth of lady companions. The whole is doubtless a poetic artifice, as before in the case of the dream, for the purpose of introducing the lovely description of her personal attractions. Plainly she is described as dancing or as if dancing. Delitzsch, however, thinks that the dance is only referred to by the ladies as a comparison; but in that case he certainly leaves unexplained the peculiarity of the description in So Son 7:1-5, which most naturally is a description of a dancing figure. Son 6:13 Why will ye look upon the Shulamite as upon the dance of Mahanaim? The Shulamite, in her perfect modesty and humility, not knowing how beautiful she really is, asks why it is that they wish still to gaze upon her, like those that gaze at the dance of Mahanaim, or why they wish her to dance. But at the same moment, with the complaisance of perfect amiability, begins to move—always a pleasure to a lovely maiden—thus filling them with admiration. Mahanaim came in later times to mean "angels," or the "heavenly host" (see Genesis 32:3), but here it is generally thought to be the name of a dance, perhaps one in which the inhabitants of Mahanaim excelled, or one in which angels or hosts were thought to engage. The old translators, the Syriac, Jerome, and the Venetian, render, "the dances of the camps" (choros castrarum, θίωσονστρατοπέδων), possibly a war dance or parade. The word, however, is in the dual. Delitzsch thinks the meaning is a dance as of angels, "only a step beyond the responsive song of the seraphim" (Isaiah 6:1-13.). Of course, there can be no objection to the association of angels with the bride, but there is no necessity for it. The word would be, no doubt, familiarly known in the age of Solomon. The sacred dances wore often referred to in Scripture. and there would be nothing degrading to the dignity of the bride in dancing before the ladies and her own husband. "After throwing aside her upper garment, so that she had only the light clothing of a shepherdess or vine dresser, Shulamith danced to and fro before the daughters of Jerusalem, and displayed all her attractions before them." Son 6:1-3 Dialogue between the bride and the daughters of Jerusalem. I. THE OF THE MAIDENS. The dream is past. The bridegroom is absent for a time, but the bride is not anxious; she knows where he is, and that he will soon return. Perhaps it was such a short absence which filled her thoughts before, and was the occasion of those narratives which are so dream-like, which recall so vividly reminiscences of dreams such as most men have probably experienced. The chorus again address the bride as "fairest among women." They recognize her beauty and graces. They do not see the bridegroom with her; they ask, "Whither is he gone?" They offer to seek him with her. So we sometimes ask others who have more Christian graces, more love of Christ, than we have, where we may find the Lord. We want to seek Christ with them; we ask for their prayers; we will join our prayers with theirs. II. THE ANSWER. 1. The bride knows where her beloved may be found. She has no doubts now, no anxieties, as she had in her dream. She answers without hesitation, "My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed [his flock] in the gardens, and to gather lilies." She invests her beloved with the ideal character of a shepherd, as she had done before (So Son 7:1 -51:7). We see that the words are not to be taken literally; he is no shepherd in the ordinary sense. He is said, indeed, to be feeding (his flock), but not in ordinary pastures. He is gone to his garden, a garden of costly spices; and he is gone to gather lilies, apparently for his bride. The bride never dwells on the wealth and magnificence of her royal lover as the chorus do. Such thoughts, perhaps, were to her oppressive rather than attractive; she loves to think of him as a shepherd, as one in her own condition in life. The grandeur of the king was dazzling to the country maiden. So the Christian loves to think of the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd. We know, indeed, that the kingdoms of this world are his; that he is King of kings and Lord of lords; that he is the Word who in the beginning was with God, and himself was God; that all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. We know that he will come again in majesty and great glory to judge the quick and the dead. But when our souls are dazzled by the contemplation of his glory; when we shrink, as sinful men must shrink, from the thought of the great white throne and him that sitteth on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven flee away (Revelation 20:11);—it is a relief then to our weakness to remember that the great King humbled himself to our low estate, that he was made as one of us, that he shared all our human infirmities, sin only excepted; that he who is the Life of the world humbled himself for us unto death, even the death of the cross. And of all the titles by which he has been pleased to make himself known to his people, there is none so full of comfort as that of the Shepherd, the good Shepherd, who calls his sheep by name, who guides them and feeds them, who knows his own and his own know him, who once laid down his life for the sheep. Now he feeds them in his garden, the garden enclosed (So Son 7:1 -54:12), which is the Church, among the beds of spices, which are the fruit of the Spirit. There he gathers the lilies one by one, the souls of his redeemed, the souls which he has tended and cared for, and glorified with a beauty of holiness which is a faint reflection of his own heavenly beauty. Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of those precious lilies. He gathers them one by one when they have grown into that spiritual beauty for which he planted them at the first, and carries them into a better garden, the true Eden, the Paradise of God, there to blossom into purer and holier beauty. 2. She is wholly his. "I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he that feedeth [his flock] among the lilies." She repeats the happy assurance of So Son 2:16, only she inverts the order of the clauses, and adds the description. "He is feeding his flock among the lilies: but I am his, and he is mine." There is no jealousy, no doubt now, as there seemed to be when she dreamed of his absence. The shepherd is her shepherd, the lilies are for her, she is his. She thinks first now of her gift to the bridegroom. In So Son 2:10 she put his gift first. He had given his heart to her in the first happy days of their young love; and that gift had won from her the responsive gift of her affection. She knew now that her heart was wholly his; she delights in owning it. And she was sure of his affection. His heart was wholly hers. "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). It is the love of Christ manifested in his blessed life and precious death, revealed into the believer’s heart by the power of the Holy Spirit,—it is that constraining love which draws forth from our cold and selfish natures that measure of love, real and true, though unworthy and intermittent, with which the Christian man regards the Lord. At first we are more sure of his love than of ours. He loved us, that is certain; the cross is the convincing proof. But we are not sure, alas! that we are returning his love. We have learned from long and sad experience to doubt these selfish hearts of ours; we are afraid that there is no real love in them, but only excited feeling, only transitory emotion. But if by his grace we persevere in the life of prayer and faith, little by little his love given to us, manifested in our souls, draws forth the response of earnest love from us; little by little we begin to hope (oh, how earnestly!) that we may be able at last to say with St. Peter, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." But to say that, with the knowledge that his eye is on us, that he is reading our heart, involves much awe, much heart searching, as well as much hope, much peace. We can only pray that "the God of hope may fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:13). And if that love, though weak, as, alas! it must be, is yet real, we may make the bride’s words our own: "I am my Beloved’s; I belong to him. My heart is his; I am giving it to him; and he, blessed be his holy Name, is helping me to give it by first giving himself to me. I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine." Therefore the Christian soul may say, "I hope one day to see him face to face, and to be with him where he feedeth his flock among the lilies of Paradise." Son 6:4-9 The bridegroom’s praise of the bride. I. RENEWED OF HER GRACES. 1. General praise of her beauty. Her beauty is compared to the beauty of Tirzah or Jerusalem. She is beautiful as Tirzah, which word means "grace" or "beauty;" comely as Jerusalem, the habitation or foundation of peace. The bridegroom mentions Tirzah as well as Jerusalem, which seems to imply that the song was written before the division of the kingdom. The bride is beautiful as Tirzah was to the inhabitants of Northern Palestine—a fair city in a fertile country, deriving its name from the attractive graces of the surrounding scenery. She is comely as Jerusalem was to every loyal Israelite. "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King;" "Walk about Zion," the psalmist continues, "and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following" (Psalms 48:2, Psalms 48:12, Psalms 48:13). Zion was to the Israelites "the perfection of beauty" (Psalms 50:2; Lamentations 2:15). The exiles in the days of the Captivity sang in plaintive strains, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy" (Psalms 137:5, Psalms 137:6). The great delight in returning from their long captivity wan to think, "Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem." "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," they would say: "they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces" (Psalms 122:2, Psalms 122:6, Psalms 122:7). And what Jerusalem was to the Israelites, that the Church is to the heavenly Bridegroom. Her salvation was "the joy set before him," for which "he endured the cross, despising the shame" (Hebrews 12:2). He tells her towers; for "the Lord knoweth them that are his." He knows every living stone of the spiritual temple, the Church, which he hath built upon theRock of ages. He never forgets her. He intercedes for her, and is preparing a place for her, that hereafter "the nations of them which are saved may walk in the light of her" (Revelation 21:24). He prays now for her peace, and giveth her his peace—"the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." She is beautiful with the reflection of his perfect beauty, He will cleanse and purify her, and at the last present her to himself a glorious Church. And if the Church is fair in the Bridegroom’s eyes, so in a degree is each converted and sanctified soul; in each such soul he sees something of that beauty of holiness which comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God. For they who love him, and seek to live in that fellowship which is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, must, while they "behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord, be changed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18). And if the dear Lord is pleased with the poor holiness of his people, how earnestly we ought to strive to purge ourselves from all pollution of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God! Earthly beauty is but a poor endowment; it soon fades and passes away. The inner beauty of a holy soul abides and increases continually, and is very precious and sacred; for such fair souls, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, shall see the King in his beauty, and dwell in the light of the golden city. 2. She is terrible as an army with banners. The bride is beautiful not only for her attractive gentleness; she has a queenly dignity that could repel any presumptuous advances. The beauty of the Church is a severe beauty, like the martial beauty of a bannered host. For, indeed, the Church is an army, the army of the living God; the banner of the cross shines in the van, advancing ever forward. "The royal banners forward go, The cross shines forth in mystic glow." That bannered host is terrible to the enemy. "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness" (Ephesians 6:12). "They march unseen, That sacred band, in serried ranks arrayed, Each cheering on his brother to the fight. The Spirit sword flashes in each right hand; The shield of faith protects each steadfast breast; The red cross banner glitters in their van, As they press ever forwards; breathing all The selfsame prayer, the selfsame Presence high Abiding in each heart, the selfsame hope, The glory crown in heaven, sustaining all." Each Christian soul has its place in that vast army; each is a sworn soldier of the cross; each such soul is terrible to the enemy, because Christ is the strength of his people, and they are more than conquerors through him who loved them. "Satan trembles when he sees The humblest saint upon his knees." Then we must pray for grace to follow the banner of the cross with loyal heart and steadfast purpose, that our service may be acceptable to the Captain of our salvation, and pleasing in his sight, as a bannered host marshalled and ordered, as each noble warrior well equipped and disciplined, is a sight that gives pleasure and joyful pride to the commander. 3. The bridegroom repeats the praises of So Mark 4:1-6. But first he says, "Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me." He had praised her eyes again and again; they were as doves. Now he says, in the tenderness of a great love, "they have overcome me." We may compare the Lord’s gracious wonder at the faith of the centurion (Luke 7:9). He condescended to "marvel at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." The bridegroom goes on to praise the various features of the bride’s beauty, he had done so already in the love of their first espousals. His affection continues unabated; he repeats the same praises in the same words. The heavenly Bridegroom loves his bride the Church with "an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). The terms of affection which are bestowed in the Old Testament upon the ancient Jewish Church are repeated in the New Testament, and applied to the Christian Church, the Israel of God. Thus St. Peter (1 Peter 2:9) calls Christians "a chosen generation;" the same title is given in the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 43:20) to the Jewish people. St. Peter calls Christians "a royal priesthood;" in Exodus 19:6 the Israelites are called "a kingdom of priests". St. Peter calls Christians "a holy nation;" the same thing is said of the Israelites in Exodus 19:6. St. Peter describes Christians as "a peculiar people;" his words represent Deuteronomy 7:6, translated in our old version "a special people," in the new version, "a peculiar people." He applies to the Christian Church the words which the Prophet Hosea had used of the Jews, "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:10; Hosea 2:23). The Lord Jesus loves his Church with a love that changes not. Almost at the beginning of the New Testament stands the holy promise, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins;" and almost at the end we read the blessed words, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Each faithful Christian may trust his Saviour’s love, for it is written, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee;" and again, "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). II. OF THE BRIDE WITH OTHERS. 1. They are many. David had had sixteen wives. Solomon had early followed that unhappy example; already he had, it seems, "three score queens, and four score concubines." He had transgressed the commandment of Deu 17:17, where it is said of any future king, "Neither shall he multiply wives unto himself, that his heart turn not away." Solomon, alas! broke the commandment of God, and incurred the awful peril denounced against disobedience. "He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods" (1 Kings 11:3, 1 Kings 11:4). Now he was young but even in his youth the evil desire was strong within him. His love for the pure country maiden might have saved him; for a time, perhaps, it did check his sensual passions. But, alas! if it was so, the evil spirit that had been cast out soon returned, and brought with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and the last state was worse than the first (Matthew 12:43-45). 2. She is one alone, "One is she, my dove, my undefiled; one is she to her mother; the choice one is she to her that bare her." Such is the literal rendering of the touching words. The bride was an only daughter; she was the joy and darling of her mother. The good daughter makes a good wife. She was the bridegroom’s dove, his undefiled one, stud she stood alone in his affections; no other came near to her. So good was she and so lovely in character as well as in person, that even those who might hate been expected to regard her with envy praised her and called her blessed. The luxurious monarch seems to have a glimpse of the blessedness of purity; he seems almost to feel that "to love one maiden and to cleave to her" is the ideal of human love. Alas! "his goodness was as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it passed away" (Hosea 6:4) The evil spirit of sensuality returned. When he was old, his wives turned away his heart; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and built high places for the worship of idols in the hill that is before Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:4, 1 Kings 11:6, 1 Kings 11:7). How earnestly we ought to strive to retain in our souls those happy feelings, those aspirations after purity and holiness which God sends from time to time, like angels’ visits, into our hearts! They can only be fixed and wrought into our characters by immediate action. In themselves they are transitory, and rapidly pass away. But hold them firm, make them the basis of real effort, the beginning and occasion of the healthy discipline of self-denial,—then God will help us to keep them alive in our souls; the little seed will grow till it becomes a great tree; the little leaven will spread through the whole life with its quickening powers. Very precious are those moments of holy emotion; very solemn, too, for they involve a great responsibility. To let them go is perilous exceedingly, to use them aright brings a priceless blessing. Son 6:10-13 Conversation between the chorus and the bride. I. ADDRESS OF THE CHORUS. 1. The question. "Who is she?" This question occurs three times in the song. In So Son 3:6 it is asked apparently by a chorus of young men, the friends of the bridegroom; here and in So Son 8:5 it seems to be put into the mouth of the chorus of maidens, the daughters of Jerusalem. It is an expression of admiration. The maidens meet the bride after an interval, and are startled by her surpassing beauty, at once graceful and majestic. Her happy love has shed a new grace around her; she is clothed in queenly attire; it is a vision of rare loveliness. It is the love of Christ which gives the Church whatever beauty she possesses. Christ’s love for her, drawing forth her responsive love for him, gives her whatever graces she may possess. She is his creation. He built his Church upon the rock; all that she is, and all that she has, comes only from his gift. 2. The description. She looks forth as the dawn. The bride’s sudden appearance is like the early dawn, coming forth in its beauty, tinging sky and clouds with rosy light. She is fair as the moon, clear and pure as the sun (poetical words are used here, as in Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 30:26; the moon is the white, the sun the hot luminary); and the comparison of Son 8:4 is repeated; in her queenly majesty she is terrible, awe-inspiring, as a bannered host. Christ is the Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16); He is the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2); He is the true Light, the Light of the world. The true Light lighteth every man (John 1:9); and they who believe in the Light, and walk as children of light, reflect something of its brightness; so that the Lord, in his condescending love, says of them, "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14); and so St. Paul says of his Philippian converts that "ye shine as lights [luminaries] in the world" (Philippians 2:15). "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." Christians must strive, by his grace and the illumination of his Spirit, to walk always in the light, as he is in the light, that so they may have fellowship with one another in the light of holy love, and that the blood of Jesus Christ may cleanse them continually from all sin, making their souls white and clear in the transparent truth of that purity in heart which must, by the Saviour’s compassionate mercy, belong to them who shall see God (Matthew 5:8). II. ANSWER OF THE BRIDE. 1. Her lowliness. The maidens praise her beauty and stateliness; she reminds them of her former low estate. She seems to be looking back to the hour of her first meeting with the bridegroom. She had no thought, country maiden as she was, of the elevation that awaited her. She was engaged in her ordinary occupations. She had gone down into the garden to tend it and to watch the budding of the fruit trees; there she first saw the king. Whatever graces the Church possesses come from the favour of the heavenly Bridegroom. "Through him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:18, Ephesians 2:19). The Gentiles were strangers and foreigners; they knew not the King; they were not looking for him. As the Lord God called Adam and Eve when they were hiding themselves among the trees of the garden, so the Lord called the Gentiles by the mission of his apostles. In the infancy of the human race it was the protevangel, the promise of the Seed of the woman who shall bruise the serpent’s head, that first shed light upon the gloom of sin and misery. And in the fulness of time it was the Lord’s gracious mission, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" that first called the Gentiles into the city of God. Till he calls us we are like the bride in the song, immersed in worldly pursuits and earthly cares; he brings us into the new Jerusalem and makes us fellow citizens with the saints. We must remember always that "By the grace of God I am what I am;" that whatever we may have done of good or right, it was "Not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8). The bride was poor in this world’s goods; we Christians must be "poor in spirit." That holy poverty, that sense of our own helplessness and need of the Saviour, is very blessed; it has the first place in the Beatitudes. 2. Her exaltation. "I knew not," she says, "my soul made me the chariots of my people, a princely [people]." She uses a military figure, perhaps suggested by the words twice addressed to her in this chapter, "Terrible as an army with banners." In a sense she accepts the metaphor. Elijah and Elisha had been severally called "the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof" (2 Kings 2:12; 2 Kings 13:14). So now the bride had been raised to a lofty position, and was awe-inspiring in her majesty, like a bannered host, or the chariots of a princely people. Her soul, she says, had made her this; she means her soups love for the bridegroom, whom she so often describes as "him whom my soul loveth" (So Son 1:7; Son 3:1, Son 3:2, Son 3:3, Son 3:4). The king saw her and loved her. His love won her innocent heart; and that pure, artless love of hers, the love which filled her soul, the seat of the affections, had lifted her up into the very highest place in the affections of the king, so that now in her queenly majesty she was not only fair as the moon, but awe-inspiring as a bannered host, as the war chariots of a princely people. So it is love that makes one man better than another in the sight of God; not riches, or refinement, or learning, but love. There is, as it were, a hierarchy of love in the universe. Good men love, angels love more, but God is love—the infinite, everlasting Love. "He prayeth best who loveth best." He is nearest to God who by his Spirit has learned the great grace of love. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The love of Christ draws forth the love of his people. Their love, given in response to his most holy love, lifts them nearer the King; it makes them take up the cross and follow him as his faithful soldiers, quitting themselves like men in the good fight of faith; it makes them terrible to the powers of evil as a bannered host, as the war chariots of iron were in the days of the Judges (Judges 1:19; Judges 4:3). IIL SHORT THE . 1. Request of the chorus. The bride retires; the maidens of the chorus eagerly call her back; they desire to look again upon her beauty. They call her for the first and only time, "O Shulamite!" What is the meaning of the word? Is it equivalent to Shunamite? Was the bride a native of Shuuem in the Plain of Esdraelon, where Elisha afterwards was wont to sojourn (2 Kings 4:8-12)? And if so, can it be that the historical basis of the song is the love of Solomon for Abishag the fair Shunamite of 1 Kings 1:3? Or, again, is it possible, as some scholars have suggested, that the Hebrew name Shula-mith may have been chosen as a near approach to the feminine form (Shelomith) of Solomon (Shelomoh), signifying the bride’s relationship.to the great monarch? But the bride seems to belong to the Lebanon district; and wives were not then accustomed to take their husband’s name. Again, Shulamith may possibly have been the original name of the maiden, though it occurs nowhere else as a proper name. It is enough for our purpose that the word suggests the meaning "peaceful;" the Vulgate rendering is pacifica. The bride is modest and quiet, she is peaceful; such should Christians be. 2. Question of the bride. She repeats the name given to her by the chorus, and asks, "What will ye see in the Shulamite?" The question is asked in modesty. The last clause of the verse, whether taken as part of the question or as the answer of the chorus, is exceedingly difficult. The word translated "company" is the second part of Abel-meholah ("the meadow of the dance"), the home of Elisha (1 Kings 19:16). The Hebrew for "two armies" may be the name of the town in Gilead, "Mahanaim," so called by Jacob when "the angels of God met him" there (Genesis 32:2). Hence the translation of the Revised Version, "Why will ye look upon the Shulamite as upon the dance of Mahanaim?" as if the chorus was inviting the bride to dance some stately measure called from the Gileadite town. Some commentators who take this view understand the bride’s words as a modest refusal; others, that she complies with their request. But the second Hebrew word has the definite article, which would scarcely be used here if it were the name of the city. And if the first word must mean "dance," as it elsewhere does, may it not be taken in connection with the preceding titles of praise, "the bannered host" and "the chariots of a princely people," as a martial dance, or as the stately and well ordered evolutions of two bands of warriors? This interpretation, which is suggested with much doubt, may perhaps be regarded as yielding a more suitable explanation than that of the dance, though this last is the view of many accomplished scholars. The chorus looks upon the bride with the interest and delight with which they would watch the evolutions of two hosts with banners and chariots. Warlike images occur several times in the song (So 1 Kings 1:9; 1 Kings 6:4, 1 Kings 6:10, 1 Kings 6:12). To the Christian the words recall the onward march of the army of the soldiers of the cross with the attendant escort of angels, the two hosts (Mahanaim) of Genesis 32:2. For the angels of God still, as in the times of old, encamp round about them that fear him to deliver them (Psalms 34:7). And still, if our eyes were opened, we should see, as the servant of Elisha once saw, "chariots and horses of fire round about" the faithful. "They that be with us are more than they that be with" the enemy (2 Kings 6:16, 2 Kings 6:17). BY S. CONWAY Son 6:1-3 Earnest inquirers after Christ. The conversation still goes on between her who has lost her beloved and the daughters of Jerusalem. She has just poured out her heart to them in the description of him whom her soul so loved, and these verses give their response. We learn— I. THAT THERE IS A IN THE SOUL THAT SEEKS CHRIST. (Cf. Son 6:1," O thou fairest among women.") It is not merely that Christ sees this loveliness, we know he does; but others see it likewise. It is not the beloved who speaks here, but the daughters of Jerusalem. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Corinthians 7:11, where are set forth some of those graces of character and conduct which are found in the seeking soul.) And that humility, tenderness of conscience, zeal, devoutness, holy desire, and gentleness of spirit which accompany such seeking of Christ—how beautiful these things are! And, like all real beauty, there is no self-consciousness in it, but rather such soul mourns that it is so little like what Christ would have it be. II. IT WILL WIN AND HELP, WHICH ONCE IT DID NOT POSSESS. At the beginning of this song it is plain that the maiden who speaks did not have the sympathy but rather the contempt,, of the daughters of Jerusalem (cf. So Son 1:5, Son 1:8). But now all that is altered. They are won to her love. Great love to Christ will blessedly infect those about us. We can hardly live with such without coming under the power of its sweet and sacred contagion. Cf. Jethro, "We will go with you, for we see that the Lord hath blessed you." See, at the Crucifixion, how Joseph of Arimathaea, Nicodemus, the centurion, and others ceased from their cold neutrality or open opposition, and showed that they felt the power of Christ’s love. III. IT WILL BECOME THE WISE OF OTHERS. This inquiry of Son 6:1 had its fulfilment when Christ lay in the tomb. Those who sought him mourned, but found him not. Cf. Christ’s words concerning his absence, "Ye shall have sorrow, but your sorrow shall be. turned into joy. Also Mark 2:20. And the reply of Mar 2:2 had part fulfilment at that same period. Cf. "This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). Yes, the Beloved had gone down into his garden (Mark 2:2). But we may also understand by the garden his Church. Arid thus the soul we are contemplating instructs others. She tells them: 1. Where Christ is to be found. In his garden, the place he has chosen, separated, cultivated, beautified, and whither he loves to resort. And: 2. What he delights in there. The spices—the fragrant graces of regenerated souls, the frankincense of their worship and prayers. The fruits on which he feeds—the holy lives, the manifestation of his people’s faith and love. The lilies—the pure, meek, and lowly souls that spring and grow there. 3. What he does there. He "feeds" there. "He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." As his "meat and drink" when here on earth was "to do the will of" the Father, now his sustenance is those fruits of the Spirit which abound in his true Church. And he "gathers lilies." "He shall gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom" (Isaiah 40:1-31.). Whenever a pure and holy soul, like those of children and of saints, is transplanted from the earthly garden to the heavenly, that is the gathering of the lilies. "O death, where is thy sting?" Thus doth the soul that loves Christ instruct others. IV. GAINS THE OBJECT OF ITS SEARCH. (Mark 2:3.) "I am my Beloved’s... mine." It is the declaration of holy rapture in the consciousness of Christ’s love. They that seek him shall find him. There may be, there are, seasons when we fear we have lost him, but they shall surely be succeeded by such blessed seasons when the soul shall sing in her joy, "My Beloved is mine," etc. (Mark 2:3).—S.C. Son 6:4-10 and Son 7:1-9 The friendship of the world. Those who take the literal and historic view of this song see here a repetition of Solomon’s attempts to bend to his will the maiden whom he sought to win. It is a repetition of So Son 4:1-5. And. in the extravagance of his flattery, his mention of her terribleness, his telling of his many queens and concubines, his huge harem, all of whom he says he will set aside for her—all this is like what he would say. Now, it all might be, as it generally has been, taken allegorically, as we have taken it in So Son 4:1-5, and as setting forth Christ’s estimate of his Church. But here the representations are yet more extravagant and even gross, so that we prefer to take them as telling of that which is evil rather than good; as the language, not of Christ, but of the world, his foe, in attempting to win from him those who are his. Let it, then, teach us concerning this friendship of the world— I. IS EVER ONE OF ITS FORMS. It is compelled to adopt this in order to hide away the fatal issue of its friendship. Like as the vampire is said to fan its victim with its wings, soothing and stupefying it so that it may the more surely destroy it, thus the world soothes and sends asleep by its flatteries the soul it would destroy. II. THIS HAS MARKED . 1. It is extravagant. Of what is here said in the verses selected concerning her of whom they speak. How monstrous are the representations as addressed to any maiden! And are not the conceits the world engenders in men’s souls of this order? 2. It is always fearful of losing its prey. (Son 4:4, "Terrible as an army;" also Son 4:10.) These expressions seem to indicate consciousness that the soul was as yet anything but fully won. 3. Has no originality. It says the same things over and over again. See about her "hair," her "teeth," her "cheeks" (Son 4:5, Son 4:6, Son 4:7; cf. So Son 4:1-5). And still every poor fool that the world successfully flatters is plied with the same worn-out arguments, and, alas! yields to them. 4. Sensuous and sensual. (Cf. Son 4:8 and So Son 7:1-9.) The baser instincts are the world’s happy hunting grounds. It knows that it can get a response there when there is none elsewhere. 5. Ruthless and cruel. (Son 4:9.) The flatterer professes, but let all such professions be doubted vehemently—that he would sacrifice all the rest for her whom he would now win. For her, the "dove," whom he, the hawk, would devour, the three score queens and the four score concubines and the virgins without number (Son 4:8) should all be set aside and lose favour. Anything, no matter how unjust, so Solomon may please his sensual phantasy. They who are ruthless in winning will be ruthless when they have won (cf. poor Anne Boleyn). Oh, the all-devouring world! Its "words are smoother than butter," but "the poison of asps is under its lips." III. TRUE LOVE WILL REJECT IT. Such love is the Ithuriel-like spear which detects at once what it is. So this maiden, type of the redeemed soul, will have none of it (cf. So Son 7:10). And here is suggested—what, indeed, is the theme of the whole song—the invincible strength of the true love of Christ in the soul. Let us have that, and no flatteries or blandishments of the world, nor its fierce frowns either, shall seduce us from him whose we are and whose we hope ever to be. Such love will he "terrible," must be so, to all who would come against it. Christ’s love to us is so infinite that, therefore, nothing less than these many dread words of his about the everlasting fire can serve to tell of his wrath against that and those who would destroy us for whom he died. And if we love him as we should, we shall give no quarter to sin; it will be to us "the abominable thing which I hate," even as to him. Oh, may this love dwell in us richly and forevermore!—S.C. Verse 10-ch. 7:9 How souls come into perilous places. "Or ever I was aware." This section contains—so the literalists say—the account of the speaker’s coming to Solomon’s palace. She relates how she met the king’s court (Son 7:11). She was dwelling at home, and occupied in her customary rural labours, when Solomon, on a pleasure tour (So Son 3:6, etc.), came into the neighbourhood of her town, Engedi. There the ladies of the court saw her, and were greatly struck with her beauty (Son 7:10). Bewildered, she would have fled (Son 7:12, Son 7:13), but thought the royal chariots were those of the nobles of her country (Son 7:12). The ladies of the court beg her to return (Son 7:13), and when she asks what they want of her (Son 7:13), they request, and she consents, that she will dance before them, as the maidens of her country were wont to do. Thus Solomon sees her, and is enraptured with her, and begins to praise her in his gross way from her feet upwards (So Son 7:2-9; Muller, in loc.) as he had seen her in dancing. And he seems to have brought her to Jerusalem and to his palace there, where she relates all this. Such appears to be the history on which this song is founded. It is likely, natural, and enables us, whilst still regarding it allegorically, to avoid assigning to Christ language and conduct which far more befit such a one as Solomon was. From the narrative as above given we may learn that— I. NO PLACES ARE FREE FROM PERIL. This maiden is represented as at home and occupied in her usual and proper employ, when suddenly all happened as is here told. And what places are there in which the world, and Satan, do not seek the soul’s harm? At home, in our lawful calling, in the Church, everywhere. II. THOSE WHOM THE WORLD HAS ARE USED TO ENSNARE OTHERS. The women of Solomon’s court are represented as actively engaged in trying to secure this maiden for him. It is a true picture of how worldly souls try to make others as themselves. III. HAVE OFTEN AS HURTFUL AS SINS. "Evil is wrought By want of thought As well as want of heart." It was so here. There was mistake as to who the people were; as to the motive of the request made her; in not at once escaping; in yielding to their requests. It does seem very hard that when there is no intention of evil, evil should yet come, and often so terribly (cf. 1 Kings 13:11, etc.). But it is that we may learn by our mistakes. We learn by nothing so well, and they are never suffered to have irreparable consequences. IV. THE PERIL OF WITH FOES, Had she who is told of here fled away as she intended, none of her after trial would hate followed. To hold converse with a spiritual enemy is next to giving up the keys of the fortress. See how prompt our Lord was in repelling the suggestions of the tempter. V. THOUGH WE FALL WE SHALL NOT BE UTTERLY CAST DOWN. The tempter in this history was baffled after all. She whom he tried so much kept her faith and love. The soul that loves Christ may wander and fall, but shall assuredly be brought back. "He restoreth my soul." Faithful love will soon reassert its power.—S.C. BY J.D. DAVIES Son 6:1-3 Successful quest after the chief good. The inquirer has taken a step in advance. Awhile he asked, "What is there in Jesus that makes him so attractive?" To this question the loving disciple had responded. He had answered the question fully. He had given a full description of the sinner’s Friend. He had testified to the worth and excellence of the heavenly King. And now the inquirer asks further, "Where may I find this gracious Friend? My heart craves the good which this Friend alone can bestow. I fain would have him too. Tell me where I may find him." I. HERE IS A SEARCH FOR JESUS. 1. Spiritual life and joy in one attract others. Genuine piety acts like a magnetic charm. A well kept garden, stocked with fragrant flowers, has strong attractions for a thousand men, and the fragrant graces of true piety have a like fascination. If "a thing of beauty is a joy forever," the life of a true Christian, being of all things the most beautiful, is an abiding joy. There is nothing so capable of manifesting beauty as character. If all Christians were as gracious and loving as they might be, what a benign effect would this have on the ungodly! This is Christ’s method for propagating his gospel. "I am glorified in them." By which he meant to say, "All the charm of my character and all the fruit of my redemption shall be seen in the lives of my disciples." This will win the world’s attention. 2. Christian Churches are the objects of the world’s respect. This is not true of every community that styles itself a Church. But every true Church commands the respect and homage of mankind. And as a Church is simply an assemblage of individuals, a genuine Christian has a similar influence over men. The bride of Christ is here addressed as "the fairest among women." Purity and magnanimity of character command universal respect. Prejudiced men may malign and slander consistent Christians; they may envy their high attainments; yet in their heart of hearts they do them homage. They crave a good man’s benediction. 3. Active search is needful if we would find Christ. It is quite true that Jesus seeks the sinner. He came to "seek the lost." This first desire to have the friendship of the Beloved has been awakened in the heart by the good Spirit of Christ. Nevertheless, there is a part we must perform, or we shall not gain success. We must strive to enter into the kingdom, or the portals will not open. The salvation of the soul is not to be attained by indolent passivity. There must be search, exertion, intense effort. We must break away from old companions. We must forego former indulgences. We must gain knowledge of Christ. We must search the Scriptures. We must be much in prayer. We must watch the stratagems of the tempter. We must seek if we would find. 4. To find Christ it is best to have an experienced guide. "That we may seek him with thee." The man who has found Christ, and knows well all the favourite haunts of Christ, is the best guide for others. No qualification in a guide is so good as personal experience. Nothing can take its place. No titles, no diplomas, no amount of intellectual learning, will take the place of experience. The pilot who has navigated a hundred ships through the rocky straits, though he may not be able to read a word in any language, is the best guide to bring us safely into port. It is a foolish act to refuse the practical counsels of faithful Christians. A learned man once accounted for his eminent acquisitions by the fact that he had never hesitated to ask questions respecting the unknown. To find Christ is eternal life, therefore let us use every wise measure in order to gain so great a boon. II. COUNSEL. "My beloved is gone down into his garden." 1. Here is confident assurance upon the matter. On the part of a real Christian there is no doubt where Christ can be found. His knowledge is clear, for it is well founded. As surely as men know in what part of the heavens the sun will rise or will set, so the friend of Jesus knows where he can be found. So he speaks in no doubtful tones. There is no peradventure. "My Beloved is gone down into his garden." There he had always found the Saviour, when devoutly he had sought him. For "his delights are with the children of men." And his gracious promise to ’his Church has never been broken, "Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them." 2. In the society of living and fruitful saints Jesus will be found. He has gone "to the beds of spices." However imperfect and insipid our graces seem to ourselves, Jesus finds in them a sweet savour. The organ through which Jesus discovers these and enjoys their fragrance and sweetness, is far more highly developed in him than in us. To his sensitive nature there is a fine aroma in our lowliness and patience, in our love and praise, which we had not suspected. Nor do the sweetest songs of angels attract him so much as the first lispings of a penitent’s prayer. The nearer we get to Jesus the richer joy do we attain. There is a rare delicacy in the gladness, easier felt than described. So in our fresh passionate love, and in our simple zeal, and in our childlike trust, Jesus finds profoundest satisfaction. In the midst of such virgin souls he delights to dwell. These hold him, and will not let him go. What spice beds are to every lover of innocent pleasure, the piety of true saints is to Jesus. Near such he may at any time be found. If any man longs to find the Saviour, he will find him in the vicinity of genuine believers. He is gone to the "beds of spices," perchance to some bedside, where deep-rooted love is blossoming and bearing fruit. 3. Purity of Inert wins Christ’s presence. He is gone "to gather lilies." Using Oriental language to convey heavenly truth, he is described as a Shepherd who feeds his flock "among the lilies," In the former chapter we read, "His lips are like lilies." To express his fondness for purity, he portrays his bride as "a lily among thorns," In the use of all such language he utters his strong affection for that which is pure in moral character. If he stoops in his pity to save a polluted sinner, he at the same time makes it clear that he loathes and abhors sin. His companions shall be spiritual virgins. Until a man is newborn he cannot see the kingdom of heaven, much less can he see the King. Purity of life may not yet be reached, but if in the central heart the purpose and firm resolve be for purity, then Jesus will soon be found. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." III. . "I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine." This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Son 7:1 How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, O prince’s daughter! The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. To the ladies who are looking on the bride appears simply noble and royal. The word naudhib which is used, translated "prince’s daughter," means "noble in disposition," and so in birth and rank, as in 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalms 113:8; so in So 6:12, "the princely people." The description, which is perfectly chaste, is intended to bring before the eye the lithe and beautiful movements of an elegant ,lancer; the bendings of the body, full of activity and grace, are compared to the swinging to and fro of jewelled ornaments made in chains. The cunning workman or artist is one who is master of that which abides beautiful. אָמָּן, like, יָמִין, "whose truthful work can be trusted." The description passes from the thighs or loins to the middle part of the body, because in the mode of dancing prevailing in the East the breast and the body, are raised, and the outlines of the form appear through the clothing, which is of a light texture. We must not expect to find a symbolical meaning for all the details of such a description. The general intention is to set forth the beauty and glory of the bride. The Church of Christ is most delightful in his sight when it is most full of activity and life, and every portion of it is called forth into manifest excellence. "Arise, shine," is the invitation addressed to the whole Church, "shake thyself from the dust," "put on thy beautiful garments," be ready for thy Lord. Son 7:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, wherein no mingled wine is wanting: thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. It must be remembered that ladies are speaking of one who is in the ladies’ apartment. There is nettling indelicate in the description, though it is scarcely Western. The "round goblet," or basin, with mixed wine, i.e. wine with water or snow mixed with it, is intended to convey the idea of the shape of the lovely body with its flesh colour appearing through the semitransparent clothing, and moving gracefully like the diluted wine in the glass goblet. The navel is referred to simply as the center of the body, which it is in infants, and nearly so in adults. Perhaps Delitzsch is right in thinking that there may be an attempt to describe the navel itself as like the whirling hollow of water in a basin. In the latter part of the verse the shape of the body is undoubtedly intended. "To the present day winnowed and sifted corn is piled up in great heaps of symmetrical, half-spherical form, which are then frequently stuck over with things that move in the wind, for the purpose of protecting them against birds. The appearance of such heaps of wheat," says Wetstein, "which one may see in long parallel rows on the threshing floors of a village, is very pleasing to a peasant; and the comparison of the song every Arabian will regard as beautiful." According to the Moslem Sunnas, the colour of wheat was that of Adam. The white is a subdued white, denoting both perfect spotlessness and the purity of health. The smooth, round, fair body of the maiden is seen to advantage in the varied movements of the dance. Son 7:3 Thy two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe. So in So Son 4:5; but there the addition occurs, "which feed among the lilies." This is omitted here, perhaps, only because lilies are just before spoken of. The description is now in the lips of the ladies; before it was uttered by the king himself. Son 7:4 Thy neck is like the tower of ivory; thine eyes are as the pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim; thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. This is plainly a partial repetition of the king’s description. The ivory tower was perhaps a tower well known, covered with ivory tablets, slender in structure, dazzlingly white in appearance, imposing and captivating. No doubt in the lips of the court ladies it is intended that this echo of the royal bridegroom’s praises shall be grateful to him. Heshbon is situated some five and a half hours east of the northern points of the Dead Sea, on an extensive, undulating, fruitful, high table-land, with a far-reaching prospect. "The comparison of the eyes to a pool means either their glistening like a water-mirror or their being lovely in appearance, for the Arabian knows no greater pleasure than to look upon clear, gently rippling water: cf. Ovid, ’De Arte Am.,’ 2.722— "Adspicies oculos tremulo fulgore micantes, Ut sol a liquida saepe refulget aqua" The nose formed a straight line down from the forehead, conveying the impression of symmetry, and at the same time a dignity and majesty inspiring with awe like the tower of Lebanon. The reference is perhaps to a particular tower, and in the time of Solomon there were many noted specimens of architectural and artistic splendour. "A tower which looks in the direction of Damascus is to be thought of as standing on one of the eastern spurs of Hermon or on the top of Amana (So Amos 4:8), whence the Amana (Barada) takes its rise, whether as a watchtower (2 Samuel 8:6) or only as a look out from which might be enjoyed the paradisaical prospect." Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held captive in the tresses thereof. Carmel is called the "Nose of the mountain range" (Arf-ef-jebel). It is a promontory. The meaning, no doubt, is the exquisite fitness of the head upon the neck, which is one of the most lovely traits of personal beauty. Some, however, think that the reference is to colour—Carmel being derived from the Persian, and meaning "crimson." This is rejected by Delitzsch, as the Persian would be carmile, not carmel. The transition is natural from the position and shape of the head and neck to the hair. The purple shellfish is found near Carmel (cf. Lucian’s πορφύρεοςπλόκαμος and Anacreon’s πορφυραῖχαῖται, and similar expressions in Virgil’s ’Georgics,’ 1.405, and Tibullus, 1.4, 63). The locks of hair are a glistening purple colour, i.e. their black is purple as they catch the lights. Hengstenberg, however, thinks that the reference is to the temples, and not to the hair itself; but the use of the term in classical poets is decisive. The lovely head shaking the locks as the body moves gracefully in the dance fills the king with delight and admiration. He is quite captivated, and the ladies, having finished their description of the bride, look at the bridegroom, and behold him quite lost in the fascination—"held captive in the tresses." Delitzsch quotes a similar expression from Goethe, in the ’West Ostliche Divan,’ "There are more than fifty hooks in each lock of thy hair." The idea of taking captive is frequent in Hebrew poetry (cf. Proverbs 6:25; Sirach 9:3, 4). Thus ends the song of the ladies in praise of the bride. We must suppose that the king, who is probably present, then takes up the word, and pours out his heart. Son 7:6-9 (Song of the bridegroom rejoicing over the bride.) How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. I said, I will climb up into the palm tree, I will take hold of the branches thereof: let thy breasts be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy breath like apples; and thy mouth like the best wine, that goeth down smoothly for my beloved, gliding through the lips of them that are asleep. The abstract "love" is plainly here used for the concrete, "O loved one." It is just possible that the meaning may be—How delightful is the enjoyment of love! but the bodily description which follows suggests that the words are addressed directly to Shulamith. We certainly have in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, an apostolic apostrophe to love, which Delitzsch calls the Apostle Paul’s spiritual song of songs. But it would be somewhat irrelevant here. The king is deeply moved as he watches the beautiful figure before him, and delights in the thought that so lovely a creature is his own. The rapture which he pours out may be taken either as a recollection of how he was captivated in the past, or the past may be used for the present, as it frequently is in Hebrew. The meaning is the same in both cases. The palm tree may be selected on account of its elegance, but it is commonly employed in Eastern poetry as the emblem of love. The mystical writers use it to denote the Divine manifestation. The comparison of the breasts to clusters of grapes is quite natural, but no doubt reference is intended to the fruit as luscious and refreshing. Both the palm and the vine in the East are remarkable for the abundance and beauty of their fruits. In the case of the palm—"dark brown or golden-yellow clusters, which crown the summit of the stem and impart a wonderful beauty to the tree, especially when seen in the evening twilight." The palm and the vine are both employed in Scripture in close connection with the Church. "The righteous shall flourish as the palm tree;" "The vine brought out of Egypt" (Ps; Psalms 80:1-19.), and the "vineyard of the beloved" (Isaiah 5:1-30.), and the "true vine," to which the Lord Jesus Christ compares himself, remind us that the illustration was perfectly familiar among the Jews; and we can scarcely doubt that the reference in this case would be understood. The Lord delighteth in those "fruits of righteousness" which come forth from the life and love of his people. They are the true adornment of the Church. The people of God are never so beautiful in the eyes of their Saviour as when they are covered with gifts and graces in their active expression in the world. Then it is that he himself fills his Church with his presence. The ninth verse is somewhat difficult to explain. The words are no doubt still in the lips of the king. There is no change of speaker until 1 Corinthians 13:10, when Shulamith replies to the king’s adoring address. Ginsburg says, "Her voice is not merely compared to wine because it is sweet to everybody, but to such wine as would be sweet to a friend, and on that account is more valuable and pleasant." The Authorized Version is supported by some critics as the best, "causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak." Delitzsch adheres to this. The LXX. renders it thus: ἱακανουμὲνοςχειλεσίμουκαὶὀδοῦσιν, "accommodating itself to my lips and teeth." So Symmachus, προστιθέμενος. Jerome, Labiisque et dentibus illius ad ruminandum. Luther strangely renders, "which to my friend goes smoothly down and speaks of the previous year" (pointing יְשֵׁנִים as יְשָׁנִים). Another rendering is, "which comes unawares upon the lips of the sleepers." Some think it refers to the smacking of the lips after wine. "Generous wine is a figure of the love responses of the beloved, sipped in, as it were, with pleasing satisfaction, which hover around the sleepers in delightful dreams, and fill them with hallucinations." Another reading substitutes "the ancient" for "them that are asleep." The general meaning must be wine that is very good and easily taken, or which one who is a good judge of wine will praise. It is possible that there is some slight corruption in the text. The passage is not to be rendered with absolute certainty. Delitzsch and others think that it is an interruption of the bride’s, but they have little support for that view. The bride begins to speak at 1 Corinthians 13:10. Son 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is towards me. So in So Son 6:3 and Son 2:16. It seems possible that a portion of the bride’s speech may have dropped out—"My beloved is mine"—or she may wish to adopt the language of Gen 3:16, and represent herself as a true wife, whose husband is wrapt up in her love. By "desire" is intended the impulse of love, תְּשׁוּקָה, from a root שׁוּק, "to move or impel." The thought seems to be this—As my beloved is full of worshipping affection, and I am wholly his, let his love have free course, and let us retire together away from all the distractions and artificiality of the town life to the simplicity and congenial enjoyments of the country, which are so much more to my taste. The more real and fervent the religious emotions of the soul and the spiritual life of the Church, the more natural and simple will be their expression. We do not require any profuse ceremonies, any extravagant decorations, any complicated and costly religions services, in order to draw forth in the Christian Church the highest realization of the Saviour’s fellowship. We want the Christianity we profess to take possession of us, body and soul. And so it will be as Christians learn more of Christ. Son 7:11, Son 7:12 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine hath budded and its blossom be open, and the pomegranates be in flower: there will I give thee my love. All true poets will sympathize with the exquisite sentiment of the bride in this passage. The solitude and glory and reality of external nature are dearer to her than the bustle and splendour of the city and of the court. By "the field" is meant the country generally. The village or little town surrounded with vineyards and gardens was the scene of Shulamith’s early life, and would always be delightful to her. The word is the plural of an unused form. It is found in the form copher (1 Samuel 6:18), meaning "a district of level country." Delitzsch renders, "let us get up early," rather differently—"in the morning we will start"—but the meaning is the same. The word dodhai, "my love," is "the evidences or expressions of my love" (cf. So Son 4:16; Son 1:2). No doubt the bride is speaking in the springtime, the Wonnemond of May, when the pulses beat in sympathy with the rising life of nature. Son 7:13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. The dudhai after the form Lulai, and connected probably with דּוֹד, are the "love flowers," the Mandragora officinalis (Linn.), whitish-green in colour, with yellow apples about the size of nutmegs; they belong to the order of Solanaceae, and both fruits and roots were employed as aphrodisiac, to promote love. We are, of course, reminded of Gen 30:14, where the LXX. has, μὴλα, μανδραγορῶν, when the son of Leah found mandrakes in vintage time. They produce their effect by their powerful and pleasant fragrance. They are said to be only rarely found in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, but they were abundant in. Galilee, where Shulamith was brought up. The Arabs called them abd-el-sal’m, "servant of love"—postillon d’amour. We are not wrong in using that which is perfectly natural and simple for the cherishing and increasing of devout feeling. The three elements which coexist in true spiritual life are thought, feeling, and action. They support one another. A religion which is all impulse and emotion soon wears itself out, and is apt to end in spiritual vacuity and paralysis; but when thought and activity hold up and strengthen and guide feeling, then it is scarcely possible to endanger the soul. The heart should go out to Christ in a simple but fervent worship, especially in praise. There are no Christians who are more ready to devote themselves to good works than those who delight much in hearty and happy spiritual songs. Son 7:1-5 The chorus of maidens praise the beauty of the bride. I. THE PRELUDE. 1. The address. They address her as, "O prince’s daughter." She is not a king’s daughter, like the bride of Psa 45:1-17, but she is of honourable extraction. Though she lived in the retired district of Lebanon, and had been brought up there in rustic occupations, her family was one of some distinction. So Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, was recognized by the angel Gabriel, and was known among men by the testimony of accepted genealogies as "the son of David." The bride always speaks humbly of herself (as in So Psalms 1:5, Psalms 1:6), but the daughters of Jerusalem praise her. Such praise was common at nuptial festivals, the literal translation of Psa 78:63, "Their maidens were not given in marriage," seems to be, "Their maidens were not praised." The daughters of Jerusalem do not regard the bride with envy; they do not despise her because of her former low estate; they rather bring forward every point that may tend to her praise. We should be like them in this respect. Jealousy is one of the most common of evil tempers; even the Lord’s apostles were jealous of one another, and that in the very presence of the Master; again and again they disputed among themselves which should be the greatest (Matthew 18:1; Luke 22:24). We must covet earnestly the blessed grace of charity—charity which "envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, cloth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. We must pray fervently, "From envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, good Lord, deliver us." 2. The bride’s approach. "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes!" The word here rendered "feet" more generally means steps; this has been taken as an argument in favour of "the dance of Mahanaim," mentioned above. It is used also for "feet;" but even if we take it in its more common sense, the words of the chorus may be well understood of the approach of the bride, and perhaps also of the queenly grace of her movements. The opening words remind us of the prophecy of Isaiah, quoted by St. Paul in Romans 10:15, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" (Isaiah 52:7). We have learned to see in the bride of the Song of Songs a figure of the Church, which is the bride of Christ. The mission of the Church is to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever the Lord commanded" (Matthew 28:19). The heavenly Bridegroom is with the bride while she obeys his precept; for he adds, "Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the ages." Therefore "the Spirit and the bride say, Come" (Revelation 20:1-15:17). The Church, taught and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, calls men to the knowledge of Christ. Her feet are beautiful as, "shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace" (Ephesians 6:15), she moves ever onward, bringing the light of truth into the regions that were lying in darkness and the shadow of death. Missionary work is a most important part of the duty of the Church; when carried on in faith and love and forgetfulness of self, it is beautiful in the sight of God. II. PRAISES IN DETAIL 1. Of her clothing. The chorus begins by praising, not simply the feet, but the sandalled feet, of the bride; they admire her sandals. From this we may infer that other terms used here relate rather to the clothing which covered the various parts of the body. It is the royal robes, with their ornaments and embroidery, which are like rows of jewels, or like a round goblet (see the word translated "round" in Isaiah 3:18, where it is rendered, "round tires like the moon"), or like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. Comp. Psalms 45:9, Psalms 45:13, Psalms 45:14, "Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir." "The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee." So the bride, the Lamb’s wife, shall be "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8). "The king’s daughter is all glorious within." The Hebrew word, indeed, means "within the palace," in the inner apartment. But we know that the adorning of the Church, when she appears "as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2), is "not that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but the hidden man of the heart" (l Peter Psalms 3:3, Psalms 3:4). She will then be all glorious within, in the spiritual sense of the word, a glorious Church, holy and without blemish; and the Christian soul must even now put on that white linen which is the righteousness of saints, with the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Indeed, "our righteousnesses are but as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6); but Christ "of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30); and St. Paul teaches us that "as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27). We must "keep ourselves pure" (1 Timothy 5:22); we must take jealous and anxious heed so to live in the faith of Christ and in the communion of the Holy Ghost as to keep that white robe unspotted from the world (James 1:27). And if we have marred and stained it, as, alas! we too often do, by carelessness and sin, we must come to God in humble penitence and confession, asking him to give us grace to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb; for we believe that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, and that even they who have fallen into grievous sin may, if they turn to God in sorrow and contrition, be made "whiter than snow" (Psalms 51:7). The king’s daughter must be all glorious within; she must put on the wedding garment of righteousness. Let us seek that costly robe to be our own; we may gum it through the. grace of Christ if we earnestly desire it, hungering and thirsting after it. 2. Of herself. Her neck was white as the ivory which King Solomon imported and used largely for purposes of decoration (1 Kings 10:18, 1 Kings 10:22); her eyes in their liquid beauty were like the pools at Heshbon; her brow stately as the tower of Lebanon; her head beautiful as the summit of Carmel; her hair like the deepest shade of Tyrian purple—the king (the chorus continues) is held captive in its tresses. The beauty of the bride is a stately, regal beauty; her neck and her brow are compared to towers, her head to the mountain so famous in the history of Elijah. So in the Book of the Revelation, when the angel had said to St. John, "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife," "he carried me," the evangelist continues, "away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:9, Revelation 21:10). Here, again, the bride, which is the Church, is compared to a city, a city built upon an exceeding high mountain, according to the Saviour’s prophecy, "Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). St. John dwells in ardent words upon the heavenly beauty of the bride, which is the city of the living God; he tells us of her stately gates, of her vast dimensions, of her jewelled foundations, of her "streets of pure gold as it were transparent glass." The glories of that heavenly city draw the Christian soul mightily with a constraining power, as King Solomon was held captive in the dark tresses of his bride. The Lord "loveth the gates of Zion" (Psalms 87:1); the heavenly Bridegroom loved the Church, and gave himself for it. Christians, taught by him, set their affection on the heavenly city; they love to meditate upon its glories; they count its towers and mark its palaces, the many mansions in our Father’s house; confessing that they are pilgrims and strangers here, they seek the continuing city, which is to come. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14). Son 7:6-13 Dialogue between the king and the bride. I. OF THE KING. 1. His praise of love. Perhaps the last words of the chorus were overheard by the king as he approached the bride. He assents; he is content to be held captive in the tresses of the bride’s hair; for love is fair and pleasant above all delightful’ things. The bridegroom is not here using the word with which he so often addresses the bride (as in So Son 1:9; Son 4:1; Son 6:4), which is translated, "O my love," or perhaps better, "O my friend." In this place we have the word ordinarily used for the affection of love; and perhaps it is best to take it in that sense here. Among all delightful things there is nothing so beautiful, so fair to contemplate, so full of interest; there is nothing so pleasant, nothing which gives so much comfort and peace and joy as true and faithful love. The king is happy in the bondage of which the chorus had spoken. Indeed, true love is not bondage in any proper sense of the word. It was God himself who said, "It is not good for man to be alone;" God who said, "I will make him an help meet for him." God gave man affections. When he made man after his own image, he set in his heart a reflection of that love which more than any other of his attributes enters into the very being and essence of Almighty God. That love needs objects on which to exert itself; the love of parent, child, or wife is a preparation, a training for the highest form of love, the blessed love of God. Loneliness, as a rule, is not good; it tends to concentrate a man’s thoughts upon himself. He finds no outlet for the affections which God has given him: some of them, and those among the best and highest, are in danger of sinking into atrophy; there is great risk of his becoming a prey to selfishness, and the bondage of selfishness is hard and grinding and joyless. Sensual love is not love in the true sense; it is one of the worst and most unfeeling forms of selfishness; it thinks only of selfish pleasure, and recks nothing of the misery and ruin which it brings upon others; it makes a man the slave of evil passions; it tends to wretchedness. The service of God is perfect freedom; so, in a lesser sense, is the service of any pure and holy affection. True wedded love tends to set a man free from the bonds of selfishness; it gives him scope for the exercise of his best affections, and helps him to rise upwards towards that highest love which alone can give abiding happiness. Love, the bridegroom says, is among all delightful things the fairest and the most pleasant. The bride in the next chapter expresses the same belief, "Love is strong as death." "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." Wedded love is a parable of the holy love of God. The king in the song is led captive by the love of the bride. The saints of God, like St. Paul, St. James, St. Jude, delight in describing themselves as "the servants of God," "the slaves of God." God so formed our nature for himself that the soul can find an adequate object for its supreme affections only in him. Therefore he bids us love him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, because our highest powers can find their proper exercise only thus; and it is in the exercise of the highest powers that the highest happiness is found. It is the love of God that sheds glory and joy and blessedness through heaven, his dwelling place, because the blessed angels love him perfectly, and, dwelling in love, do his holy will with a glad, undoubting obedience. And so in various lower degrees it is the love of God which makes religion what it is to his people, very blessed and holy; which makes life worth living; which gives them in the midst of their shortcomings glimpses more or less vivid of that holiest joy which is the blessedness of heaven. Joy in the Lord is one of the fruits of the Spirit; it follows immediately upon the highest grace of love; it issues out of it (Galatians 5:22). And because it issues out of love, it is enjoined upon us as our duty as well as our highest privilege; for "the first of all the commandments is this, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God;" and a corollary of that first commandment is, "Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). Among earthly delights the pure love of wedlock is, as the king says, the fairest and the most pleasant; and of all highest joys that the human soul can attain unto, the supreme, the transcendent joy, comes from the holy love of God. 2. His praise of the bride. He compares her to a palm tree, to a vine. Both are fair to look upon, both have sacred associations. The image of the vine recalls to our thoughts the holy allegory in John 15:1-27. The Saviour is the true Vine; his people are the branches. They must bring forth fruit, for the branch that beareth not fruit is taken away; and in order to bear fruit they must abide in him, in spiritual union with the Lord, who is the Life. The palm tree also occurs in Scripture imagery: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree" (Psalms 92:12). Several characteristics make the palm tree an apt emblem of the faithful servant of God. There is its tall and graceful appearance, its evergreen foliage, its fruitfulness, and perhaps especially the fact that both fronds and fruit grow at the topmost height of the tree, high above the earth and as near as possible to heaven. An apt illustration by St. Gregory the Great (’Moral.,’ on Job 19:1-29:49) is quoted in Smith’s ’Dictionary of the Bible:’ "Well is the life of the righteous likened to a palm, in that the palm below is rough to the touch, and in a manner enveloped in dry bark, but above it is adorned with fruit fair even to the eye; below, it is compressed by the enfoldings of its bark; above, it is spread out in amplitude of beautiful greenness. For so is the life of the elect, despised below, beautiful above. Down below it is, as it were, enfolded in many barks, in that it is straitened by innumerable afflictions; but on high it is expanded into a foliage, as it were, of beautiful greenness by the amplitude of the rewarding." 3. The bride continues the bridegroom’s words. "I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof." These words have been regarded by some commentators as spoken by the bride. In the next verse certainly the bride interrupts the bridegroom and finishes his sentence. It may well be that here also she corrects the similitude of the bridegroom and finishes his sentence. It may well be that here also she corrects the similitude of the bridegroom, and applies it to him rather than to herself; the words, "I said," seem perhaps to favour this view, and to suggest a different speaker. The bridegroom is the palm tree rather than the bride; she modestly and humbly transfers the similitude to him. The palm tree resembles the king in its lofty stateliness and beauty. And certainly this view best lends itself to spiritual applications. The palm tree to the Christian represents the cross. We think of St. Peter’s words, "His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). We remember the old traditional reading of Psa 96:10, "The Lord hath reigned from the tree." We recall his own words, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32). The Lord reigned from the tree; above him was the title, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." He is the King of the true Israelites, the Israel of God. And the Cross is the throne of his triumph; it displays, as nothing else could do, the Divine glory of holiness and entire self-sacrifice and self-forgetting love, which are the kingly ornaments of the Saviour’s lofty dignity. The Saviour’s precious death has made the cross a thing most sacred, most awe-inspiring, most dear to Christian souls, most constraining in the power of its Divine attraction. It draws around itself all the elect of God, all who have ears to hear and hearts to feel the blessed love of Christ. All such say in their hearts, "I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof." The first words, "I said," seem, to remind us of many faithless promises, of many broken resolutions. It is easy to say, very hard to persevere in bearing the cross. How often we have promised, at our baptism, at our confirmation, in the Holy Communion, in the hour of private prayer and self-examination—how often we have said, "I will go up"! But the ascent is steep and difficult; the palm tree is high, there are no branches to assist the climber; the fruit is at the very top, high out of our reach; there is need of effort, continued persevering effort—effort sometimes very hard and painful to flesh and blood. But we must lift up our hearts, we must look upward. The Lord was lifted up, and his disciples must follow him; they know the way (John 14:4). We must set him ever before us, and think of his agony and bloody sweat, his cross and Passion, when we are tempted to regard the cross as hard and painful, and to relax our efforts in the religious life. We must go up. God’s saints have gone before us. "They climbed the steep ascent of heaven Through peril, toil, and pain." We must do the like; "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom" of God. And if we would persevere in well doing we must go up to the cross of the Lord Jesus; it is only there, in spiritual communion with the crucified Saviour, in his strength which strengthens all who trust in him, through a living and true faith in him, that the Christian can find strength to bear the burden of the cross. It is a heavy burden to flesh and blood, but the Lord makes it light to all who come to him in obedience to his gracious invitation. For he gives to his chosen power to become the sons of God; he strengthens them with all might by his Spirit in the inner man; he bids them east their burden upon him (Psalms 55:22), he bears it with them. But they must go up to the palm tree; they may have many times said they will do so, and perhaps many times have failed. They must go up with sustained effort. The Lord, indeed, draws us, but it is by the attraction of love and the motions of his Spirit, not by forcing our will. We must go up, yielding up our will to him, asking him to give us grace to pray aright that holy prayer, "Not my will, but thine be done." And we must take hold of the boughs thereof, clinging to them with the embrace of loving faith. It is not enough once to go up to the tree; the Lord himself has taught us our need of continual perseverance: "Abide in me, and I in you." We must take hold of him with the earnest prayer of Jacob, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me." And we must learn of him who endured the cross for us to take up the cross ourselves, to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts, so that, like St. Paul, we may be crucified with Christ, and, dying unto the world, may ever live with him. We may well take to ourselves the words which tradition puts into the mouth of St. Andrew when he first saw the cross on which he was to suffer, "Hail, precious cross, that hast been consecrated by the body of my Lord! I come to thee; receive me into thy arms, take me from among men, and present me to my Master, that he who redeemed me on thee may receive me by thee." The cross goeth before the crown. We must go up to the tree, and that with pains and striving, before we can reach the fronds at the summit. They are the prize of victory. The great multitude that no man could number stood before the throne clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. That blessed vision may, indeed, be understood as a vision of the true Feast of Tabernacles in heavens but the palm has ever been regarded as the martyr’s prize; we must look upwards to it. "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13, Philippians 3:14). 4. The bridegroom continues his praises. He repeats the comparison of the vine, and adds that the breath of the bride is fragrant as the smell of the choicest fruits, and the tones of her voice sweet as the best wine. Here the bride interrupts the king, adding the words, "that goeth down smoothly for my beloved." We mark the loving controversy; each seeks to put the other first. If the king compares the bride to a palm tree, she stops him with the answer that he is to her the stately tree; she win go up to the palm tree, she will take hold of its boughs. If he compares her voice to the flavour of the sweetest wine, she adds, interrupting him, that that wine is for her beloved, to please and refresh him with its sweetness; her joy is, to feel that she is wholly his, to delight in his love, to try always to please him. It is a sweet picture of the happiness of wedded love, when each seeks to please the other, when each puts the other first. Then Christian marriage is indeed a holy estate, a great help in the religious life, representing to the wedded pair the union that is between Christ and his Church, so that having in their own mutual relations a parable of that holy union, they may be drawn continually nearer to Christ, as they learn continually to love one another with a purer and deeper love, and in their daily self-denials for the loved one’s sake find how blessed is self-sacrifice for his sake who loved us and gave himself for us. II. THE BRIDE’S ANSWER. 1. The mutual love that binds them together. She repeats the assertion of So 2:16; Psalms 6:3. As in So Psalms 6:3, she puts first her own gift, the gift of her whole heart, to her beloved. She knows now, with a confident and happy knowledge, that her heart is his. Perhaps at first there had been some coyness, some hesitations, some doubts; now there is none. She has given her heart, and she knows it. She dwells on the happy truth; she rejoices in repeating it. Blessed is the Christian soul that can say the like, "I am my Beloved’s," "I am Christ’s." Blessed above all others are they who can say in sincerity that they have given him their whole heart; that they desire only him, his presence, his love; that their one highest hope is to please him better, to live nearer and nearer to him, and at length to see him face to face. Such, in the ancient times, was the hope of the Psalmist Asaph. "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the Strength of my heart, and my Portion forever" (Psalms 73:25, Psalms 73:26). And the bride is sure of the bridegroom’s love: "his desire is towards me." She is as sure that his heart is hers as that hers is his. She applies to him the Divine words of Gen 3:16. As Eve’s desire was to her husband, so now the king’s desire was toward his bride. The heavenly Bridegroom loved the Church; his desire is toward his people; their salvation was the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross. He said to his little flock, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). His desire is toward his bride, that she may be washed and cleansed, that he may in his own good time present her to himself a glorious Church, holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25-27). 2. The bride’s invitation. The king had invited her to his royal city at the time of their espousals. "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse" (So Genesis 4:8). She seems here to be inviting the king to visit in her company her old home, the scene of her labours in the vineyards. "Come, my beloved," she says, "let us go forth into the field." So the heavenly Bridegroom calls to himself the souls whom he so dearly loved: "Come unto me, and I will give you rest;" so the Christian, in answer to the Lord’s gracious invitation, responds, "Even so come, Lord Jesus." He bids us come to him, and as we come we pray him to come to us, for without him we can do nothing; we cannot come unless he draws us by himself coming to us (John 6:44; John 12:32). We pray him, "Let us go forth into the field, let us get up early to the vineyards;" for we need his presence always; we cannot do the work which he has given us to do; we cannot work in his vineyard as he bids us without his help. Therefore we ask him to be with us always, according to his gracious promise, "Lo, I am with you all the days, even to the end" (Matthew 28:20); that we may have grace to get up early to the vineyards, not to stand all the day idle, not to wait to the eleventh hour, but to give the best of our life to God, to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, to do with our might whatsoever our hand findeth to do (Ecclesiastes 9:10). The word here rendered "get up early" is several times figuratively used for "to be earnest or urgent." God calls us to work, to labour for his Name’s sake, out not to leave our first love, like the Church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:3, Revelation 2:4); to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but all the time to ask him to come and help us, and to remember that it is he who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13); for without that inward work of his within oar souls we can do no acceptable work for him. But work we must, for he bids us; and it is in that work, wrought ever in faith and in dependence upon him, that the Christian soul keeps itself in the love of God (Jude 1:21). So the bride says," There [in the vineyard] will I give thee my loves." It is in working for God that we prove our love for him. "Lovest thou me?" the Saviour said; then "feed my lambs, feed my sheep." "If ye love me, keep my commandments. Then he will pray for us, sending the gracious Spirit, the Comforter, to strengthen and to help us; then, he promises, he will come himself. "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:15-18). Then the blessed Spirit will help us to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit—the fruit which is "love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance"—that like the bride in the song we may have "all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old," and may add, in her words, "which I have laid up for thee, O my Beloved." These fruits are treasures laid up in heaven, and we know that he is able to keep that which we have committed unto him against that day (2 Timothy 1:12). BY S. CONWAY Son 7:10-13 Christian missions. "I am my beloved’s," etc. The scene is still in "the king’s chambers" at Jerusalem. What Solomon has said to her whom he would win is of no avail; her heart is true to her beloved. This emphatic redeclaration of her love for that beloved one is all the response that the king’s flatteries have obtained. She speaks as if she were already away from the palace and back at her country home; once more occupied in her usual occupations and enjoying her former happy intercourse with her beloved. But the going forth to her work suggests the idea of going forth in spiritual work, and the language she uses points to the manner in which such work may be successfully done. We may take the section as an allegory concerning Christian missions. It suggests— I. WHAT PROMPTS THEM. (Son 7:10.) The profound and delightful realization of Christ’s love towards and within us. Such work, if done only because we are afraid of the judgment day, when we all must give account of our stewardship; or from mere sense of duty; still less when the motive is ecclesiastical ambition; or even when pity for the ignorance and general sad condition of the heathen is the motive;—all such promptings have but partial, some very partial, power. The true motive is that which the rapturous expression of Son 7:10 reveals— II. HOW THEY SHOULD BE CARRIED ON. "Come, my Beloved, let us," etc. 1. The presence of Christ should be invoked. (Son 7:11.) "Let us go forth," etc. Then: 2. There should be the going forth. Away from accustomed haunts, away from the place of ordinances and privileges, to where none of these things are enjoyed. 3. With diligence. "Let us rise early" (Son 7:12). 4. With watchfulness, not alone in planting, but for growth and progress. III. THEIR TRUE. NATURE. (Son 7:12.) "There will I give thee," etc. They are an acceptable offering of our love to Christ and its true manifestation. A love to Christ that is not expansive, that does not go forth to bless others, is no true love, but something very different (1 Corinthians 15:10). IV. THEY SHALL BE WITH SUCCESS. (Son 7:13.) May not the lack of this—though, indeed, it is not entirely absent—be owing to some grave defect in motive or manner? V. ALL THE GLORY WILL BE TO CHRIST. "Which I have laid up for thee." (Son 7:13.) Cf. the account of the first missionary meeting and report (Acts 14:27).—S.C. Son 7:10 I am my beloved’s. (Cf. on So Son 2:16).—S.C. BY J.D. DAVIES Son 7:11-13 Useful service. Earth is a great picture gallery, full of illustrations of heavenly things. This material universe is the projection of God’s thoughts; the visible expression of his dispositions; the blossoming of his love. The God of nature is the God of religion; hence the same lessons appear in both. As we have seen in the home of a great artist the handiworks of his genius adorning parlours and halls, corridors and bed chambers—works in all stages of development—so is it in God’s world. Pictures of him abound. Every garden is a lesson book for humanity; every well kept garden is a portrait of a saint; every fruitful vineyard is an emblem of Christ’s Church. Said the Prophet Isaiah to the godly man, "Thou shalt be as a well watered garden." "My Well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill." The highest fruitfulness is the result of patient culture. Prosperity is threatened by many foes. Human agency must cooperate with Divine power in order "to bring forth fruit unto perfection." Every flower and blossom is an outburst of God’s glory. Earth is crammed full of heavenly things. I. IN ALL HOLY SERVICE THE MOTIVE POWER IS LOVE. "Come, my beloved." Thus Jesus speaks. 1. God’s works spring from love. We cannot conceive any other reason why the eternal God should have begun to create, unless that happiness and love might be multiplied. Love would not permit him to keep all good within himself. Love impelled him to produce various orders of sentient life. His joy is increased by witnessing the joys of others. "Yes, he has gemmed with worlds the abyss, Filled them with beauty, life, and bliss, Only the wider to dispense The gifts of his beneficence. Oh yes! creation planned above Was but for mercy’s stream a vent, The outgushings of eternal love— Ay, this is love’s embodiment." 2. This love in us springs from our assurance of Christ’s love. The love that is fruitful in service realizes the personal friendship of Christ. If I am tormented with doubts touching my acceptance by Christ, I shall have no energy for service. I have only a limited capacity of power, and if I expend this in solving difficult questions, or in calming my own fears, I shall be unfit for service. If the Master is saying to me, "Son, go work today in my vineyard," and if I reply, "Lord, I know not if I be a son," I shall not accomplish any good. But when 1 know that I am "accepted in the Beloved," there is a mainspring of love within that stirs all the energies of my soul. Then my daily prayer will be, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Then, "the love of Christ constraineth me." "For to me to live is Christ." It would be a painful restraint on my new nature if I did not render him service. Then his "service is perfect freedom." 3. True love hears Immanuel’s voice. "Come, my beloved." Love moves into healthful activity every organ. It not only gives activity to the feet; it gives sensitiveness to the ear. The voice of Christ is not addressed to the bodily organ; it is addressed to the soul. It is a spiritual communication; a "still small voice." As in the days of his flesh the multitude did not understand the speech that came from heaven—"I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again;" they thought that it thundered, or that an angel spake; so is it still. The Christian hears a voice that no one else can hear. The passing crowd may hear a faint hum, as the wind passes through the telegraphic wires, but the message conveyed through the wire is understood only by the person trained to receive it. So the voice of heavenly authority and the voice of heavenly friendship is heard only by wakeful, tender love. 4. Love craves to give itself expression. Love is an expansive power. It is a law of its nature to spread; to go out in practical forms. Like the force of steam, it cannot be held in restraint. The hotter steam becomes, the more it expands. The present motive power in commerce, and in swift locomotion, results from the expansive power of steam. So all human philanthropy and all missionary enterprise are the outcome of fervent love. It would be painful to love if no service were permitted. She is girt and sandalled, waiting to scale rugged mountains, waiting to cross tempestuous seas, waiting to traverse perilous deserts, in order to tell the perishing that Jesus can save. Love never wearies. Service is her delight. There is within an irresistible instinct to do good. II. IN HOLY SERVICE WE HAVE DIVINE . "Let us go,…let us lodge." 1. This is a real experience. To many persons the presence of Christ is a fiction; it may be a part of their creed, nothing more. They read of it as a promise, but they have never realized it. Yet they may. For on the part of a faithful servant of Christ his presence is a real enjoyment. Every inspiration of benevolent desire is from him. He talks with us by the way. We ask for strength, and he gives it. We lack courage, and he supplies it abundantly. He makes our dumb lips eloquent. As truly as we hold intercourse with an earthly friend—yea, more truly—do we have real and joyous intercourse with Jesus. If he spake the promise, "Lo, I am with you alway," certainly he will fulfil it. Why should he not? Is anything too hard for him to accomplish? Some imagine that the real presence of Christ is to be found only in the sacrament of the Super. This is a delusion. His real presence is ever in the spiritual temple, i.e. in the temple of a Christian’s heart. Saith he, "I will never leave thee, will never forsake thee;" so that we may boldly say, "The Lord is my Helper." 2. This companionship with Jesus is a real honour. When, in olden time, the King of England went out in person to war, every peer in the realm counted it an honour to go with him. It was dishonourable to stay at home. Every duke and earl would rather dwell amid hardship and danger on the battlefield, if the king were there, than amid the luxuries of their own castle halls. To be near the person of the king was counted high honour. Yet this honour was as nothing—an empty bubble—compared with companionship with Jesus Christ. To be companion with the King of heaven is real honour and real advantage. It is Christ alone who can teach us what honour is. Honour is inseparable from righteousness, and he is Perfect Righteousness. And Christ is a Worker. He is the good Shepherd, ever going out in search of lost sheep; so, if we wish to have companionship with Jesus, we must be workers too. Service is honourable. It is in service that we shall find Christ nearest us. There is a legend of a pious monk in the Middle Ages, who had a vision of the Saviour. The man was ravished with holy joy. It was a season of hallowed communion with his Lord. At that moment the bell rang, and it was the duty of this monk to distribute food to the poor. There was a struggle in his mind. Should he leave this vision, and break up this sweet fellowship? The bell called him to a sacred duty, and he responded and went. At the end of an hour he returned, and lo! the vision was still there. Then the lips of the Master moved, and he said, "Unless thou hadst fulfilled thy call of duty, I had departed." If Jesus is with us, almighty strength is assured. Unerring wisdom is ours; sweetest sympathy cheers us; certain success is in sight. "I will go in the strength of the Lord God." III. IN HOLY SERVICE THERE WILL BE SELF-DENIAL. "Let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages; let us get up early to the vineyards." Now, this language does not seem natural or customary in the lips of an earthly king. But it is natural and seemly in the lips of the Prince of heaven. For it is his delight to humble himself, and to become the Servant of all. 1. Discomfort and hardship are foretold. "Let us go into the field." Jesus is very frank and outspoken. Not on any account will he hide from us the hard conditions of his service. Plainly did he tell his first disciples what toils and persecutions they would have to endure. And the Word still abides, "They that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution." Paul was forewarned of the perils that awaited him in every city. But the real friend of Jesus is prepared for self-denial. Apart from self-denial, his service would not be like the service of Jesus. "The disciple is not greater than his Master, nor the servant than his Lord." The Son of God says to us, "Let us go forth into the field." We must leave for a time the fair palaces of our Prince, and lodge in narrow tenements. Yet is there any ground for lamentation? Any roof which covers us, however humble, shall be a palace of delight if only Christ be with us there. The palace does not make the dweller therein a king; but the presence of the King makes the house a palace. Difficulties and self denials will be quietly borne if we are on Christ’s errands. Yea, they will be welcome, if love to Jesus prevail "They have put me," said Rutherford, "into a prison; but Immanuel came and made it into a banquet house." Yes, if Jesus come with us into our lowly cottage: forthwith "the doors shall be pearls, and the windows agates," and the fence shall be made of all kinds of precious stones. 2. We shall be willing to continue in this self-denying work. "Let us lodge in the villages." We must not grow weary in this well doing. Many a man will rouse his courage to face some herculean task or to fight in some sharp conflict, who will yet faint under the weariness of a long campaign or fall in patient, endurance. The service to which Jesus calls us is lifelong, and the discomfort may be long continued. Still, we will embrace it with joy. "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." The Christian missionary who goes into a foreign field to sow the heavenly seed, must be prepared for long continued, sacrifice. So should every true servant of the King. For self-denial is not long continued pain. The joy of pleasing Christ, and the blessedness of his company, nullifies the pain and overcomes the discomfort. Soon the self-denial loses its sting. The loss becomes a gain, and every thorn blossoms into a rose. "Out of the eater comes forth meat, and out of the bitter comes forth sweetness." The love of Christ changes everything. It makes our hell into heaven. 3. There will even be eagerness for this arduous work. "Let us get up early to the vineyards." To enter upon this hard toil in company with Jesus, we shall be ready to forego comfortable sleep. Soon as morn breaks, soon as the opportunity allows, we shall be ready to leap forth to the task. Our old inclinations are overcome and supplanted with new desires and new endeavours. We are burning with ardour to show Jesus our love. We shall feel ashamed if our zeal does not in some measure resemble the zeal of our Immanuel. He was consumed with holy and intensest ardour to do us good. Said he, "How am I straitened till it be accomplished!" He panted to reach the cross. And now he has commissioned us to take his place and to carry out his work. As his Father had sent him into the world, so has he sent us. His love is to be perpetuated through us. His devotion to humanity must reappear in us. His self-consuming zeal must glow in our breasts. As he could not represent among men the everlasting love of his Father except by incessant toil, humiliating suffering, and a death of public shame, so neither can we adequately represent the saving grace of Christ before men except by enthusiastic zeal and completest consecration. There will be a constant watchfulness forevery opportunity of service. To do Christ’s work will be our meat and our drink. A principle of sacred earnestness must possess us. As the hallowed fire on the temple altar was not allowed to expire, so must not the fire of holy zeal ever expire on the altar of our hearts. "We are not our own;" we belong to another; "we are bought with a price;" therefore duty demands that we glorify our Master "with our bodies and with our spirits, which are his." IV. IN HOLY SERVICE THERE IS GREAT VARIETY OF , "Let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth." 1. Christ’s work is the pattern of ours. The work of Jesus among men was manifold. He opened blind eyes, unstopped deaf ears, straightened paralyzed limbs, fed the hungry, brought the dead back to life, Pardoned men’s sins, purified corrupt and vicious lives, led the erring into light. We dwell in the same world in which Christ dwelt. We are encompassed with suffering humanity. We have the same motives for labour. Here there is scope forevery capacity. If you cannot preach to great assemblies, you can speak to a wayfarer for Christ. If you cannot vindicate the truth against the assaults of the scoffer, you can feed a hungry child, or console a sorrowing widow, or visit the bedridden, or pray for the outcasts. The youngest disciple may find something to do for Christ’s kingdom in this world of sin and suffering. "As ye have opportunity, do good unto all men;" "Freely ye have received, freely give." In nature each drop of falling rain produces a distinct effect, so in the kingdom of Christ a cup of cold water given to a thirsty Child obtains its reward. 2. Concern for the young is here suggested. "Whether the tender grape appear." Every living Church will have special agencies to gain the young. They have special claims on us. The heart is as yet unoccupied. Character is plastic. Feeling is fresh. There is eager inquiry after the truth. Labour among the young is full of promise. In the young Jesus Christ feels special interest. Every parent should see to it that their children’s hearts are opening to Christ. We ought to see conversion to God very early. If faith be the great essential, then very early do children put faith in a Parent or in a friend, and such faith they can as readily place in Jesus the Saviour. Parents have special promises from God to encourage their hope. "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring." Jesus has special love for the lambs in the flock. "The flower, when offered in the bud, Is no vain sacrifice." 3. Pious care for all inquirers is indicated. "Let us see whether the pomegranates bud forth." It is a hopeful sign of grace when one is inquiring after the light. Already them is a stir in that dead soul. The deep sleep of sin is broken. The man is awaking. Possibly, like some inveterate sluggard, he may turn over on the other side, and fall into deeper sleep than before. Such a thing often happens, both in nature and in grace. Now is our opportunity while he is half awake. Now let the alarm bell of the gospel sound in his ear. Such methods as true wisdom and love can devise should be vigorously employed. How precious is the moment! Anon it will have fled. There is much to be done. Impression has to be made, instruction given, feeling aroused, conviction wrought, desire excited, resolution taken. Every inquirer after God should be sought out—should be the object of the Christian’s concern. V. IN HOLY SERVICE THERE IS A PRESENT REWARD. "The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old." 1. The reward is the outcome of natural law. As the fruit is already in embryo in the seed, so is reward already in the service, though as yet undeveloped. As hell is the ripe fruit of sin, so heaven is the ripe fruit of holy service. The faithful steward of ten talents shall have ten talents more entrusted to him: this is his reward. The pleasant fruits of the garden shall be the reward of the faithful husbandman. Such fruits are "old and new." Others preceding us have sown good seed, done noble work in the vineyard. We enter upon the results, and gather in the fruits. Old fruit at times is preferable to new. Apples and nuts mellow with age. So the ripe wisdom of old saints is a spiritual banquet. The promises given to Abraham have a good flavour. The faith that has been of long standing—the faith of Elijah and Paul, e.g.—is a very pleasant fruit, while fresh zeal and fresh courage are equally delightful. "Fruits old and new." 2. God’s provision for us is ample. If we go diligently about our Master’s work, be sure that he will provide. He had said, "Let us get up early, and go forth into the vineyards;" and lo! when noon came and hunger looked for a meal, here at the gate was a royal provision. So Jesus taught his first disciples, that if they attended to his business he would take the responsibility for their wants. He gave to Peter and his comrades a miraculous draught of fishes; then he said, "Feed my sheep; Go into all the world, and preach the gospel;" "My God shall supply all your need, out of his riches in glory by Jesus Christ." 3. Jesus provides a reward suitable to every taste. "All manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee." When our Immanuel spreads for us a banquet, nothing shall be wanting. Is there a fruit anywhere in God’s universe that will meet a want of mine or satisfy a longing? It shall be given me. "He will give thee the desires of thy heart;" "In his garden is all manner of pleasant fruit." 4. Present rewards are the pledge of greater. These fruits are found at our gates." It is as if our Immanuel had said, This is only the beginning of good. There’s more to follow." And this is most assuredly true. Present possessions are only pledges and earnests of higher and richer good. The love of Christ in the heart is an entrancing joy, but I shall have a larger experience of it by and by. These attainments of piety and excellence are "treasures of the kingdom," but I shall grow richer yet. My knowledge of God in Christ is a precious possession, but the "half has not been told me." Jesus has many things to reveal to me, but I cannot bear them yet. No! "Eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for them that love him." This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Son 8:1-3 Oh that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; and none would despise me. I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate. His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. The meaning seems to be this—Let our relation to one another be the highest and the purest and the most permanent possible. The sisterly relation is not merely one of affection, but one of blood. The bond between husband and wife may be broken by the caprice and weakness of human feeling, but nothing can destroy the bond of blood. "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity" (Proverbs 17:17); "There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). The brotherly bond represents the strength of the blood relationship. When to that is added personal affection, then the tie is perfect. Shulamith means that she would have their love freed from all the uncertainties of human fickleness. As symbolically interpreted, therefore, we take this whole passage to signify that the Church, when it is desiring the closest fellowship with the Saviour, would be lifted above all the temptations of earthly life, which so often lower the standard of Christian feeling and service. The words are specially impressive in the lips of the bride of Solomon. It is a testimony to the inspiration of the whole book that the voluptuous monarch, whose life fell so far below the ideal of a godly king, should yet, indirectly though still powerfully, condemn and rebuke his own departure from God, setting clearly before us the surpassing excellence of pure love and the sanctity of married life. In the Mug’s address to his bride he called her "sister" and "sister-bride;" she now virtually returns his own sentiment and calls him "brother."’ She shows that she has risen in her love far above the mere fleshly desires—"the lust of the fiesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." She would blend her whole existence with that of her Lord. I would kiss thee; yea, and none would despise me. Nothing can more exquisitely and delicately express the fulness of affection. It is not merely a return for that which is given; it is free and spontaneous. So should our spiritual feelings be. They should be the natural outpouring of the soul towards the Saviour; not a worked up, artificial, spasmodic impulse, not a cold, dead formalism, not an unsympathetic service of conscience; but "doing the will of God from the heart." "Love is the fulfilling of the Law;" "Faith worketh by love." The second verse is differently rendered by some. Jerome, Venetian, and Luther take it as referring to the bride’s dependence on her husband’s superior wisdom—"Thou wouldest instruct me;" which, of course, is a very suitable sentiment as addressed to the wise King Solomon. The Targum expounds it thus: "I would conduct thee, O King Messiah, and bring thee into the house of my sanctuary; and thou wouldest teach me to fear God and to walk in his ways." Hitzig and our Revisers take the verb as in the third person feminine, and applied to the mother. "She would teach me as a mother teaches a young bride, from her own early experience." The old view that the bride is the personification of wisdom seems quite refuted by this speech of Shulamith’s. She desires and waits for instruction. Solomon is wisdom. She is the soul of man, or the Church of God, delighting to sit at his feet and learn of him. Whichever rendering we choose, whether the mother or Solomon be regarded as teacher, the meaning is the same. It is, as Delitzsch has observed, a deep revelation of Shulamith’s heart. "She knew how much she yet came short of being to the king all that a wife should be. But in Jerusalem the bustle of court life and the burden of his regal duties did not permit him to devote himself to her; in her mother’s house, if he were once there, he would in. struct her, and she would requite him with her spiced wine and with the juice of the pomegranates." The "spiced wine," vinum conditura, aromatic wine, probably grape wine "mixed with fragrant and pungent essences," as in the East. The juice, or pressed juice, of the pomegranate is a delicious drink. There is no allusion to any love symbol. The grains of the pomegranates were said by the Arabians to be from Paradise (cf. the ῥοΐ́της, or "vinum de punicis quod roidem vocant" in Dioscorides and Pliny). Perhaps this reference to exchange of gifts may be taken as symbolizing the happy state of the Church when she pours out her treasures in response to the spiritual blessings which she is freely receiving. The meaning is something beautiful and precious. And that is the highest state of religious life when the service we render and the gifts we place on the altar are felt to be the grateful sacrifices of our hearts under a sense of Divine love. When the Church of Christ depends for its support on such fellowship between itself and the Saviour there will be no limits to its attainments, no achievements beyond its powers. "All that see" such a state of the Church "shall acknowledge" the glory of it, "that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed" (see the whole of the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, which breathes the very spirit of Solomon’s Song). The rejoicing bride then gives herself up to the thought of her husband’s affection. In that beautiful simplicity and purity of her childhood’s life she would realize the bliss of her new relation. Delitzsch describes her state of mind thus: "Resigning herself dreamily to the idea that Solomon is her brother, whom she may freely and openly kiss, and her teacher besides, with whom she may sit in confidential intercourse under her mother’s eye, she feels herself as if closely embraced by him, and calls from a distance to the daughters of Jerusalem not to disturb this her happy enjoyment." Perhaps the sense of weakness and dependence is meant to be expressed. The bride is conscious that her lord is everything to her. In that identification which the highest love brings vividly into the soul, there is the joy of exultation. "All things are ours; and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s." Son 8:4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awaken love, until it please. This, of course, as the refrain of the song, must be taken as a general sentiment. Love is its own lord. Let it have free course. Let it perfect itself in its own best way. The form of the adjuration is abbreviated in this case. The omission of the words, "By the roes and by the hinds of the field," is not without its significance. Is it not intended to intimate that the natural love, to which reference was made by the introduction of the beautiful wild creatures of the field, is now no more in the thoughts of the bride, because it has been sublimated into the higher sisterly love of which she has been speaking? She is not merely the lovely woman on whom the king dotes because of her personal beauty; she is his companion and dearest friend. He opens his heart to her. He teaches her. He lifts her up to his own level. She participates in his royal dignity and majesty. The ἔρως of her first estate of love is now exalted into the ἀγάπη, which is the grace never to be without its sphere, abiding forever. We must not press too closely the poetic form of the song. Something must be allowed for the framework in which the main ideas are set before us. It may not be possible to answer the question—Who are intended to be symbolized by the daughters of Jerusalem? There is no necessity to seek further into the meaning of the whole poem than its widest and most general application. But the daughters of Jerusalem are in a lower position, a less favoured relation to the bridegroom, than the bride herself. We may, therefore, without hesitation, accept the view that by the adjuration is intended the appeal of the higher spiritual life against all that is below it; the ideal love calling upon all that is around it and all that is related to it to rise with it to perfection. The individual soul is thus represented claiming the full realization of its spiritual possibilities. The Church of God thus remonstrates against all that hinders her advancement, restrains her life, and interrupts her blessedness. Jerusalem has many daughters. They are not all in perfect sympathy with the bride. When they listen to the adjurations of the most spiritual, the most devoted, the most heavenly and Christ-like of those who are named by the Name of the Lord, they will themselves be lifted up into the bridal joy of "the marriage supper of the Lamb." Son 8:5-14 Part V. . THE AND THE BRIDE IN THE SCENE OF THEIR FIRST LOVE. Son 8:5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? We must compare this question with the corresponding one in So Son 3:6. In that case the inhabitants of Jerusalem are supposed to be looking forth, and behold the bridal procession approaching the capital. In this case the scene is transferred to the country, to the neighbourhood of the bride’s home, where she has desired to be with her lord. The country people, or the group of her relatives, are supposed to be gazing at the pair of lovers, not coming in royal state, but in the sweet simplicity of true affection, the bride leaning with loving confidence on the arm of her husband, as they were seen before in the time of their "first love." The restoration of "first love" is often the prayer of the disciple, feeling how far he falls short of the affection which such a Master should call forth. The first feelings of the heart when it is won to Christ are very delightful. "Where is the blessedness I knew When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and his Word?" It is a blessedness when we come up from the wilderness. It is a joy to ourselves and a matter of praise to our fellow believers when we are manifestly filled with a sense of the Saviour’s presence and fellowship. The word midhbaur, translated "wilderness," does not, however, necessarily mean a desolate and barren desert, but rather the open country, as the Valley of Jezreel The LXX. had either a different reading in the Hebrew or has mistaken it. They have rendered the last clause "clothed in white," which perhaps Jerome has followed with his deliciis affluens. The word is, however, from the root rauvaq, which in the hiph. is "to support one’s self." The meaning, therefore, is, "leaning for support." It might, however, be intended to represent the loving confidence of married life, and therefore would be equivalent in meaning to the Greek and Latin renderings, that is, "Who is this? Evidently a young newly married wife with her husband." Perhaps this is the best explanation of the words as preparing for what follows, as the bridegroom begins at once to speak of the first love. Some think that the road in which the loving pair are seen to be walking brings their footsteps near to the apple tree over against Shulamith’s house where they had first met. But there is no necessity for that supposition. It is sufficient if we imagine the apple tree to be in sight. Son 8:5 Under the apple tree I awakened thee; there thy mother was in travail with thee; there was she in travail that brought thee forth. I awakened thee; i.e. I stirred thee up to return the affection which I showed thee (cf. So Son 2:7). The Masoretic reading prints the verb עוֹרַרתִּיךָ, as with the masculine suffix, but this renders the meaning exceedingly perplexed. The bride would not speak of awakening Solomon, but it was he who had awakened her. The change is very slight, the ךָ becoming ךְ, and is supported by the Old Syriac Version. It must be remembered that the bridegroom immediately addresses the bride, speaking of her mother. The apple tree would certainly be most naturally supposed to be situated somewhere near the house where the bride was bore perhaps overshadowing it or branching over the windows, or trained upon the trellis surrounding the house. The bridegroom points to it. "See, there it is, the familiar apple tree beside the house where thy dear self wast born. There, yonder, is where thy mother dwelt, and where thou heartiest my first words of affection as we sat side by side just outside the house under the shade of the apple tree." The language is exquisitely simple and chaste, and yet so full of the tender affection of the true lover. The spot where the first breathings of love came forth will ever be dear in the remembrance of those whose affection remains faithful and fond. The typical view certainly finds itself supported in these words. Nothing is more delightful and more helpful to the believer than to go over in thought, again and again, and especially when faith grows feeble, when the heart is cold and fickle under the influence of worldly temptations and difficulties of the Christian course, the history of the first beginning of the spiritual life. We recall how dear the Lord was to us then, how wonderful his love seemed to us, how condescending and how merciful. We reproach ourselves that we faint and fail; we cry out for the fulness of grace, and it is given us. Son 8:6, Son 8:7 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, he would be utterly contemned. Is this to be regarded as the reply of the bride to the tender allusion of her husband to their first love; or is it, as some think, only the first words which belong to the bride, while the rest of the two verses are a kind of chorus echoing her loving appeal, and bringing the general action of the poem to a conclusion? It is difficult to decide this, and the meaning is not affected either way. Perhaps, however, it is best to take it as spoken by the bride, who continues her address to the end of the eighth verse. She is full of joy in the return of perfect confidence; she prays that the full tide of affection may never cease to flow, that there be no ebbing of that happy feeling in which she now delights; and then sings the praise of love itself, as though a prelude of praise to a long and eternal peace. The seal is the signet ring, chotham, from a root "to impress" It was sometimes carried by a string on the breast, and would, therefore, be near the heart (see Genesis 38:18). It was sometimes worn on the hand (see Jeremiah 22:24; and cf. Genesis 41:42; Esther 3:12). It was not worn on the arm like a bracelet (2 Samuel 1:10). Probably it was not the signet ring which is referred to in the second clause: "Set me as a seal on thine heart, and as a bracelet on thine arm." The same simile is not infrequent in the prophets. The desire of Shulamith was to escape all possibility of those declensions of which she had spoken before. "Let me never be out of thy thoughts; let me never go back from my fulness of joy in thy love." The true believer understands well such language. He knows that the maintenance of devout affection is not a matter of mere desire and will. The Lord himself must help us with his blessed gifts, the influence of his gracious Spirit to overcome the feebleness and fickleness of a fallen heart. We want to be close to the heart of the Saviour; we want to be constantly in his eye, and so diligently employed in his service, so closely associated with the work of his mighty arm, that we shall be ever receiving from him the signs and evidences of his approval and affection. The purity and perfection of true love are the theme of every sincere believer. The priceless value of such love is described in the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 6:30), in Numbers 22:18, and 1 Corinthians 13:3. It is an unquenchable flame—nothing can resist it. We cannot but recall the rapturous language of one who himself was an example of the highest devotedness to the Saviour, who rejoiced over death and the grave in the consciousness of victory through him from whose love nothing can separate us (Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 15:54). Certainly the history of the sufferings and trials of the true Church form a most striking commentary upon these words. Floods of persecution have swept over it, but they have not quenched love. The flame has burst forth again and again when it seemed to be extinguished, and it has become a very "flame of the Lord." The bush has been burning, but has not been consumed. By jealousy is intended love in its intensity not bearing arival. The "flame of the Lord" may be compared with "the voice of the Lord," which is described in Hebrew poetry as connected with the fury of the storm. The flame, therefore, would be lightning and the voice thunder. The whole of this passage, which forms a kind of keynote of the poem, is more like a distinct strain introduced to give climax to the succession of songs than the natural expression of the bride’s feelings. It has been always regarded as one of the sublimest apostrophes to love to be found anywhere. The enemies of God and of humanity are represented as falling before it, death and the grave. Its vehemence and force of manifestation are brought vividly before us by the comparison of the flash of lightning. It is remarkable that this exaltation of love should be included in the Old Testament, thus proving that the Mosaic Law, with its formal prescriptions, by no means fulfils the whole purpose of God in his revelation to the world. As the New Testament would not have been complete without the message of the beloved disciple, so this Old Testament must have its song of love. Nor is it only the ideal and the heavenly love which is celebrated, but human affection itself is placed very high, because it is associated with that which is Divine. It is a more precious thing than mere wealth or worldly honour, and he that trifles with it deserves the utmost scorn and contempt of his fellows. It is well to remark how consistently the poetic framework is maintained. There is no attempt to leave the lines of human relations even at this point, whets evidently the sentiment rises above them. The love which is apostrophized is not removed from earth in order to be seen apart from all earthly imperfections and impurities. We are invited rather to look through the human to the Divine which embraces it and glorifies it. That. is the method of the Divine revelation throughout. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." We do not need to take Solomon’s Song as an allegory. It is a song of human love, but as such it is a symbol of that which is Divine. Son 8:8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? The term "little" refers, of course, to her tender age, as in 2 Kings 5:2, the "little maid;" and in Genesis 44:20, "a child of his old age, a little one," referring to Benjamin. "She hath no breasts" is equivalent to saying she is not yet mature, of marriageable age (see Ezekiel 16:7). The question which the bride asks of King Solomon refers to the promise which he is supposed to have made, and which he is virtually pledging himself to fulfil by this visit to the country home of his queen. "What shall be done for the advantage of my little sister? Let us consult together" (cf. Genesis 27:37; 1 Samuel 10:2; Isaiah 5:4). "The day when she shall be spoken for" is the day when she shall attract the attention of a suitor. It must necessarily be difficult to find satisfactory interpretations forevery detail in such a poem of human love as this. It might be sufficient to see in this reference to the younger sister the general idea of love’s expansion. Those who are themselves the objects of it, being full of exquisite happiness, desire to call others into the same joy. This is true both of the individual and of the Church. What shall be done for others? That is the question which is awakened in every heart where true love is at work. There is no need to explain the language further. But the allegorists have been very ingenious in attempting to find meanings forevery allusion of the poem. Who is the little sister? What is her virginity? What is the day in which she shall be spoken for? Some have said that the little sister represents the firstfruits of the Jews and Gentiles received into the Christian Church immediately after the time of our Lord’s ascension, as Beza and others. Some, again, take it to mean the whole body of Jews and Gentiles yet to be converted. Others would see in it those that are weak in faith, the beginners in Christian life. And, again, it has been regarded as pointing to the "daughter of Zion" at the time of the first beginnings of her conversion to the heavenly Solomon, which is the view of Hengstenberg and others. There is no end to such fancies. The broad general meaning is all that we can rest upon. The bride naturally thinks of her sister. It is a lovely incident in a perfectly idyllic poem. The visit to the home is quite in harmony with the fresh, pure, and simple life which reveals itself in all the utterances of the bride, and is honoured by the devoted attention of the splendid monarch. It is a real touch of nature when the young bride, in her family life once more, asks what shall become of her sister. It is an exquisite type of that sisterly solicitude with which all true Christians will care for the souls around them. Delitzsch thinks that the question which is asked by the bride is answered by her brothers, as they were the actual guardians of the little sister (see Genesis 21:1-34:50, 55; Genesis 34:6-8). But there is no necessity to introduce any new interlocutors at this point. The words are certainly addressed to Solomon. It is quite natural that he should reply to them in a royal style, with the pluralis majestatis which suits the corresponding position of the bride as a suppliant for her sister. Son 8:9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver: and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. The interpretation which Delitzsch suggests of these words is that the "wall" represents firmness of character, and the "door" weakness and insecurity. If she firmly and successfully withstands all immoral approaches, then we will bestow high honour upon her, as a tribute to her maidenly virtue and constancy. The turret or castle of silver would mean rewarding her with increase. Silver is the emblem of holiness, gold of nobility. The meaning may, however, merely be, "We will endow her with plenty." The boards of cedar are supposed to be special protections, as cedar is noted for its hardness and durability. But is not the meaning much simpler and more natural? It would be rather a far fetched use of the figure of a door that it should suggest seduction, and would be rather unsuitable in the lips of the bridegroom when speaking of the little sister of his own bride. May not the meaning be no more than this?—She may become one of the most substantial parts of the building, like a wall; in that ease all that she can be she shall be; we will put the highest honour upon her. She may be a door, that is, though not so great and substantial as the wall, still in the very front of the building and before the eyes of all. In that case we will beautify her with costly and fragrant adornment. The gate shall be enclosed in cedar wood. "The wall and the door," says Zockler, "are mostly understood of the steadfast and faithful keeping of the Word of God and of its zealous proclamation to the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 16:9, etc.); but some also explain them of the valiant in faith and the weak in faith, or of the learned and simple, or of faithful Christians and such as are recreant and easily accessible to the arts of seduction. And then, according to these various interpretations, the ’silver bulwarks’ are now the miracles of the first witnesses of Jesus, now the distinguished teachers of the Church, now pious Christian rulers, now the testimonies of Holy Scripture by which faith is strengthened. And, again, by the ’cedar boards’ are sometimes understood the ten commandments or the Law, sometimes Christian teachers, sometimes the examples of the saints, sometimes the salutary discipline of the cross and sufferings for Christ’s sake," etc. All such attempts at detailed interpretation fail to give satisfaction. Their effect is to repel many from the study of the book altogether, just as the follies and. extravagances of the interpreters of prophecy have greatly hindered the study of the prophetic Scriptures. The wall and the door need not be taken as opposed to one another, as they are not in our conceptions of a city. They fulfil different functions. The wall is for defence; the door is for admission. In the one case we think of strength, and in the other case of beauty. The application of the symbols is very easy if the general meaning alone is regarded. There is a variety of capacity and function in the Church of Christ. There are differences in the forms of Christianity among different nations. But the Lord will receive and bless all. Some are not fitted to be built upon as strong wails, but they may still be beautiful examples of Christian graces in the eyes of the world, through whom many gladly enter into the truth and into the fellowship of Christ. Son 8:10-12 I am a wall, and my breasts like the towers thereof: then was I in his eyes as one that found peace. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to brings a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, shalt have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. The meaning seems to be affectionate approval of the method just described. Solomon says, "If the young sister be, worthy of love, she shall receive more and more of defence and honour; she shall be all that I can make her." The bride takes up this thought. "So it is with me, and, in the spirit of thankful acknowledgments and praise, I will respond to all the favour of the king. King Solomon has loved me, and now I am rising higher and becoming more and more glorious because of his love." The typical reference can scarcely be missed. The Church, the bride of the Lamb, shines only in the light of him whose favour is life, and whose loving kindness is better than life. The comparison to a city with the walls and towers, while it would seem a little far fetched in a love song, is quite in place if the typical intention was in the mind of the writer. He was thinking of the city of God, "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth." "One that findeth peace" is the same as "one that findeth favour," that is, one who is the object of his affection. There are several references which confirm this, such as Esther 2:17; Deuteronomy 24:1; Jeremiah 31:2; Psalms 41:10. The word "peace" (shalom) is in all probability purposely chosen in this case as a kind of play on the name Solomon, which appears immediately afterwards. "The king of peace delights in me because I am peace in his eyes." The Church is after the image of the King. His likeness in her makes her beautiful. Men take knowledge of Christians that they have been with Jesus (see 1 Chronicles 22:9). It is scarcely necessary to point out that this language of the bride is entirely against the shepherd theory. She could not have talked of finding peace in his eyes if she was torn from her true lover. The bride then goes on to express her devotedness to the king and her desire to bring forth abundance for him. She uses as an example, which perhaps was typical in her time and country, some remarkably fruitful vineyard of the king’s. She will, in like manner, realize all his highest wishes. All that she has shall be his. The name Baal-hamon (בַּעַלחָמוֹן) in the LXX. Βεελαμών (cf. Judith 8:3), designates probably a place near to Sunem, somewhere to the north, on the further side of the Plain of Jezreeh The produce of the vineyard must have been very large, as every keeper was to bring in for himself a thousand shekels of silver. It is not stated how many keepers there were, but the word which is employed is not "servants," but "watchers, or overseers." A vineyard was divided into portions, with a certain definite prescribed number of vines in each portion. In Isaiah 7:23 we read, "And it shall come to pass in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings shall even be for briers and thorns." Now, a thousand silverlings was one shekel, so that if this passage can be taken as throwing light on what the bride says, it would imply that, instead of one shekel forevery thousand vines, every keeper brought a thousand shekels. That would seem impossible, so that the parallel can scarcely be strict. Perhaps the largeness of the vineyard is referred to, and each of the keepers would have many thousands of vines under his inspection. The general meaning, however, is not obscure. The vineyard was a celebrated one, and was taken as a typical instance of fertility and abundance. When the bride speaks of her vineyard which is before her, there may be an allusion to her previous manner of life as a rustic maiden employed in the vineyards, and to her own position as a keeper or as one of the family. But this is not intended to be prominently expressed. The whole spirit of the poem justifies the view that she is speaking of her person. She invited Solomon to rejoice in the beauty and fragrance of her garden, to pluck the fruits, to revel in the delights. Everything that is pleasant and lovely is before him (see So 4:12; Isaiah 5:1). Before me; that is, in my power is all this delight, and my desire is to my husband; all that I have is his. Like the far-famed keepers of Baal-hamon, I will give the king a thousand shekels, that is, the utmost that the vineyard can produce, and "those that keep the fruit thereof" shall have two hundred—perhaps meaning a hundred each, that is a tenth, which was the ancient tithe due to the priests. It may be, however, that a double tithe is intended. The king shall be satisfied, and all those who labour for the king shall be more than ever rewarded. If we take such words as typical, they point to a state of things in the history of the kingdom of God when the spiritual and the temporal shall be perfectly adjusted. The keepers of the vineyard have often made sad havoc of the vineyard itself because of their greedy discontent. The fruits which have been yielded by the Church have fallen very far short. The husbandmen have ill treated the Lord’s servants. But all the judgments which have been poured out both upon ancient Jews and upon the corrupt Christendom of later times have been directed to one end, to make the vineyard of the Lord more fruitful, to remove the things which are offensive in his sight, to satisfy him whose soul travailed for his people; for herein is the Father glorified in the Son, when them who bear the name of the Beloved "bear much fruit." Then the keepers of the vineyard will themselves rejoice, not that they reap a larger harvest of this world’s good, not "for filthy lucre’s sake," but because their hearts are one with his whose vineyard they keep, and to see the fruit abound is to fill them with joy. Surely we shall recognize in such language an anticipation of the many allusions which are found both in the prophets and psalms and in the discourses of our Lord himself. "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant" (Isaiah 5:7) Son 8:13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken for thy voice; cause me to hear it. There cannot be much doubt that these are the words of the bridegroom. They are addressed to the bride. She is the dweller in the gardens; that is, one who is at home in the gardens, whose beauty blends with the rural loveliness around her. The king wishes his bride to understand that she is only acceptable in his sight, and that all that she asks shall be granted. It is delightful to him to hear her voice, as it is delightful to those who have been accustomed to that voice from her childhood. "Dear country girl, sing to me, and let me revel in the sweetness of thy music. ’Thy companions hearken for it’—thy former associates, the playmates of thy youth. And while they gather round us, and you and I rejoice in one another, let the sound of thy voice mingle with the peaceful beauty of this earthly paradise." There is an exquisite tenderness in this conclusion of the poem. The curtain falls, as it were, upon a scene of mutual confidence and affection, the simplicity of the bride’s early home being lifted up into the royal splendour of the king’s presence, the companions beholding and praising, while, in the midst of all that sunny bliss and peaceful content, the voice of the Bride is heard singing one of the old, familiar strains of love with which she poured out her heart in the days when her beloved came to find her in her home. It is impossible to conceive a more perfect conclusion. It leads up our thoughts to the laud of light and song, where "the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be the Shepherd" of those who shall "hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat;" "and he shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:16, Revelation 7:17). It is sad to think that Solomon himself fell from such an ideal of human affection, and was unfaithful to such a bride. But there is no need to trouble the clear, transparent beauty of this typical poem by any reference to the incidents of the writer’s own history. He placed it on the altar of God, no doubt, at a time when it represented sincere feelings in his heart, and because he was inspired to see that it would be profitable to the people of God as a mirror in which they could behold the reflection of the highest truth. But though he himself fell away from his high place as a prophet of God, the words which he left behind him were still a precious gift to the Church. It is otherwise with him who is typified by the earthly monarch. He who is the heavenly Bridegroom has himself to lift up the weakness and fickleness of his bride by fellowship with her, until she is above the reach of temptation, and partaker of his own glory. And he does so, as this exquisite poem reminds us, by the power of his love. It is the personal influence of the Lord Jesus Christ which must glorify the Church and restore it to its original simplicity and spirituality. The scene into which we are led in this story of bridal affection typifies a state of the Church when the artificiality of court life shall be abandoned, the magnificence of mere external pomp and ritual shall be left behind, and the bride shall simply delight herself in the Bridegroom among the pure and peaceful surroundings of a country home. The Church will realize the greatness of her power when she is delivered from that which hides her Saviour, when she is simply human and yet entirely spiritual; then the Lord of her life, the second Adam, the perfect Man, who is from heaven and in heaven, but still on earth, changing earth to heaven by his love, will fulfil his promise. "He not merely concludes the marriage covenant with mankind, but likewise preserves, confirms, refines, and conducts it step by step to its ideal consummation, which is at the same time the palingenesia and perfection of humanity." Son 8:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. This is a snatch of the old love songs which the bride used to sing when love was fresh and young. She sings it now at the request of her bridegroom himself, and in the delighted ears of her companions. She goes forth from among, them leaning on her beloved, to rejoice in the beautiful scenery and rural pleasures with him whose presence heightens every joy, the life of her life, the soul of her soul, "all her salvation, all her desire." The bridegroom and the bride are seen disappearing together over the flowery hills; and the music of the Song of Songs dies away in the sweet fragrance of that closing scene; the vision of love has, gazelle-like, leapt from point to point, and vanishes away at last among the mountains of spices. It is well to notice that what were before "mountains of Berber," that is, of "separation," are now "mountains of Besamin"—balsam mountains. There is no more word of separation. Henceforth the only note is one of peaceful enjoyment. "My beloved is mine, and I am his." Our home and haunt is the same. The concluding words, we cannot doubt, are intended to open a perfect future to the eye. Yet the poet, with consummate art, connects that future with the past and the present by the voice of the bride heard singing the love song with which she first expressed her love, now lifted up into anticipation of the everlasting hills of fragrant and joyful life. Son 8:1-4 Wishes of the bride. 1. That she had known the bridegroom always. The bride continues the address of Son 7:1-13. She is still speaking to the king, telling him of her love. He had again and again called her his sister—his sister-bride. She now wishes that he were to her as a brother; that they could have been children of the same mother; that they could have known one another from infancy. So in the close union of love between husband and wife there comes sometimes such a longing, a desire that each could have known the other from the beginning; that instead of the years in which they were strangers, and never heard one another’s voice, or touched one another’s hand, they had always lived together, and known one another through and through in all the varied experiences of child life, of girlhood or of boyhood; sometimes there comes a sort of innocent envy of the brothers or sisters who then knew one or other of the wedded pair when they were unknown to one another. The bride wishes that she had always thus known the bridegroom; that she could have loved him always with a sisterly affection; that their mutual endearments might have been, like those of brothers and sisters, without shame, attracting no observation. How often the converted soul longs with an intense longing that it had always from the beginning known and loved the heavenly Bridegroom! How utterly wasted and lost those years now seem which were spent without that knowledge of Christ which is eternal life! How ardently we wish that they could be blotted out of our remembrance, with all their ignorance and all their sins, as we humbly hope that through the atonement of the precious blood they are blotted out from the handwriting "that was against us, that was contrary to us" (Colossians 2:14)! Blessed be God we have his holy promise, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee" (Isaiah 44:22). We know that in his gracious mercy he so putteth away the sins of them that truly repent that he remembereth them no more (Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 10:17). But though we believe in the forgiveness of sins, and thank God heartily for that blessed revelation of his love, yet we cannot but long—and that the more earnestly the nearer we draw to him—that we had always known him with the knowledge of faith and love, that we had always remembered him, that we had kept our heart pure from other loves, and loved him always. There is a difference between the love of the forgiven penitent and the love of saints like Enoch or Samuel, who, as far as human imperfection allows, have always in the main bent and purpose of their lives striven to walk with God. The love of the penitent is more demonstrative, more passionate—if the word may be used, more enthusiastic; the love of men like Samuel is calmer, quieter, fuller, dominating the entire life in all its pursuits and amusements; and just because it is not intermittent, but uniform, it is not so much observed of men. The still waters run deepest; the interpenetration of the heart by the long-continued influences of the Holy Spirit, without any marked and sudden change visible to the eyes of men, produces a very high type of Christian character. Enoch seems to have walked with God all his life. "He was not, for God took him;" "He had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Hebrews 11:5). It is a poor offering to give the dregs of our life to God, when the evil days when the temptations of youth have lost their power over us; "when the evil days come, and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). A life dedicated to God from early childhood must be a thing well pleasing in his sight, as Holy Scripture tells us it was in the case of Enoch. Such a life is very rare, and we may well be full of thankfulness to Almighty God for his gracious promises to the penitent sinner. He "will not despise the broken and the contrite heart." "If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live." We thank God for these gracious words. If we have been called at the sixth or at the eleventh hour, it is enough to fill us with adoring gratitude; we wonder, as we look back upon the past, that God bore with us so long in our sin and unbelief; we thank him with all our heart for his long suffering mercy. But when we remember that sin and that unbelief, we cannot but long that we had given to God those lost and wasted years; that we had remembered our Creator in the days of our youth, and not grieved the Holy Spirit of God by so many transgressions, so much coldness and hardness of heart. 2. That she had brought him into her mother’s house. Those lost years involved the loss of many opportunities of doing good to others. The bride, had she known the bridegroom in early youth, would have brought him, she says, into her mother’s house. There (she adds in what seems to be the best reading) "thou shouldest instruct me." How much good we might have done in our families, among our friends, if we had given our earliest years to God, if we had lived then as in his presence, and had carried the consciousness of that presence, with all the feelings of awe and reverence and love which attend it, always with us in our family life, in our dealings with relations and friends; if we had given him of our best, and willingly offered up for his service all that we most prized and valued, how much calmer, holier, happier, our life would have been! For he would have instructed us. He bids us learn of him. He is the great Teacher, the Master. "All thy children," he says, "shall be taught of the Lord: and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isaiah 54:13). 3. The bride repeats the aspirations of So Son 2:7. If we had listened to that instruction from the time when we were first made his disciples, if we had given him from the beginning that for which he thirsted—our affections, our heart’s love—then he would now be wholly ours; "his left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me." That blessed union with the Saviour, growing ever nearer and closer, is the object of the deepest longings of the Christian soul. We think sometimes that if only we had always loved him and walked with him, our walk now might be very close with God; we might have attained to that calm and serene trustfulness which is the privilege of his saints; we might have found rest for our souls in the embrace of his holy love. But though we have greatly sinned, and have lost much through past neglect and unbelief, yet even now that blessed rest is not beyond our grasp. It was to Mary Magdalene, out of whom the Lord had cast seven devils, that those words were said which seemed at first severe and forbidding, but really involved the promise of a holier union, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto my Father." She was about to embrace his feet, to cling to the human form of him who had done such great things for her. The Lord implies a promise of a better, spiritual communion. When he had ascended into heaven, when he had sent down the blessed Spirit that he might abide forever with his Church, then the believing soul might touch him with the touch of faith; might cling to him with a holler, a more blessed embrace.; then he would be with us all the days, guiding, strengthening, comforting. his left hand under our head to support us when we seem to be ready to fall, his right hand embracing us to shield us from all evil, to assure us of his love. 4. The thrice-repeated charge to the daughters of Jerusalem. The bride’s longings for the tokens of the bridegroom’s love again arouse her feelings of maidenly reserve: as in So Son 2:7 and Son 3:5, she bids her virgin friends not to stir up or awaken love until it please to manifest itself. The Christian’s aspirations after the abiding presence of God arouse in him feelings of reverential awe. He will remember the Lord’s caution, "Touch me not;" he will avoid expressions of love which savour too much of merely human tenderness; he will shrink instinctively from any approach to familiarity; he will remember that the Lord Jesus is the Word of God, the King, the Judge of all; he will be reverent in all his approaches to the Saviour; he will endeavour to instil reverence into those around him by example, by tone, by manner, by word. We must wait on the Lord until he pleases to manifest himself; we must not be impatient; we must learn to Say with the psalmist, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God" (Psalms 42:11). Son 8:5-14 Entire union of wedded love. I. OF THE AND THE BRIDE. 1. Approach of the bride. "Who is this?" The question is asked for the third time (see So Son 3:6; Son 6:10). In So Son 3:6 the chorus of youths asks the question as the bride is borne in royal state to meet the king in the city of his kingdom; it occurs again in So Son 6:10, when the maidens of the chorus are struck with admiration of her queenlike, majestic beauty. Now, apparently, we have a narrative of a visit to the scenes of the bride’s early life, according to her invitation in So Son 7:11; and the question, "Who is this?" is repeated once more. Here the circumstances are changed; there is no magnificence as in Son 3:1-11.; the bride is alone with the king; she is seen coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved. So the Church, the bride of Christ, cometh up from the wilderness, leaning on the heavenly Bridegroom. So the Church of the Old Testament went up from Babylon when the wilderness was glad for them, when the ransomed of the Lord returned and went up with singing to Zion. So the Church of the New Testament came up from the wilderness of persecution, leaning on the strength of Christ; so the same Church shall come up at the call of the same holy Saviour to the heavenly Zion when that blessed promise is fulfilled, "Upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Hades, the abode of the dead, shall not be able to retain within its grasp the bride of Christ. For he saith, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave [Sheol, or Hades]; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O grave, where is thy destruction? Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes" (Hosea 13:14). And so now each Christian soul cometh up, one after another, out of the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved. When he calls us and bids us come to him, we feel that the world is indeed a wilderness; that it hath nothing to satisfy our cravings, our needs. And the soul cometh, drawn by the Saviour’s love. "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." The soul cometh up; it is a continual ascent. As the Lord was lifted up from the earth, so the soul cometh up, away from the world, nearer to the cross. Christ is calling us upwards. The holiness to which he bids us aspire is very high; it seems above our reach; it can be reached only by persevering effort; by climbing, little by little, ever higher; by making all the little matters of daily life opportunities of self-denial, means of disciplining our human wills into submission to the holy will of God. The effort must be continuous, conscious, real; there must be no looking back to the wilderness; no hankering after the flesh pots of Egypt; no longing for the other masters, the world, the flesh, and the devil, which we renounced when we gave our heart to Christ. The soul cometh up from the wilderness. It is a solemn thing; a sight which causes joy in heaven, for the angels know the meaning of that ascent; they know the perils of the wilderness, the utter vanity of its seeming pleasures; they know the toil, the difficulty of that ascent; they know the great glory and gladness reserved for those that have achieved it; they know, too, how very precious every Christian soul is in the sight of the Lord, who bought it with his blood. At rest in heaven themselves, they watch with a deep interest the heavenward progress of each true disciple of the Lord. The long procession upwards of the ransomed saints must be a spectacle of varied and intense interest in the presence of the angels of God. And they see what was once seen by the King of Babylon, "Behold, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Daniel 3:25). The angels see that each soul that cometh up is leaning on her Beloved. The journey is long and wearisome; the ascent is steep and rugged; but the soul that has found Christ, and clung to him with the embrace of faith—the soul that can say, "My Beloved is mine, and I am his," is not left alone in its weakness. There is a strong arm, unseen by the outward eye, but felt and realized by faith; there is a hand stretched forth to help—the hand that once caught the sinking Peter, and lifted him up out of the depths. Each faithful soul leaneth on her Beloved. We need that support always, at every point of the long, wearisome path; at every step of the toilsome, upward climbing. Without Christ we can do nothing; we sink backwards; we become listless and slothful. But while we feel his presence while by faith we lean upon him, resting our weakness on his strength, then our progress is assured. We need that presence always, in all the little trials of our daily lives, in the greater sorrows and perplexities that emerge from time to time. That presence transfigures our life, turning troubles into blessings; making sorrows so many steps upwards, ever nearer to God. To realize that presence, the Lord Jesus must be "my Beloved;" I must give him my whole heart; I must know him with that holy knowledge with which the true sheep know the good Shepherd; and to gain the excellency of that blessed knowledge I must be content, like St. Paul, to count all things else as dross, as very dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him. "I need thy presence every passing hour: What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power? Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me. "I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; Where is death’s sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me." 2. The voice of the bridegroom. According to the present pointing of the Hebrew, the second clause of Son 3:5 is an utterance of the bride. Many of the Fathers and other Christian writers assign it to the bridegroom. This last arrangement seems by far the most natural. The king points out the birthplace of the bride; he recalls to her remembrance an incident of their early attachment—he shows her the tree under which they first met. So man and wife now, when united in a happy marriage, love to visit the early haunts of one another, and especially the places endeared to both by the memory of their first vows and promises. So to the Christian those places must be always full of sacred interest where the heavenly Bridegroom first won the love of his bride, the Church—Bethlehem, Gethsemane, Calvary. So to each Christian soul those spots are hallowed ground which are connected with events in our own religious life our baptism, our confirmation, our first communion; or associated with any great and abiding impressions or influences for good which Almighty God has been pleased to grant to us from time to time. 3. The response of the bride. The bride is leaning on the bridegroom’s arm; perhaps she was reclining her head upon his breast. She would ever remain in that dear embrace, near to him as the seal which was attached to the arm or neck. The seal of the king had great weight and value; it gave his authority to the document which bore it (Daniel 7:17); it was precious and sacred, and would, of course, be jealously guarded. The king himself would wear it; it would be fastened on his arm, or it would be suspended from his neck and rest upon his heart. There the bride would ever be, encircled with her husband’s arms, pressed close to his heart; it is her rightful place, for she is bound to him by the indissoluble ties of holy wedlock. So the Church, the bride of Christ, clings to her Lord. Without him she can do nothing; but, borne up in the everlasting arms, she hath a strength not her own. She would be near to him as a seal. She hath the seal of God, for she is "sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance" (Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 1:14). She is God’s foundation upon the holy hills (Psalms 87:1), built upon the Rock of ages; and "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). So each Christian longs to be borne up in the arms of Christ—those arms that were opened wide upon the cross, as if to fold his chosen in the embrace of his love; so each Christian longs to rest, as once St. John rested, upon the Saviour’s breast; to be dear to him, cherished as a seal that lies in its owner’s bosom; so each Christian hopes to bear the impress of that sacred seal stamped more and more deeply into his inner life, that being now sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, he may one day stand among the blessed, sealed with the seal of the living God upon his forehead (Revelation 7:3). 4. Her praise of love. Why does she desire to be so close to the bridegroom, to be as a seal upon his heart? Because, she says, "love is strong as death." She has given him her love, and that love entirely fills and dominates her soul; she has taken him to be her husband till death; she loves him with a love like that of Ruth: "The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me" (Rth 1:17). That love, strong as death, the love of those wedded souls who in true affection have plighted their troth, either to other, "till death us do part," is a figure of the holy love that is betwixt Christ and his Church. Indeed, the love of the heavenly Bridegroom was stronger than death; stronger than a death of lingering torture, a death of ignominy and horror. "We love him, because he first loved us." His Church, drawn by the constraining power of his most holy love, has striven to return it. Many of his saints have loved him with a love strong as death; they have proved by the martyr’s death the strength of their love. How should we have acted if we had lived in those days of fiery trial? It is a question which we should often and earnestly press upon ourselves, for the Lord has taught us that "he that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:25). St. Stephen, and the long line of saints who followed him, the noble army of martyrs, loved not their lives unto the death. How would it be with the many half-hearted, careless Christians who come to church, and call themselves disciples of the crucified Saviour, but have not learned to take up the cross and deny themselves for his sake—how would it be with them if they were suddenly summoned to choose between Christ and death? Which of us would be faithful unto death? Which of us would deny his Lord? It is an awful question—a question full of the deepest interest; for it is only such a love, a love strong as death, which can give us strength to overcome temptation, and to fight the good fight of faith. He who for the love of Christ endures hardness now, who puts aside his own wishes, and does habitually for Christ’s sake things which but for the love of Christ he would not have done; he who habitually for Christ’s sake leaves undone things which but for the love of Christ he would have gladly done,—he is learning to love Christ with a love strong as death, a love which is giving him strength to kill out of his heart worldly thoughts and earthly ambitions, so that, dying unto the world, he may live unto Christ. We must all pray and strive for that love strong as death; it should be the object of our highest ambition, our most fervent longing. We need it now as much as the Mints and martyrs of the Lord needed it in the old times. For if they had to lay down their lives for Christ, we have now to give him our hearts, our lives; and to do that always, in times of anxiety, or sickness, or lassitude, requires a great love; a love strong as death; a love which we can only learn of the Master who loved us with a love stronger than death, who himself set us the high example of self-sacrificing love, and now helps and teaches us by the gracious influences of the Holy Ghost, the other Comforter, whom he sendeth to abide forever with his people. Love is strong as death, and jealousy is hard as the grave (Sheol, or Hades). Death is strong; he is the last enemy, the king of terrors. Hades is hard and stern; it is rapacious; it hath never enough; it holds its prisoners firm. But love is strong as death and Hades. Christ, who is Love, hath overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; the gates of Hades shall not prevail against his Church. Neither death nor life can separate from his love those who love him with a true love, a love strong as death; they, too, are more than conquerors through him who loved them. And when love is strong as death, the jealousy (in the good sense of the word), which is one of its developments, is hard, tenacious, as Hades. God is love, the infinite love, and he is a jealous God. "Thou shalt worship no other God: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14). He asks for our whole heart; he is jealous of a divided service; he will not accept a service to be shared with another master. Such a service is stigmatized in Holy Scripture with the stern name of adultery. "Ye adulteresses," says St. James, in language of awful severity, "know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?… Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The Spirit which he hath made to dwell within us, jealously yearneth after us?" or, as the words may also be rendered, "he jealously yearneth for the spirit which he made to dwell within us" (James 4:4, James 4:5). God once breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. He gave to man as his distinguishing possession s spirit. "I pray God," says St. Paul to the Thessalonians, "that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). That spirit, his special gift, should be wholly his. It is that part of our complex nature which is receptive of the Holy Spirit of God, which, when illumined by his presence, can attain unto such knowledge of God as is now granted to us ("Now we see through a glass, darkly … now I know in part," 1 Corinthians 13:12), and dwell in communion with God. God jealously desires the possession of that spirit. Therefore the Christian’s love for God must be a jealous love; he must be very jealous of the intrusion of other loves, other ambitions, into the heart, which should be given wholly to God; he must keep his heart for God with a godly jealousy (see 2 Corinthians 11:2)—jealousy stern as that with which Hades retains its prisoners. And this holy jealousy is ardent, too—ardent as flames of fire; "a very flame of the Lord" (verse 6, Revised Version). For its ardour comes from him; it is he who gives that ardent zeal—that zeal for the Lord which has urged his holiest servants to do and dare such great things for his love’s sake. The great love of the Lord Jesus for our souls calls for something more than the lukewarmness of Laodicea. "Be zealous," it says to us; "be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:19). The name of God occurs only in this one place in the song; we read it here in the shortened form (Jah) of the adorable name, as if to teach us the sacred lesson of the disciple whom Jesus loved, that "God is love: and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). Holy love comes only from him. "Love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (1 John 4:7). Such love cannot be quenched. It is so even with pure human love. "Many waters cannot quench it, neither can the floods drown it." The many waters of trouble, suffering, old age, cannot stifle love; it lives on still. It cannot be bought. "If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, he would utterly be contemned." Love cannot be bought or forced; it is essentially free and spontaneous; it springs up spontaneously in the heart ("when it pleases," verse 4; also So James 2:7; James 3:5), in response to love, at the presence of an object capable of calling it forth. So it is with the holy love of God. God’s love for us cannot be quenched. The many waters of our unbelief, ingratitude, and sin have not—blessed be his holy Name—quenched his gracious love. It cannot be bought; we cannot buy it with earthly gifts, with gold or silver, or external good works; it is given freely, graciously, and it abides in those who live in the faith of the Son of God. Our love for God is a faint reflection of his blessed love for us. It is called forth by that holy love. "We love him, because he first loved us." The waters of trouble and sorrow and temptation cannot drown it if it is true and real. These verses are the Old Testament psalm of love (see Psalms 45:1-17, title), corresponding to 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 or the First Epistle of St. John, in the New Testament. They have a singular power and beauty; they are treasured in the memories of God’s people; they have brought peace and comfort to many a death bed. II. OF THE BRIDE. 1. For her sister. The bride has a sister not yet of marriageable years. What shall be done for her? If she be a wall, firm and steadfast, she shall be richly dowered; but if she be a door, too easily opened, too accessible, she must be carefully guarded. The bride herself is a wall, strong and steadfast in her virtue; therefore it was that she found peace in the bridegroom’s eyes. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/