Song of Sol. vii. 6, according to the Septuagint. It is very doubtful, however, whether the LXX. themselves held the meaning drawn from their version by Augustin. It seems all to depend on where they inserted the point of interrogation (;); and the mss. vary. The Vatican, that in common use, places it after ἀγάπη (love), which could hardly have been Augustin’s reading. Other mss. place it at the end of the verse, making the whole a single sentence, as in our English version. Augustin must have found the point immediately after ἡδύνθης (“thou art pleasant”), thus disjoining ἀγάπη from what precedes, and making it, with ἐν τρυφαῖς σου, a clause by itself. The Masoretic punctuation of the Hebrew gives some grounds for Augustin’s reading: for there is a larger disjunctive accent over נעמה (“thou art pleasant”), indicating the central pause of the verse; while the minor disjunctive under אהבה may only be intended to make up by emphasis for the abruptness of the language.—Tr.