1. THE Song of songs, which is Solomon's. 2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: For thy love is better than wine. 3. Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is as ointment poured forth; Therefore do the virgins love thee. 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. 5. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon. 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. 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 be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions? 1. 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." Which is Solomon's. 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. 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. Redford. The poem is entitled "Song of Songs," par excellence, as in the parallel expressions—heaven 8. 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. 9. I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh's chariots. 10. Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, Thy neck with strings of jewels. 11. We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver. 12. While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance. 13. My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts. 14. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of hennaflowers In the vineyards of En-gedi. 15. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves. 16. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our couch is green. 17. The beams of our house are cedars, And our rafters are firs. of heavens, King of kings, Holy of holies. It is a superlative song, in which everything is at its best. Gardens, fountains, flowers, fruits, spices, love, beauty, marriage, the joy of spring, the song of birds, these are in many songs; but in this there is a profusion of excellence—a garden of nuts, an orchard of pomegranates, beds of spices, a mountain of myrrh, a hill of frankincense, flowers the most admired, beauty the most perfect, the beloved altogether lovely, the bride all fair and undefiled, the love strong as death, the marriage a royal marriage; everything choice and incomparable. D. F. The Bride in the King's Chambers. Chaps. 1:2; 2:7. 2-4. The Prologue. The Song commences with two stanzas recited in praise of the king (now absent) by a chorus of virgins belonging to the royal household (henceforth companions and attendants of the bride), to whose sentiments of admiration and love they give expression before she speaks herself. The alternate use of singular and plural ("me," "we," "the virgins") shows that we have here the song of a chorus, not of the bride speaking in her own person. Each stanza ends with the refrain, "they love thee." Expositors, Jewish and Christian, interpret the whole as spoken by the Church of the heavenly bridegroom. T. L. K. 2. Wine and the fragrance of sweet spices filled the highest ideal of things delightful. We need not wonder, therefore, that the charms of the beloved one were set forth in such terms in a nuptial song. Translating them into the language of the Christian heart, we might put it thus: "Oh, for some manifestations of my Saviour's presence and love! His work meets every want of my nature and of my case as a lost soul. His name, therefore, embodies every excellence; His favor is more to me than all the universe beside. Give me the witness of His love, and take away all else you will, yet I am more than blessed." 4. "Draw me; so will we run after thee." It will be seen that this is prayer. Considered as prayer, it implies conscious weakness and a sense of dependence for help. Now the thing to be noted is that this is precisely Christian experience. Every really Christian heart cries out to God, saying, Draw me more and more into a deeper, purer love; apply to my soul the strong attractions of Thine own love, by the power of Thine own Divine Spirit; then I may safely promise that I will run after Thee. H. C. There is one point on the very face of the text which it is important to notice. We may come to God collectively, but we are drawn to God each one individually. Draw me; we will run after Thee. Notice how this effectual drawing will begin to show itself in those who have been, indeed, the subjects of it. Obedience to an impulse of God will be instant. A "drawing" never takes effect to-morrow. Real religion is always in the present tense. It is Abraham's "Here am I!" It is Isaiah's "Send me!" It is Christ's "Lo, I come!" The man who is really drawn so loves the drawing that he always wants to be drawn more and more. He finds that it is so pleasant. He is always trying to get nearer. Therefore he is a man of much prayer, because he is nearer at such times. He wants oneness, closeness, and identity with Christ. J. Vaughan. Into his chambers. Made me a member of his household. This is true of every member of the chorus as well as of the bride. T. L. K.—Make mention of thy love. When the soul is inflamed with the love of God, that affection will be active and discover itself in all it does or suffers in the service of God. Bates.—Love cares not what it is nor what it does, so that it may but advance the Lord Jesus. It makes the soul willing to be a footstool for Christ; to be anything, to be nothing, that Christ may be all in all. T. Brooks. If we would grow in love for Christ, we must let our thoughts rest on His love for us, rather than on our love or on our lack of love for Him. Any contemplation of our own hearts, in their relation to our Saviour is heart-chilling, is heart-contracting; but any contemplation of our Saviour's abounding love for us is heart-warming and heart-expanding. The practical question for each soul is not, Do you love Christ? but, Do you realize how wonderfully Christ loves you? S. S. T. Oh my God, love is Thy great and special gift. All good is from Thee. Come down into this heart, for it cannot come up to Thee! Dwell in me by the Spirit of love, and I shall dwell by love in Thee. Through Thy grace I love Thy Word, Thy image, Thy work, and how heartily do I love to love Thee, and long to know and love Thee more. And if "all things be of Thee, and through Thee, and to Thee," surely this love is eminently so. It means Thee, Lord. It looks to Thee; it serves Thee; for Thee it moves and seeks and sighs; in Thee it trusts; and the hope and peace and comfort which support me are in Thee. Baxter. The Bride and the Daughters of Jerusalem. Vs. 5-8. A rustic maiden, lately brought into the king's chambers, makes excuse to the chorus for her rude appearance and dark complexion, while innocently acknowledging the beauty which commends her to the king. T. L. K. 5. The expressions are to be divided as is sometimes the case in Hebrew diction, "I am black as the tents of Kedar, but comely as the curtains of Solomon." Bishop Lowth.—Volney says, the tents of the Bedouin Arabs, woven of goats or camel's hair, are black or brown. Parkhurst.—The tents of the wild Arabs are to this day of a very dark or black color, being made of the shaggy hair of their black goats. D'Avieux. 6. Look not upon me. In wonder or scorn at my swarthy hue. It was acquired in enforced but honest toil, the sun hath scanned me (or, "glared upon me") with his burning eye. She uses here a different word from that rendered "look" above, a word twice found in Job (20:9; 28:7), and indicating in the latter place the piercing glance of a bird of prey. My mother's children; or, sons, a more affectionate designation than "brothers," and implying the most intimate relationship. Children of the same mother are wont (in the polygamic East even more than with us) to be specially attached to one another. Were angry with me. Comparing 8:12, and note there, we may conjecture that this anger was but a form of jealous care for their sister's safety. They sought by engaging her in rustic labors to preserve her from idleness and temptation, albeit with a temporary loss of outward comeliness. Mine own vineyard; literally, my vineyard which is mine. These, her first words, exhibit the bride's candor and simplicity. She next addresses the still absent beloved one. T. L. K. They made me. A great deal of religious and benevolent work is done evidently as unto man, and not as unto God. We neglect our own vineyards because others call us away, and we obey. We become engrossed. We become too ardent. We are keeping the vineyards of others, just, perhaps, that it may be said that we are keeping their vineyards, and that we may have the praise of the fruit of the vineyard, or that we may please those who are connected with the vineyard. The occasion of self-neglect is suggested in these words: "They made me keeper of the vineyards." S. Martin. Not merely made keeper; you may be put into an office, yet fail to do its duties faithfully and well. But the suggestion here plainly is, that the vineyards of others were diligently kept, while by a fatality which might be thought unparalleled, if it were not one of the commonest of things, the vineyard at home was neglected. Probably there are few who have reached middle age, and have incurred the responsibilities of domestic life, who can think of the text without some inward self-reproach. The matter is one of wide concern when we remember that every Sunday-school teacher, every visitor of the sick or the poor, every human being who is called to say a word of warning to an erring creature, or a word of encouragement to a weary one, every father and mother whose example and conversation and entire life, to its least detail, may affect the impressionable nature of their child, is called to keep the vineyard at home, if they would not have it scatter the slight seeds of mighty evil wide and far. We are all of us watched by far more eyes than we think of; and spiritual characteristics in us may reappear in those who have no intention of imitating us, but who insensibly fall into ways which they continually see. The great lesson of the text is, care for your own soul; care for the souls of your children; care for the souls of your friends; care for the souls of all you know and do not know. Every vineyard under the wide skies, where you can pull up a weed or cast one good seed, the smallest—of that vineyard God has made you keeper. So much the more diligently see that you keep your own; so much the more earnestly, as you would successfully mind the things of others, look to yourself. A. K. H. B. 7. Tell me. She seems to dread a public reception by the king, and would fain meet him alone. Whom my soul loveth. A phrase recurring several times in chap. 3:1-5. It expresses great intensity of affection. "Thou whom my soul loveth, so I call Thee; for the whole universe of rational creatures were unable to express Thy name." Gregory of Nyssa. 8. The chorus are the speakers here. Their meaning seems to be, If thy beloved be indeed a shepherd, as thou callest him, then seek him yonder among other shepherds, but if a king, thou wilt find him here in his royal dwelling. Thus invoked, the Beloved appears and addresses the bride. This section consists of two stanzas of equal length (vs. 9-11 and 12-14). It is regarded (as well as that which follows, 1:15; 2:7) by the ancient commentators (both Jewish and Christian) as expressing “the love of espousals” (Jer. 2:2) between the Holy One and His Church, T. L. K. 9. This comparison will not be deemed coarse when it is considered what beautiful and delicate creatures the Eastern horses are, and how highly they are valued. It is very remarkable that a Greek poet, Theocritus, has made use of a similar comparison to a Thessalian steed to express the beauty of Helen. Bishop Percy. 9-11. Thus the king expresses his admiration of her beauty. Solomon imported his chariot horses from Egypt, models of beauty in form and of grace in motion. It is noticeable that the king himself provides for his bride the richest ornaments of gold and silver to set off her personal beauty. The corresponding spiritual facts are obvious. 12-14. The bride responds. Her admiration and affection find expression in terms borrowed from the sweet odors and lovely flowers of her native clime. In v. 13 her thought is unexceptionably pure and fine. Her beloved is a bundle of odoriferous myrrh which she binds upon her bosom to wear it permanently there, where its perfumes may regale her with perpetual delight. This bundle of myrrh was placed there for its fragrance—admirably representing the precious associations that cluster about the name and memorial of Jesus in every Christian's heart. His very name is fragrant with all sweet odors, exhaling the breath of heaven. H. C. The Beloved and the Bride. Chaps. 1 : 15-17; 2 : 1-7. A dialogue ensues between the king and the bride, commencing with six responsive couplets, in which each in succession develops the thought or returns the commendations of the other (1 : 15-2 : 3). It is noteworthy that almost every term of praise and endearment here employed may be exactly paralleled by those elsewhere made use of in Scripture to describe the relations of Israel or the Church to the Heavenly Bridegroom. 15. The king speaks : Lo, thou art beautiful (the same word as in Ezek. 16 : 13, 14, 15, 25). Compare Psalms 45 : 11, "So shall the king desire thy beauty." Outward beauty is of course the first here thought of ; but in the bride this outward fairness is accompaniment of an inward beauty indicated in the following : "Thine eyes are doves," innocent, meek, and loving. The bride is herself called "a dove" (2 : 14 ; 6 : 9). T. L. K.—To understand the force of this expression, we must not refer it to our common doves or pigeons, but to the doves of Syria, which have large and beautiful eyes. Those who have seen the fine Eastern bird, the carrier pigeon, will require no further commentary on this verse. Sir T. Browne.—The eyes show more than any part else the inward affections of the mind ; and doves' eyes are the emblems of simplicity, candor, sincerity, and purity. Bishop Patrick. 16. The bride replies : Lo, thou art beautiful, my beloved ; compare Isa. 5 : 1, "song of my beloved," and 33 : 17, "thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty ;" both, perhaps, conscious references to this Song, Isaiah being the only prophet who thus speaks of the Holy One of Israel as dōdi ("my beloved," Vulgate), the term constantly employed by the bride throughout the Song to designate him "whom her soul loveth." Yea, pleasant. More than corporeally beautiful, full of moral grace and charm. So Psalms 27 : 4 and 90 : 17 speak of the pleasantness of the Lord, using the same word. "Christ is beautiful," says Bede, "in His divinity, pleasant in His humanity ;" "beautiful in His own nature," says Bernard, "pleasant as manifested to us in grace." Green. Or, "flourishing." The epithet is appropriate for a bank or natural bed of grass and flowers, on which we may imagine the bride to be seated with the king, but not for an article of furniture, an ordinary couch or bed. 17. The king replies, in reference to the last words of the bride : The beams of our houses here are cedars ; our galleries are cypresses, i.e., the tall umbrageous forest-trees shut us in, as we sit together on this grassy bed, like the roof and walls of a many-chambered house, while cypress avenues on every side seem like the long-drawn corridors of a stately palace. The words are often assigned to the bride from not observing this sense and the antiphonal character of the whole passage. T. L. K. The reader will not fail to notice that the love portrayed in this song between the two parties is mutual and the expression of it is promptly responsive, each vying with the other in terms of endearment and in assurances of affection. So the Lord through Jeremiah (2 : 2, 3) said of Israel : "I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness. Israel was holiness unto the Lord." H. C. In Solomon's Song we have a representation of the highest of all earthly affections in its supreme passion and purity ; the very ideal of the reciprocal love of two human beings for each other in body, soul, and spirit. And in this we have an inspired representation of the great ideal of spiritual love—the mutual love between Christ and His Church. God's love for His Church is early represented under the image of sponsal affection, with its beautiful weakness as well as strength. "The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." This sweet and solemn idea revived ages after its first expression, and kept clothing itself in a poetry which drew its riches from historical events. In the forty-fifth Psalm—that song upon "lilies," of "lovely things"—where inspiration surges joyously from the Psalmist's lips, the application becomes too clear to admit of serious discussion: "King's daughters were among thy honorable women." And then with echoes from the Book of Ruth, coming thick and fast, "Hearken, O daughter, and consider; incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: for He is thy Lord, and worship thou Him." Again and again we have those unspeakably tender passages in the prophetic Scriptures, where the Almighty deigns to represent Himself as bearing the same relation to His Church which the spouse bears to the betrothed. Especially is it to be noticed that, in the Hebrew Canon, the concise and pathetic Hosea comes next after the Canticles. In a series of unmistakable allusions, the faithlessness of the actual Israel is put in contrast with the love of the ideal Israel. In Hosea the Song of Songs is given back in sighs. This view of a large portion of the Old Testament makes it in the highest degree probable that when we come to a song, of which we are told that it is Solomon's, and "the most excellent of songs," and of which we know that it alone has been preserved out of a thousand and five, it should be intended for the Divine song of a Divine love. Bishop W. Alexander. 1. I AM a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys. 2. As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. 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. 4. He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love. 5. Stay ye me with raisins, comfort me with apples: For I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, 6. And his right hand doth embrace me. 7. 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. 8. The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 9. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: Behold, he standeth behind our wall, He looketh in at the windows, He sheweth himself through the lattice. 10. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11. For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone; 12. 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; 13. 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. 14. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place, Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 15. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom. 16. My beloved is mine, and I am his: He feedeth his flock among the lilies. 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. 1. TAKING up the king's thought (1 : 17), the bride replies: "And I am like a lovely wild flower springing at the root of the stately forest-trees." (Chap. 2 ought to have begun at 1 : 15, or chap. 1 to have been continued to 2 : 7.) Lily of the valleys. The lily is the favorite flower of the Song, and is mentioned seven times. 2. The king resumes, taking up the bride's comparison: "As the lily excels in beauty the thorny shrubs among which it grows, so my friend excels her companions." 3. As the apple-tree.** The bride's answer closing the gentle strife: "As the 'tappuach' with its fragrant fruit excels the barren trees of the wild wood, so my beloved his associates and friends." The bride continues speaking to the end of v. 7. (From 3ᵇ, "I sat down," to end of v. 5, she enlarges the thought of 3ᵃ.) 4. His banner;** or, "standard." Compare Num. 1 : 52; 10 : 14, 18, 22, 25, where the same word is used of the great military ensigns which preceded the tribes on their march through the wilderness. The standard is the rallying point and guide of the individual soldier, giving to each encouragement and confidence in the weariness of the march, or the extremity of conflict. Hengstenberg.—So the bride, transplanted from a lowly station to new scenes of unwonted splendor, finds support and safety in the known attachment of her beloved. His "love" is her "banner." The thought is similar to that expressed in Moses' altar-name, "Jehovah nissi" (Ex. 17 : 15). T. L. K. Among the choice things of the prepared banquet, the chief is rest. It is only the Gospel of Jesus Christ which has the exclusive prerogative to give a man rest. If there can be anything on this side of heaven worthy to be mentioned with that rest—the feeling of a forgiven soul—it is intimacy with God Himself; the nearness, and consequently the acquaintance with God's mind, into which the Christian is at once, though it be progressive, yet at once admitted; as soon as he obeys the drawings of the spirit and comes near to God. It is the actual presence of Christ which becomes dear to an advancing Christian. He has had His grace, but He wants Him. Therefore, more and more as a believer lives, you will find him meditating on the Person and the Being of Christ. J. V. Find out what the Christian life is by living it. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived, the things that He hath prepared. The feast in the Christian's heart, the antepast of heaven, is not understood by verbal pictures of it, but only as we ripen spiritually for the relish of it. When the bridegroom leads His spouse to the banqueting-house, there is no at attempted enumeration of the delicacies in store. It is only said, how finely! that "the banner over her is love;" leaving it for a growing faith to learn what He will give His people, whose own meat and drink it is to do His Father's will. "Come and see." "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." "Knock, and it shall be opened." F. D. H. 6. His left hand, at chap. 8 : 3, is rendered as a wish or prayer, and so it ought to be here: "Oh, that His left hand were under my head, and that His right hand did embrace me!" Let Him draw me to Him with entire affection. 7. I charge you.** The bride concludes with an adjuration to the chorus, which has been variously interpreted. It should be rendered: I adjure you . . . by the gazelles, or by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up nor awaken love until it please. The affection or passion in itself, not its object, is here meant. The bride is still speaking, not the beloved, nor the sacred writer in his own person. This adjuration, three times significantly introduced as a concluding formula (2 : 7; 3 : 5; 8 : 4), forms, so to speak, one of the axes on which the whole composition turns. It expresses one of the main thoughts of the poem; namely, that genuine love is a shy and gentle affection which dreads intrusion and scrutiny (hence the allusion to the gazelles and hinds, shy and timid creatures), but dangerous in its strength and vehemence if heedlessly awakened. The complementary thought is that of chap. 8 : 6, 7, where love is again described, and by the bride, as a fiery principle, a lightning-flash from the Eternal One, "strong as death," and tenacious as the grave in jealous hold of the object of possession. # The Visit of the Beloved. Vs. 8-17. The bride relates to the chorus a visit which the beloved had paid her some time previously in her native home, situated in a garden or vineyard (like those described by modern travellers in the Lebanon), perched among rocks, and only to be reached by climbing a precipitous path (v. 14) leading up from the plain or valley. Here the beloved finds her on a fair spring morning, and solicits her company. The bride, immersed in rustic toils, refuses for the present, but confessing her love, and her delight in his companionship, bids him return at the cool of day and spreading out of evening shadows. It is a springtime of affection which is here described, still earlier than that of the former chapter, a day of pure first-love, in which, on either side, all royal state and circumstance is forgotten or concealed. The whole scene has been thought to represent the communion of a newly awakened soul with Christ, He gradually revealing Himself to her, and bidding her come forth into fuller communion. (Bossuet.) T. L. K. 8. The voice of my beloved! better, sound. Not a voice, but the sound of approaching footsteps is meant. (Compare Isa. 13:4, where the same word is rightly rendered "noise.") The beloved does not speak till v. 10. The mountains, or hills over which he bounds, are mentioned again at chaps. 2:17 and 8:14, as if they were His favorite haunts. So the bride elsewhere speaks of herself as hieing to the hill of myrrh and frankincense (4:6). T. L. K. 9. Like a roe or young hart. These lovely harts are very timid, and descend at night to the plains to feed among the lilies until the daybreak and the shadows flee away (v. 17). We shall meet these graceful gazelles all through Syria and Palestine, and the more you see of them the greater will be your admiration. Persian and Arab poets abound in references to them. W. M. Thompson. 10. My beloved spake, and said. Some find a difficulty in this clause, as being inconsistent with the dramatic character of the poem elsewhere carefully maintained. The right interpretation of the whole passage (2:8-17), as a monologue of the bride narrating a past event, disposes of this difficulty. Reporting the invitation addressed to her by the beloved, she is obliged to indicate that she is giving his very words. Rise up. Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come away. A stanza of eight lines (vs. 10-13) begins and ends with this refrain, in which the beloved invites the bride to come forth with him into the open champaign, now a scene of verdure and beauty, and at a time of mirth and mutual affection. The season indicated is that of spring after the cessation of the latter rain in the first or paschal month (Joel 2:23), i.e., Nisan or Abib, corresponding to the latter part of March and early part of April. Six signs of the season are given. T. L. K. 11-13. Here is a charming spring picture, with more exact and accumulated allusions to the beauties of nature than often occur together in sacred books. It is the more engaging from the strict concident fitness of all of them to express the time of year. The Hebrew poet has followed nature closely, and with the most gratifying results to the taste and imagination. We can see something of this; but how much stronger must have been the aspect of natural truth thus imparted to the poem, in the eyes of those whose personal observation and periodical experience made them intuitively conscious of the truthfulness of all these details! The passage relating to the singing of birds is highly interesting, being, with a single exception (Psalm 104:12) the only allusion to the song of birds in the Bible. Kitto. Their fragrance. That the blossom of the vine may give a fragrant smell in hot countries is shown by the practice of the ancients, who used to put the dried flowers of the vine into their new wine in order to give it fragrancy and a pure or flosculous spirit. Bishop Percy. 14. The beloved proceeds in another stanza of four lines still to urge the bride to come forth from her seclusion in her rock-girt home, in which she is hidden dove-like from the world. T. L. K. All this is true to nature. Hearts that really love delight to make the loved one happy. The feeling is that all life is dull and all pleasure tasteless unless enjoyed as well by the object of our tender affection. Every earthly good becomes tenfold more a joy to us when we may share it with those we love. These principles of our social nature are beautifully set forth in this song, and with them yet another—viz., that the beauties and charms with which God has enriched the realm of nature—the music of birds, the fragrance and beauty of flowers, the countless charms of spring after the winter is over and gone—have a wonderful sympathy with the pure love which the same Great Father has provided for in the social nature of the sexes in their mutual relation to each other. The thing to be specially noted here is that the inspired author of this song seizes upon this beautiful exemplification of wedded love to illustrate the deep and pure affection which exists in such richness and power between God and His redeemed people. God would assure us of the strength and tenderness of this love on His part, and would call forth responsive love on our part in return. Blessed are they whose hearts do respond with overflowing soul! H. C. 15. The beloved has asked to see her countenance and hear her voice, and the bride answers by singing what appears to be a fragment of a vine-dresser's ballad, insinuating the vineyard duties imposed on her by her brethren (1:6), which prevent her from immediately joining him. T. L. K.—The Shulamite does not accept his invitation; she does not show herself. The beloved likens her to a dove hiding in the clefts of the rocks. If she cannot follow him, at least he begs to see her face, to hear her voice; he asks her for a song. She replies by a song in which she reminds him of the commands of her brothers, which oblige her, as well as her younger sister perhaps, or other young girls, to guard the tender shoots of the vine against the depredations of the little foxes. Thus do we hear echoing on through the ecstasies of the Shulamite all the emotions, pleasing or painful, of her past state of watching. Godet. Little foxes that spoil the vineyards. We learn from Dr. Shaw, that "jackals of the lesser kind eat roots and fruits and frequent the gardens every night." So Haselquist says, "There are many of these animals near the convent of St. John in the desert, about vintage time; insomuch that the owners are obliged to set guards over the vines to prevent these creatures from destroying them." These, then, are clearly the animals which are here meant. Fragments to Calmet.—The little foxes get through or over the most closely constructed hedge which encloses the vineyard. They not only filch the fruit and devour the grapes, but what is far worse gnaw the branches and roots, and so destroy the vines. Smaller creatures still, those of the insect tribe, are referred to in the Bible as having and using a consuming and destructive power. It speaks of the ravages of the palmer-worm, the locust, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar. Most frequently it alludes to the moth, an insect common to every clime, that penetrates every dwelling, that makes its insidious, unseen way into the smallest, most hidden and closely shut recesses, where with sharp but invisible tooth it cuts into and consumes the carefully laid garments, hiding itself from view by the very process of ravening and fattening upon the juiceless thread. The "little foxes," as these smaller destroyers also, suggest the truth that by far the greatest amount of moral evil among men is wrought by sins that are hidden, that act subtly and insidiously because so gradually and with such small seeming force. As moral character is mainly formed by the aggregate of minute influences, human and Divine, so the evil effects wrought upon character are wrought mainly through the instrumentality of little sins. Character is most seriously damaged, most effectually destroyed, by gradual, unnoticed yieldings to selfish temper and unregulated desire, by slight but repeated deflections from truth and right, or omissions of duty. B. There are no little sins. There was a time when all the evil that has existed in the world was comprehended in one sinful thought of our first parents; and the evil now is the numerous and horrid progeny of one little sin. J. Howell.—Little lies are seeds of great ones. Little treacheries are, like small holes in raiment, the beginnings of large ones. Little dishonesties are like the drops that work through the banks of the level; a drop is an engineer; it tunnels a way for its fellows, and they, rushing, prepare for all behind them. Anon. It is common to be conscientious in great, without being so in small matters. Many there are who would not steal or tell a downright falsehood; who would perhaps endure the extremest sufferings before they would relinquish some cherished opinions, and whom probably nothing on earth could tempt to commit any great or glaring offence against real or conventional proprieties; yet they will daily, hourly, without scruple—apparently without the consciousness of doing wrong—be guilty of certain little dishonesties, things that will not perhaps be productive of direct or positive injury to any one, but nevertheless are as truly the result of imperfect or dormant conscientiousness as if they involved the loss of much coin. Robert Chambers. Although we must fight against great temptations with an invincible courage, and the victory gained against them be extremely profitable, yet it may happen that we may profit more in resisting small temptations. It is very easy to forbear stealing other men's goods, but hard not so much as to covet or desire them; very easy not to bear false witness in judgment, but not easy to avoid detraction in conversation; very easy not to be drunk, but hard to be sober; very easy not to desire another man's death, but hard not to desire some inconvenience to him; easy to forbear defaming our adversary, but hard not to despise him. De Sales. Little things are unforeseen; they return every moment; they come in contact with our pride, our indolence, our haughtiness, our readiness to take offence; they contradict our inclinations perpetually. It is, however, only by fidelity in little things that a true and constant love to God can be distinguished from a passing fervor of spirit. Anon. There is a sort of continued attrition, resulting from our necessary intercourse with the world, which of itself deadens the movements of the soul; there is, moreover, a continued temptation to yield in little points, under the notion of conciliating; to indulge in little things, to forego little strictnesses, to omit little duties; and all with the idea that what looks so light cannot be of real moment. And by these littles, thousands stumble and stumble on, getting more and more careless, nearer and nearer to indifference, lowering the Christian standards, suffering religion to be peeled away by inches, persuading themselves that they can spare without injury such inconsiderable bits, and not perceiving that in stripping the bark they stop the sap. Melvill. The worst sin is not some outburst of gross transgression, forming an exception to the ordinary tenor of a life, bad and dismal as such a sin is; but the worst and most fatal are the small continuous vices, which root underground and honeycomb the soul. Many a man who thinks himself a Christian is in more danger from the daily commission, for example, of small pieces of sharp practice in his business, than ever was David at his worst. White ants pick a carcass clean sooner than a lion will. A. M. The special peril to the honesty of business men is this, that qualified methods of doing business, of securing bargains, of influencing markets, will come gradually, silently, and universally into vogue, governing with so absolute and ubiquitous a control the interchanges of all mercantile life, that any nonconformist must go out of business or out of the world; which methods are not grossly dishonorable, but when thoroughly sifted and strictly tested by the immutable principles of justice and truth, are found to be off the track, oblique to the straight and true course; and that each trader, each artisan, each producer, will in his own walk yield, point by point, the little deviations about which he cannot help the consciousness of some scruples, which he is almost afraid to look at in too clear a light, but which are so sanctioned and sustained by this common law, that how to draw out of the sweep of the current he cannot see. Dare any man confidently affirm that a rigid application of the Divine law, the precepts of Christ, to this sphere of life, would not necessitate a recasting of much of the standard code? Oh, will not Christian men beware how these slight departures, these trivial but gainful obligations get currency with them, and to plead before the world the sanctity of Christian indorsement? “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.” A. L. Stone. It is curious to notice that the very characteristics which commonly earn for a sin the name of little are often just the characteristics which in reality enhance its sinfulness, and render it pre-eminently worthy of being called great. For example, an ingenious prevarication would be usually considered far less sinful than a downright awkward falsehood. But the kernel of truth which it contains makes it more sinful, not less. It shows its perpetrator to be a cultivated liar. Judged, too, by its effects, it may often be discovered to be a lie of surpassing magnitude. . . . Little sins not only cause a vast amount of suffering, but they have the most fatal effect upon character. A great sin, severely punished and bitterly repented of, is not all likely to be repeated. The sins which seem to be little, just for that very reason, and also because they are generally unpunished, are likely to be first of all ignored by a man, and then repeated, till at last their total effect may be to render his character hopelessly and irretrievably bad. A number of very little sins will make a very great sinner. Our so-called little sins, too, have the most fatal moral effect upon the characters of others. They are just the sins which others will be likely to imitate. The average man is more likely to be infected by such a sin as scandal than he is to be infected by such a sin as theft. Therefore these little sins do the most widespread moral mischief in society. If we desire to form for ourselves a perfect character, a studied avoidance of little sins is of the first importance. Our habits depend upon the way in which we comport ourselves; not in great and startling emergencies, but rather under the simple, common circumstances of our common daily life. Everything we do or say leaves us somewhat different from our former selves, and is productive of good or evil to numbers of our fellow-men. Every action we perform, every word we utter, every thought we think, has wide-spreading, far-reaching effects—effects that will eternally endure. Stand in awe and sin not. A. W. Mome-rie. It is only man's littleness which discovers no importance in trifles. Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle. The most deplorable failures in Christian consistency and uprightness may, generally, be traced back to a very small departure from duty. Little sins are as wrong as larger ones, and in the end come to the same thing. Among these little sins which mar happiness or hinder usefulness may be reckoned a sour and crabbed temper; the giving way to ease and self-indulgence; dishonesty in our ordinary dealings, and jealousy, a weakness which few would confess that they have yielded to, and yet multitudes are made miserable by its evil influence. In religious character there is nothing unimportant, and the smallest inlets of sin should be carefully closed. Earnest prayer and diligent effort should be employed, that the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts may be more thorough and pervading. J. N. Norton. The avoidance of little inconsistencies, little weaknesses, little follies, little indiscretions and imprudences; little indulgences of self and of the flesh; little acts of indolence or indecision, or slovenliness or cowardice; little equivocations; little touches of shabbiness or meanness; little bits of covetousness and penuriousness; little indifferences to the feelings or wishes of others; outbreaks of temper or crossness and selfishness or vanity—the avoidance of such little things as these go far to make up at least the negative beauty of holy life. And then attention to little duties of the day and hour in public or private dealings, or family arrangements; to little words and looks and tones; little self-denials and self-restraints; little plans of kindness and thoughtful consideration for others; to punctuality and method and true aim in the ordering of each day—these are the active developments of holy life, the rich and Divine mosaics of which it is composed. It is of small things that a great life is made up; and he who will acknowledge no life as great save that which is built up of great things will find little in Bible character to admire or copy. Bonar. God made the soul to be a mirror to reflect toward Himself and upon others His truth and purity, His goodness and love. Each little sin puts a trifling spot upon the surface, and it is the aggregate of these little flecks which gradually film over the whole surface and prevent the designed reflection of the Divine beauty. He formed each soul to be a member of a vast system of spiritual worlds, and set for it a place and an orbit wherein it might revolve in harmony with all, around His own central light. And not more certainly would the most trifling aberration of a world of our planetary system start it forth from its course upon another and disastrous one, than does the least sin, if not mercifully counteracted by Divine interposition, tend to impel the sinning soul away from its sphere of light and safety into one of darkness and destruction. B. 16. Man has nothing to do with any creature but as with a loan. The heart that holds and the treasure that is holden are only upon a lease. The man who calls anything his own will wake up to-morrow and find it gone. Christ is the property, the only property a man has or ever can have in any world. God never revokes that. And Christ carries with Him the universe, and carries with Him all that is of real value in this life. "My beloved is mine, and I am his." J. V. 17. "Until the day breathe," literally; or, "till the day blow fresh." There is peculiar beauty in this expression; in those warm climates the dawn of day is attended with a fine refreshing breeze, of the most delightful kind. Bishop Percy.—Until the fresh evening breeze (so well known as an object of expectation to the inhabitants of Eastern lands) spring up in what is called (Gen. 3:8) "the cool" or breathing time of the day. And the shadows flee, meaning that they lengthen out, and finally lose their outlines with the sinking and departure of the sun (compare Jer. 6:4). As the visit of the beloved is most naturally conceived of as taking place in the early morning, and the bride is evidently dismissing him till a later time of day, it seems almost certain that this interpretation is the correct one which makes that time to be evening after sunset. The phrase recurs in chap. 4:6. T. L. K. She is obliged to defer until the evening the walk to which she is invited. But her heart is none the less united to her friend; and when evening comes, and she will have finished attending to her rough work, she expects to see him coming toward her with eager steps, that they may enjoy the last hour of the day together. Did ever any poetry surpass the dazzling brilliancy of this picture? Godet.—He spends the day with his flocks in the cares of shepherd life. Her yearning heart awaits his return at nightfall, and thinks of him as gracefully overleaping the hills in the ardor of his warm love to greet her in their rural happy home. So the Christian heart delights to meet and commune with Jesus when the day and its labors are over and darkness shuts off the outer world and invites us to soul-communion with those we love. H. C. Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away. Whatever the first use and intent of this phrase, it describes a waiting and a joy to come. And so the words answer well the purpose of suggesting the truth, that there are many things in life and destiny that are to be awaited. We wait for the full perfecting of character. We are keyed, not to attainment, but to the hope of it by struggle toward it. And it is the struggle, and not the attainment, that measures character and foreshadows destiny. We wait the renewal of sundered love. Love may suffer an eclipse, but it is as sure as God Himself that human love shall again claim its own. We wait for the mystery to be taken off from life. Mystery may remain, but it will be harmonious mystery. The accusing doubt, the seeming contradiction, the painful uncertainty, will pass away, and we shall see "face to face," and know even as we have been known. We wait for full restoration to the presence of God. T. T. Munger. It was Christ's arising in the world that made the day break and the shadows fly away. The types and shadows of the law were then abolished. It was his light that dispelled the mists of ignorance and idolatry; and he alone delivers the soul from the night of sin and the misery produced by it. All the stars, and the moon with them, cannot make it day in the world; this is the sun's prerogative; nor can nature's highest light, the most refined science and morality, make it day in the soul; for this is Christ's. Leighton. The prayer of one that waits: Only let my Beloved vouchsafe His gracious presence with me, and enlighten me more and more, till we have a full knowledge of Him and of His will, and the light of it scatter all the shadows of the law. Let my Beloved also make haste to succor and relieve me in all difficulties and distresses; and show the same readiness for my preservation that He did (v. 9) for my first salvation. Bishop Patrick. Live as the king hath said. Then life may be like the wind, but through it God shall be as near to us as to Elijah at Mount Horeb. It may be a shadow, but behind that shadow is the substantial honor of an immortal destiny. It may fly like a post, but it bringeth glad tidings of great joy. It may come forth like a flower and be cut down, but its fruits shall evermore abide. It may be swifter than a weaver's shuttle, but from its loom shall come our wedding garments of imperishable white. It may be a tale that is told, but it shall be like an Arabian tale, full of the movements of superior intelligences; and these not genii and fairies, but the Sacred Three. It may be a vapor that vanisheth away, but in its parting it shall be like the clouds of the sunset, and shall be merged at last in the heavenly sea, whose tides majestic ebb and flow forever. It may be like a dream when one awaketh, but it shall be a dream of the glory of celestial courts; and, upon awakening, the reality shall exceed the dream; for when the day breaketh and the shadows flee away, behold we are with Him. H. C. Stanton. In that day the capacities of our being shall attain their perfect development and complete satisfaction in the vision of God. In the heavenly country "the Lord Himself is her everlasting light," and the light that is in Him streams forth upon the children of light in one unending day. Blessed permanence of that unending day, that undecaying light! There is no night there! It is not advance and retrogression, but one unchanged progress; it is not the interchange of happiness and misery, but one unending song of the children of the day, rejoicing in the Everlasting Light. It is toward such a life we are pressing—a life where humanity shall be beautified with the beauty of God; a life where humanity shall be glorified with the glory that is reflected on it from the Everlasting Light. It is a life in which the powers of humanity are perfectly developed, and thus developed are fully satisfied; a life the very instinct of which is the service of God; where temptation is unknown and weariness no more besets our path; a life of one unending day, of one unclouded happiness, of one unceasing joy. G. Body. For that day we all are, or ought to be, preparing. Some in the struggle of life here on earth, some in the silent calm of the world beyond the grave—we all have to look forward to the Great Day. Not in the Church militant here on earth, not in the Paradise of waiting souls, is the perfection of the new creation of God. For that day our work in this life is meant to fit and prepare us. No true labor is in vain; no pure aim or noble purpose really fails; no trial or suffering need be fruitless; all are to have their outcome, their fruition, their satisfaction in the perfected life, in the vision of God. J. W. Hicks. 1. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth : I sought him, but I found him not. 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. 3 The watchmen that go about the city found me : To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth ? 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. 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. 6. Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant ? 7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon ; Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty men of Israel. 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. 9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, The bottom thereof of gold, the seat of it of purple, The midst thereof being paved with love, From the daughters of Jerusalem. 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. 1-5. THE evening has come; the beloved has not made his appearance. Night reigns around the Shulamite, and in her heart. The scene which follows is entirely imaginary. It will appear but natural, if we remember that it is in an ecstasy or trance which the writer is describing. Godet. Continuing her monologue of reminiscence, the bride relates to the chorus what appears to be an imaginary occurrence transacted in a dream (like that of 5:2-8). She is on her bed at dead of night, and seems to be seeking him "whom her soul loveth." She traverses the city seeking him, and after meeting and obtaining no help from the watchmen, suddenly finds the object of her search, and brings him to her mother's house and chamber. This short piece, which might be called "The unrest of love," appears to consist of four stanzas (vs. 1-4), of which the first (v. 1), and second (v. 2), conclude with the refrain, "I sought him, but I found him not;" it is followed by the adjuration to the chorus (v. 5). Critics of principles the most opposed (Mercier, Ewald, Delitzsch) find here (as at 5:2-8) the narration of a dream, and certainly a dream-like tone pervades the whole. 4. I held him. This begins the fourth stanza. The bride's mother is mentioned again at chaps. 6:9 and 8:2. 5. I charge you. This adjuration has the same meaning as before (see 2:7). It marks another principal pause in the poems. Principal and central action of the Song, the bride's entry into the city of David, and her marriage there with the king. The Targum and other Jewish interpreters regard this part of the poem as symbolizing the "first" entrance of the Church of the Old Testament into the land of promise, and her spiritual espousals, and communion with the King of kings, through the erection of Solomon's temple and the institution of its acceptable worship. Christian Fathers, in a like spirit, make most things here refer to the espousals of the Church with Christ in the passion and resurrection, or the communion of Christian souls with Him in meditation thereon. Bridal Procession and Royal Entry. Vs. 6-11. Two or more citizens of Jerusalem, or the chorus of youths, companions of the bridegroom (Origen), describe the magnificent appearance of the bride borne in a royal litter, and then that of the king in festive joy wearing a nuptial crown. 6. Who is this; or, "Who is she?" (as at 6:10), an expression of admiration repeated also in chap. 8:5. In all three places it indicates the approach of the bride and the commencement of a new part of the Song. Out of the wilderness; or rather, up from, "Wilderness" here (Hebrew, "midbar") is not an arid waste, but champaign or pasture-land, in contrast with the cultivated districts and garden enclosures round the city. T. L. K. Like pillars of smoke. It is customary at Eastern marriages for virgins to lead the procession with silver gilt pots of perfumes. In the present instance so liberally were these rich perfumes burned, that at a distance pillars of smoke arose from them; and the perfume was so rich as to exceed in value and fragrancy all the powders of the merchant. Burder.—Frankincense and other perfumes are burned in such abundance round the bridal equipage that the whole procession appears from the distance to be one of moving wreaths and columns of smoke. 7. Probably the royal litter or palanquin in which the bride is borne, provided for her by the king's care and affection, and surrounded by his own body-guard consisting of sixty mighties of the mighty men of Israel. 8. Because of fear in the night. Against night alarms. The king's affection is expressed not only by the state in which the bride is conducted to the palace, but also by his solicitude for her ease and safety on the journey. 9-10. A more magnificent vehicle provided for the bride's reception on her entrance into the city, in which perhaps the king goes forth to meet her. It has been made under Solomon's direction of the costliest woods of the Lebanon; it is furnished with "pillars of silver" supporting a "canopy" (not "bottom") "of gold," with "a seat of purple cushions," while "its interior is paved with (mosaic work or tapestry of) love from the daughters of Jerusalem;" the meaning being that this part of the adornment is a gift of love whereby the female chorus have testified their good-will to the bride, and desire to gratify the king. T. L. K.—Such of our readers as visited the "Crystal Palace" will at once call to mind the gorgeous howdahs and palanquins, rich in ivory, gold, and silver, which he saw in the Indian court, and which had been presented by an Eastern prince to the queen. Kitto. 11. Wherewith his mother crowned him. The king's mother is, of course, Bathsheba, to whom he already owes the crown of his kingdom. This is the last mention of her in sacred history. The gladness of his heart. His deepest, purest gladness, greater than "the joy of harvest," or than that of men "who divide the spoil" (Isa. 9:3), "the joy of the bridegroom over the bride" (Isa. 62:5). The same expression recurs in Isa. 30:29 and Ezek. 36:5. This last verse, and indeed the whole of this part of the Song (3:6-5:1), is full of difficulty for those interpreters who adopt the hypothesis of the shepherd-lover. Compare the different and contradictory interpretations of Ewald, Umbreit, Renan, Bunsen, Holtzmann, and Ginsburg. Hitzig boldly cuts the knot, allowing indeed the whole to be (what it evidently is) a royal marriage, in which Solomon is throughout the happy and accepted bridegroom, but is thereby compelled to regard it as an episode only loosely connected with the main subject of the poem. T. L. K. 1. BEHOLD, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil: Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead. 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. 3. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely: Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegran- ate Behind thy veil. 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. 5. Thy two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies. 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. 7. Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee. 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. 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. 10. 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! 11. 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. 12. A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13. Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants, 14. Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. 15. Thou art a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon. 16. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices there- of may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits. 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. 1-16. In the current strain of the Song the respective parties extol each other's charms as if in a pleasing rivalry, laboring each to outdo the other in these mutual testimonies to their high appreciation of each other. The reader will be struck with the Oriental and pastoral cast of the imagery under which these points of personal beauty are set before us. Shepherd life furnishes a large share of the illustrations. The standard of what is deemed fair and beau- tiful is that of the children of the East in those early ages of our race. H. C. The Bridegroom's Commendation of the Bride. Vs. 1-6. The king in a lyric song of five stanzas com- mends the beauty of the bride by images taken from various scenes and objects in different parts of his kingdom (vs. 1-5). The bride brief- ly answers (v. 6). T. L. K. 1,2. Here, as in chap. 1: 15, the sense of the Hebrew is precisely: "Thine eyes are doves;" not, Thou hast eyes like a dove. The poetic conception is full and strong. The dove is the embodiment of whatever is tender, delicate, loving; so her eyes were best described by the one word, doves. A charming sight to the shepherd was his flock of goats, seeming to hang suspended from the beetling crags of Mount Gilead; such was the hair of the bride. So, too, the perfectly pastoral scene of a flock of ewes, fresh from their washing, with each her twins attending like a setting of jewels; such were her teeth. Utility is one element of beauty. A barren ewe would be a deformity and a grief—a thing out of order and in bad taste. H. C. 1. The hair of the Eastern goats is of a delicate silky softness, and bears a great resemblance to the fine curls of a woman's hair. Bochart.—Some of them had a fleece so fine that it was almost as soft as silk, such as was that spun by the women for the use of the tabernacle (Ex. 35:26). To this hair allusion seems here to be made in respect to its softness, as well as length and thickness. Bishop Patrick.—2. By this comparison are admirably expressed the evenness, whiteness, just proportions, and unbroken series of the set of teeth. —3. Lips like a thread of scarlet—that is, thin and slender, and of a bright red color, giving sweetness and grace to the discourse. Her neck, tall and slender, erect, moulded according to the most elegant proportions and adorned with gold and jewels, is happily compared with a tower of well-known elegance and distinction in the citadel of Zion, adorned with every variety of splendid armory. Bishop Lowth. 5. The reader will bear in mind that in Oriental usage the bosom was uncovered equally with the neck, and hence it was no offence against modesty and delicacy to speak of it as we would speak of the cheeks or of the eyes. The veil covered the bosom equally with the face—no more. H. C. 6. The bride, repeating some of her own words at chap. 2:17, and modestly interrupting the flow of the king's commendations (compare 7:9), says that she would now fain withdraw till eventide "to the mount of myrrh and hill of frankincense," some quiet spot, it may be, in the garden of the palace which is the scene of their present meeting (Delitzsch). The dialogue is resumed in the evening (v. 7) of the same day. T. L. K. No one, certainly, will question the beauty of this passage from the sacred idyl. It greets us with the freshness of morning-land upon it. Spice-winds and balm imbue the words. The tremulous shafts of the Eastern dawn are hardly more clear and pure from taint than are these lines from the touch of artificial or meretricious ornament. No passage of the earlier poetry of any land breathes a sweeter aroma of nature throughout it; and none more deftly, with an intuitive grace that outruns art and mocks imitation, selects the most picturesque forms and types to set forth its object. The poet must always accept it as a triumph not of practice, but of genius; not of artifice, but of nature, in his domain; while the Christian believer, finding in it the devout ascription to the Lord of love for His Church, which He was wont to meet for communion on the summits of Jerusalem, the very “mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense,” will recognize the spiritual meaning which consecrates it, and will admire the wisdom which has preserved it for us. The Church walks here an Eastern maiden, pure as the morning, serene as evening, beloved with more than lover’s tenderness by Him who is her Lord, with no spot on her, all fair and noble. And it belongs to us, to all who honor and love the Church, to make her now what he foresaw her, who wrote of her before Christ came. R. S. S. The King's Invitation. Chaps. 4:7-5:1. The king again meeting the bride expresses once more his love and admiration in the sweetest and tenderest terms and figures. She is for him “all fair” (v. 7) in her spotless purity. He calls her now (v. 8) “bride” for the first time, to mark it as the hour of their espousals, and “sister-bride” (vs. 9, 10) to express the likeness of thought and feeling which henceforth unites them. 8. The right understanding of the whole Song appears to depend on the interpretation of this one verse. The order and collocation of words in the Hebrew is grand and significant. With me from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon thou shalt come, shalt look around (or wander forth) from the height (literally, “head”) of Amana, from the height of Shenir and Hermon, from dens of lions, from mountain-haunts of leopards. It is evidently a solemn invitation from the king in the sense assigned by Theodoret and others, comparing Psalm 45:10, 11, “Forget thy people and thy father’s house, so shall the king desire thy beauty.” Four peaks in the same mountain-system are here named as a poetical periphrasis for Northern Palestine, the region in which is situated the native home of the bride. 9-11. Expansion of the opening words (v. 7), "thou art all fair." The similes employed refer no longer to mere graces of corporeal form, as might be said of the former description (vs. 1-5), but to those of adornment, speech and gesture, as expressions of inward character and sentiment. 12-15. The loveliness and purity of the bride are now set forth under the image of a paradise or garden fast barred against intruders, filled with rarest plants of excellent fragrance, and watered by abundant streams. Prov. 5: 15-20 has images similar to those in this and other parts of the Song. T. L. K.—A garden whose fruits and even its odors were sacred for its proprietor alone; a fountain sealed, yielding its waters to him only, such was his beloved spouse, chaste and true to her vows, to the covenant of her God. So the living Church, so every true Christian, yields the heart's love to Christ supremely, to Christ alone. Naturally the Song at this point expatiates afresh upon the charms of such wedded love. The main source of the imagery is an Oriental fruit and flower garden, filled with the fragrant spice-bearing plants of the East. H. C. 13,14,15. Seven kinds of spices (some of them with Indian names, e.g., aloes, spikenard, saffron) are enumerated as found in this symbolic garden. They are for the most part pure exotics which have formed for countless ages articles of commerce in the East, and were brought at that time in Solomon's ships from Southern Arabia, the great Indian peninsula, and perhaps the islands of the Indian archipelago. Such exotics may have been cultivated by Solomon in some of his "pardesim," but the picture here is best regarded as a purely ideal one, having no corresponding reality but in the bride herself. The beauties and attractions of both north and south, of Lebanon with its streams of sparkling water and fresh mountain-air, of En-gedi with its tropical climate and henna plantations, of the spice-groves of Arabia Felix, and of the rarest products of the distant mysterious Ophir, must all combine to furnish out one glorious representation, "Thou art all fair!" T. L. K. 15. A living fountain bursting forth at the foot of the garden; a well-spring of cold flowing waters like those from the sides of Lebanon, fill out the ideal of this paradise of spicery and beauty, which means simply the charms of person and of character seen by the king in his bride. Let it be a perpetual inspiration toward more holiness that our Saviour finds an object of complacent regard in every grateful emotion of our souls toward Him; in every thought and deed of love and service; in all our homage, in all our sympathy, in all our trust. At this point and in this view the prayer of the bride in the closing verse is beautifully significant. H. C. 16. Awake, O north wind. The bride's brief reply, declaring her affection for the king and willingness to belong to him. My garden in the first clause becomes his in the second. T. L. K.—As the breezes draw forth and waft along the sweet odors of a garden of spices, so God's Spirit stirs the emotions of love, calls forth the aspirations of faith, of prayer, of gratitude; indeed, of all holy affections and purposes. H. C. This is the prayer of the Church, "Oh, let not then the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and His manifold gifts be wanting unto me; but breathe perpetually upon me, as the north and the south wind do upon this garden; then shall I be a paradise indeed; and not only fill the world with the sweet odor of the knowledge of Christ, but take the boldness to invite Him, the beloved of my soul, to come and reap the delightful fruits of His own care and labor." Bishop Patrick. Precious fruits. The soul that has the life and the love of Christ in it cannot help producing fruit. It does so not by an outward, arbitrary law, but by the sweet inward, vital law of life and growth. And therefore it is that the free, unconstrained outpourings of the heart in a godly life—the natural, spontaneous, practical responses of the love of believers to the love of Christ—are more frequently in the New Testament called fruits than works. "Let my beloved come into His garden and eat His pleasant fruits." Fruitfulness is the peculiar distinction and glory of Christ's disciples. It is the result toward which all their efforts tend—the ultimate and highest object of their existence. They are united to Christ, quickened by His Spirit, enjoy all the means and privileges of grace, the dew of Divine love, the sunshine of Divine righteousness, the showers and breezes of Divine mercy, in order that they may bring forth fruit; and that more and more abundantly. We are to clothe the spiritual life of the Gospel—the precepts, the examples, the atoning death, the justifying righteousness of Christ, with an outward conduct becoming its purity and dignity. We are to embody the spiritualities of the unseen life in forms of daily life and conversation, such as will worthily represent their glory and grace. A beautiful character impresses itself upon the very features of the body, so that, looking upon the lines of the countenance, we can read the soul within, and are attracted to admire and love it; and thus should the life of faith within—the reflex loveliness of Christ's character in the soul—exhibit itself in the homely garb of our outward every-day life, in order that those who cannot see the seal of the Spirit—the inward evidence of the doctrine of Christ, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it—may see its outward luminous sign in a living epistle, known and read of all men. Every Christian's life should be like the opal, exhibiting its pure transparency, the beautiful hues of grace; or like a prism, refracting the clear bright light of heaven into a seven-colored spectrum of honesty, truthfulness, purity, kindliness, meekness, heavenliness, usefulness. Macmillan. Chap. 5:1. My sister, my bride. So the king addresses the bride (my sister-bride) for the last time, declaring his supreme satisfaction and love. Eat, O friends. These last words are best understood as a salutation from the king to his assembled guests, bidding them partake at the banquet in the gladness of his heart. A parallel might be found in Psalm 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. So ends this day of outward festivity and supreme heart-joy. The Song of Songs attains its highest elevation, and its former half is fitly closed. The second half of the poem commences (v. 2) with a change of tone and reaction of feeling similar to that of chap. 3:1. It terminates with the sealing (8:6,7) of yet deeper love. T. L. K. Note on vs. 2-5. It is doubtless due to Oriental taste that so much is said of personal attractions, and that such a standard of personal beauty is assumed. But there is no disputing over questions of taste. The love of beauty was in our common nature in Paradise. Our Maker provided a large place for this element in our constitution, wisely designing it should conduce both to honorable marriage, and to its ministries of good to our race. It should be carefully noticed, moreover, that this book represents the parties as fascinated with each other's society and as mutually enjoying in a high degree the loveliness of spring, the fragrance of sweet odors, the charms of music, the beauty of flowers—in short, all the joys of this fair world which blend so perfectly with pure and chaste love in human bosoms. A due regard to these features of the book ought to vindicate it from the aspersions sometimes thrown upon it, of having a morally pernicious tendency. In order to do justice to the author of this book and to those who placed it in the sacred canon, let us ask how it came to pass that men of pure mind, living in the ancient East, could have tastes so unlike ours? In answer, two facts have paramount influence: First, that general society was scarcely ever mixed. Outside the family circle the sexes rarely intermingled in society. A little reflection will show that the laws of taste and propriety in regard to what shall be considered delicate are determined largely by the fact of mixed society. Many things are tolerated in the presence of only one sex, which would be deemed entirely inadmissible in the presence of both. 2. A second fact pertains to different modes of dress. By the general law of language it is not indelicate to speak of those parts of the person which are usually exposed, uncovered, e.g., the face, the eyes, the hair, the neck, the hands. If we see beauty in these exposed parts of the person, we never think it a violation of delicacy to speak of it. Now the people of the ancient East wore less clothing than we do, and covered less of the person. Especially they did not cover the bosom, and hence spake naturally of this as one point of personal beauty, as we now sometimes hear of the fair and beautiful neck. Suffice it to give the facts as they are, and to say that we must not impute to them indelicacy of mind and impurity of heart, because their tastes and standard of judgment differ from our own. I add, further, that in my view a fair translation of this book should aim to give its spirit rather than its precise letter; for obviously it should labor to make the book to us what it was to Solomon and his first readers—equally chaste and delicate in its allusions; equally far from liability to unhallowed associations. H. C. The two prominent and radical ideas connected with an Oriental garden are protection and productiveness. The word for garden is the same in Hebrew and Arabic. The primary meaning of this word is to cover, conceal, hide. From this primary comes a secondary meaning having a twofold application as to a garden—namely, first, that which is covered in the sense of being itself surrounded or protected; and, second, that which covers, conceals, deeply shadows the ground by reason of the abundance and luxuriance of its foliage. The fullest scriptural descriptions of an Oriental garden are contained in the Song of Songs, especially at chaps. 4 : 12-16 and 5 : 1, where the description opens with a reference to this radical idea of protection. This system of protection is to secure the garden against incursions on the part of robbers or wild beasts (Lam. 2 : 6). It also separates or marks off that part of the land which is subject to especial care and cultivation (Gen. 2 : 8, 16). It also indicates that portion in which the owner has a more peculiar, jealous, and unshared interest (Song of Songs 4 : 16 ; 8 : 12). The applications of the above facts will readily suggest themselves when the term "garden" is considered as a scriptural figure, as that to which the people of God are compared, as in Isa. 5 : 7, or as that which is used typically of the individual lover of God, as in the Song of Songs. The same comparisons and types are similarly employed in Arabic poetry. The prominent idea of an Oriental garden is utility; utility associated with beauty, utility never sacrificed to beauty, utility in the way of productiveness, fruitfulness. The utility of an Oriental garden is exhibited and developed especially in three respects : First, fruit-bearing. The garden abounds with trees producing fruit, such as the date-palm, fig, orange, pomegranate, mulberry, sycamore, lime, besides many other fruits, and oftentimes vegetables. Second, perfumes. It is well known how exceedingly fond Orientals are of aromatics, sweet-smelling perfumes ; and how by them the same are delicately compounded and extensively used. It is also well known what an extensive use and what an important significance incense, sweet-smelling perfumes, had in the ceremonial worship of the ancient Hebrews. Accordingly Oriental gardens were and are devoted in a considerable portion to the rearing of plants, both exhaling perfume as they stood in the garden and producing various aromatics as articles of commerce. Third, the trees and plants of an Oriental garden are, in many cases, made to serve various other useful objects, as, for example, the date-palm, the uses of which are very many, so that a person who owns twenty date-palm trees alone is considered to be not badly off. Arabic poetry celebrates three hundred uses which the date-palm serves. The cultivation and development of the garden to reach the highest degree of productiveness is constantly and variously sought in Oriental lands, and attained with remarkable degrees of success. The methods and implements of garden husbandry are to a considerable extent primitive and imperfect. This is well known ; but it is not equally well known how wonderful are those conditions of nature in Oriental lands which more than make up for deficiencies in human art. Thus, in Syria, the many natural fountains, the topography of the land, etc.; in Egypt, the character of the soil, the action of the Nile upon and through the soil, the fertilizing deposits brought down by the Nile during its annual inundation, the heavy dews, etc.; and in most Oriental lands, the tropical character of the climate, the uniformity of the temperature, and various other natural conditions, securing the development, productiveness, and luxuriant growth of plants. With these natural conditions, all are more or less familiar ; but with another condition of nature, serving greatly the same purpose, perhaps all are not equally well acquainted. It is mentioned with remarkable scientific accuracy in Song of Songs 4 : 16, where we read, "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 pleasant fruits." The north and south winds are wonderful agents in the Orient for promoting garden growth and fruitfulness. Three facts about these winds should be noticed : First, while the east and west winds are blighting, the north and south winds are very beneficent in their effects. The north wind is a strong cool, refreshing wind, which has the effect of strengthening the root, fibre, growth, entire life of the plant. The south wind is a warm, soft, moist breeze, whose genial influence greatly tends to hasten growth, to ripen fruit, to draw forth the perfume of flowers. Second, the north and south winds are very remarkable, on account of the abundant fertilizing moisture and particles which they carry about. This was known and appreciated in the earlier years of human history. Later it became known to and celebrated by the Greeks at the time of the military expeditions of Alexander the Great to India. Third, Wind blows from a colder to a warmer point. A map of the eastern hemisphere shows us that an immense amount of land lies north of the equator, and an immense amount of sea lies south of the equator. From April to October, therefore, the land lying north of the equator gets fiercely heated up by the torrid sunshine ; and consequently a strong wind is brought in from the sea, blowing steadily through this half of the year from the south. From October to April, the sun shines more in- tensely over the ocean lying to the south; and consequently a strong wind sets from land to sea, blowing with similar steadiness, through this other half of the year, from the north. And so the strengthening, fertilizing, fructifying north and south winds are also the uniform, prevailing, constantly blowing winds throughout the year, and year after year. And so the Oriental garden grows, develops, abounds with constant and luxuriant productiveness. The important application cannot be escaped when garden is used as a figure or type of the Lord's people, or of the individual lover of God. The great point is, cultivation, growth, development, utility, productiveness, constantly and evermore. J. G. Lansing. 2. 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. 3. I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4. My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, And my heart was moved for him. 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. 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. 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. 8. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, That ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 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? 10. My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand. 11. His head is as the most fine gold, His locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 12. His eyes are like doves besides the water brooks; Washed with milk, and fitly set. 13. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as banks of sweet herbs: His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. 14. His hands are as rings of gold set with beryl: His body is as ivory work overlaid with sapphires. 15. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 16. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. The Bride's Second Dream. Vs. 2-8. (Commencement of the Second Half of the Poem.) SOME time may be supposed to have elapsed since the bride's solemn espousals with the king in chaps. 4:7-5:1. A transient cloud of doubt or estrangement is now passing over her soul, as by the relation of this dream she intimates to her friends. She has lost the society of her beloved, but not his affection, and seeks reunion with him (v. 8). Ancient allegorical interpreters were not insensible to this change of tone (which ought to have suggested a better division of the chapters, chap. 5 beginning with v. 2), and have variously accounted for it. The bride's recital here of her second dream closely resembles that of the first dream (3:1-5), but is richer in details and somewhat more sad in tone. 2. I was asleep, but my heart waked. A poetical periphrasis for I dreamed. Cornelius à Lapide aptly quotes the ancient saying, "Dreams are the vigils of those who slumber; hopes are waking dreams." The voice; or, "sound." She hears him knocking before he speaks. My sister, my love, my dove, etc. True love rejoices in every kind of bond. (Bossuet.) So afterward, the bride says to him, "O that thou wert as my brother," in every sense mine. 3. I have put off. She makes trivial excuses, as one in a dream. 4. Put in his hand. Through (literally, "from") the hole (of the lock), in order to raise the pins by which the bolt was fastened. This is commonly done by means of the key ("maph-teach," opener), but may often be accomplished by the fingers only dipped in paste or some other adhesive substance. For such a purpose the beloved inserts his fingers, here anointed with the costly unguent, which will presently distil on those of the bride when she rises to open to him. (See Lane's description with sketch, "Modern Egypt.") 5. Sweet-smelling myrrh. Literally, "overflowing liquid," or "running myrrh," that which first and spontaneously exudes, i.e., the freshest, finest myrrh. Even in withdrawing he has left this token of his unchanged love. 6,7. I opened. Following more exactly the order of words in the Hebrew, we might render thus: Then opened I to my Beloved, But my Beloved withdrew himself, was gone; My soul went (from me) as he spake; I sought him, but I found him not; I called him, but he answered me not! The watchmen, they that go their rounds in the city, found me; They smote me, wounded me; They took my veil from off me — The watchmen of the walls! Note the pathetic, dream-like repetition—"the watchmen of the walls." T. L. K. 2-7. The transitions of thought from point to point in this scene are somewhat sudden, yet on the whole the sense is obvious, the sketching is beautiful, and the moral instruction of the highest order. "I slept, but my heart waked"—restive, dissatisfied, under a painful sense of something wrong in this state of moral distance from God. Then how touching the call to open to her beloved! With what patient discomfort, with what long-suffering compassion had her lord sought to restore the disturbed relations; how had he waited for her under the chilling dews of night to open the door and let him in! Then the conflict of emotions in her bosom; on the one hand, the excuses, the reluctance to the least effort; but, on the other, the fluttering of the heart, the sense of duty, the yearnings of reviving love! How sad her heart to find that he had turned away and was gone! Some bitter experiences of grief and penitence must be endured before she can have again the joys of his presence. All this is wonderfully true to Christian experience. H. C. The bride misses her lord—is it in a dream?—the heart waking while the body slept. He comes to the door, and shows a willingness to enter; but she delays to admit him. When she does rise to open to the beloved, she is too late, for he is gone, and now she has to go out into the street on those dainty feet which she had grudged to put upon the floor, and hasten to and fro inquiring diligently after him. It is well with her when and only when she is with the lord, resting in his protection, trusting his loving-kindness, going up out of the wilderness leaning on his arm, or dwelling in the gardens, singing of his goodness and his beauty, his grace and his truth. D. F. Christ is ever knocking at the heart: in those who have not received Him, that they may receive Him; in those who have received Him, that they may receive Him more fully. He knocks by all things which teach us to choose Him; that He is all, and all else nothing except as He is in it, and comes with it and makes it anything. Our souls are not the home of grace that it should, without effort on our part to detain it, remain there. Its home is God; it comes to us, visits us, dwells with us, but only if we with diligence keep it and use it. We are ascending the mount of God; if we relax we slip back. But then there follows a time of dreariness. God hides His face, and the soul is chilled. He withdraws His light, and the soul is dark. The remedies for this state are taught us in the bride. She opened that which was closed before. She mortified what she found amiss. When she found not him whom her soul loved she sought him perseveringly in the broad places of the city, in active duty. She was not hindered by discouragement. When she know no more how to seek, she sent, exhausted, the aspiration to him, "I am sick of love." That one word speaks all her ills, all her needs, as Martha and Mary sent to Jesus, "Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick." Desolations of soul are among God's choicest means of enlarged grace. By these God teaches the soul how unutterable an evil it is to be separated from Him. He teaches her to hate the memory of all sin, to cleanse herself from all lesser faults which come between her and God. He stirs the inmost heart, kindles her longings, increases her desires that, when they are increased and enlarged, He may fill them. Pusey. Think, think believingly, seriously, constantly, O my soul, what a life thou shalt live forever in the presence and bosom of infinite, eternal love! He now shineth on me by the sun, and on my soul by the Sun of righteousness, but it is as through the crevices of my darksome habitation; but then He will shine on me and in me openly and with the fullest streams and beams of love. God is the same God in heaven as on earth, but I shall not be the same man. Here the windows of my soul are not open to His light; sin has raised clouds and consequently storms against my comforts. The entrances to my soul by the straits of flesh and sense are narrow, and they are made narrower by sin than they were by nature. Alas! how often would love have spoke comfortably to me, and I was not at home to be spoke with, but abroad among a world of vanities; or was not at leisure; or was asleep, and not willing to be awaked! How often would love have come in, and dwelt with me, and I have unkindly shut him out! When his table has been spread for me, and Christ, grace, and glory offered to me, how has my appetite been gone or dull! He would have been all to me, if I would have been all for him. But in heaven I shall have none of these obstructions. All old unkindness and ingratitude will be forgiven. I shall then be wholly separated from the vanity which here deceived me. I shall joyfully behold the open face, and attend the charming voice of glorifying love, and delightfully relish his celestial provisions. No disease will corrupt my appetite. No sluggishness will renew my guilty neglects. The love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the communion of the Holy Spirit will triumph over all my folly, deadness, and disaffection; and my God-displeasing and self-undoing averseness and enmity will be gone forever. Study this heavenly work of love, O my soul! Baxter. 8. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem. The dream is therefore related to the chorus. The bride, now awake, is still seeking her beloved. The dream of his departure and her feelings under it have symbolized a real emotion of her waking heart. The Bride's Commendation of the Beloved. Vs. 9-16. The chorus, replying to the bride's charge with the question, "What is thy beloved more than another?" (v. 9) give her the occasion, which she eagerly seizes, for a glorious description of his beauty and sweetness of whom she is in search (vs. 10-16). It is also her response to the praises of the king on her bridal-day (4:1-5; 10-15). 10. The chiefest among ten thousand. Literally, "a bannered one among a myriad; that is, a leader of ten thousand warriors." T. L. K. 11-16. This is usually taken to describe the unclothed person, but nothing can be less in accordance with the language itself. Those parts of the person which custom exposes to view are indeed described; but as to those parts which custom conceals, it is the dress and not the skin which is described. For example, "His head is as the most fine gold, and his hair is curled, and black as the raven." What is this but the turban, gold-colored or ornamented with gold, and the raven-black ringlets appearing below it? Again, in v. 14, "His body is as bright ivory girded with sapphires." How admirably this corresponds with the snow-white robe, and girdle set full of jewels, as we see it in Sir Robert Ker Porter's portrait of the late king of Persia! But what is there in the unclothed body that looks like a girdle of sapphires? Stove. 9-16. Carrying out the ideas of that age as to personal beauty and splendor, this portrait is exquisite, and gives us a transcendent model of a prince. Translating it from the sensual and earthly to the spiritual, it witnesseth most admirably to the beauties and glories of our Divine Redeemer. The reader will find it refreshing to compare this description with that given (Rev. 1:12-16) of the glorified Jesus as He appeared to the seer of Patmos. This is cast after the ideas of royal splendor which prevailed in the age of Solomon. That shown in Patmos is, however, by far the more majestic and sublime. H. C. 15. His aspect is like Lebanon. Of the two celebrated mountains in Judea, Lebanon and Carmel, the former was celebrated for its height, ruggedness, and the abundance of its vast and towering cedars; the latter for its richness and fertility, abounding with vineyards, olive grounds, and corn-fields. Hence the former is here employed to express masculine dignity, as the latter is (7 · 5) to convey an idea of female beauty. Bishop Lowth. 16. He is altogether lovely. Literally, the whole of him desires or delights. So just before, "his mouth" all "sweetnesses" ("for breath, and speech, and smile," Bossuet), the plural substantives expressing the notion of the superlative. Theodoret, applying to our Lord the whole description, interprets well its last term: "Being at a loss for other terms of praise, she names Him finally by one Name. Why should I thus endeavor to express His beauty piecemeal, when He is in Himself and altogether the One longed for, drawing all to love, compelling all to love, and inspiring with a longing (for His company) not only those who see, but also those who hear?" T. L. K. We hear Jesus saying, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." We go, and all, and more than all we asked for or could think of, we find in Him—grace and truth blended in perfect harmony, a beauty undimmed by a single blemish, a sympathy constant and entire, a love eternal, unchangeable, which nothing can quench, from which nothing can separate us. Here at last, and here only, do we find one wishing to be loved and worthy to be loved with the full devotion of the heart. Restless till it lights on Him, with what a warm embrace, when it finds Him, does the heart of faith clasp Jesus to its bosom! "What is thy beloved more than another beloved?" may the watchman of the city say. The answer is at hand: "My beloved is the chief among ten thousand; He is altogether lovely. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine—my Lord, my God, my Shepherd, Saviour, Kinsman, Brother, Friend." W. Hanna. The character of the Lord Jesus, as described by the evangelists, surpasses in depth, beauty, and comprehensiveness all that human thought and imagination could ever reach. It unites perfectly and harmoniously elements which are blended nowhere else. His innocence, purity, meekness, and gentleness co-exist with His burning zeal, unremitting vigor, uncompromising severity, and holy indignation. His love of solitude and His sublime loneliness never prevent Him from entering into the wants and sorrows of men, or from descending to their ignorance, doubt, and weakness. His teaching, so Divine and yet so human, is perfectly lucid and clear, direct and convincing; in the simple intuition of His filial spirit He speaks the words of eternal life, in which all is truth, transparent, all-sided, eternal. He is a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and yet He never produces the impression of austerity and moroseness. He rejoices in spirit; He changes water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana; He takes little children into His arms and blesses them; He defends the joy of His disciples because the bridegroom was with them. We feel in His presence, as in the presence of the Son of God, holy, solemn, peaceful; of one who possesses without measure the spirit of joy and gladness, of joy unspeakable and full of glory. Saphir. The growing Christian lives more and more under the powers of the world to come. There is a sense of the utter worthlessness of those things which have only the stamp of a lifelong value, and the immeasurable moment of those things which stretch on into eternity. And this substantiating of things hoped for, this evidencing conviction of things not seen, is faith. This firm outlooking for its permanent glories is hope. And the play of these two great lights upon the soul is the preparation which God gives for bidding farewell to earth and entering into heaven. The face of Jesus, who is our righteousness, shines brightly on the soul that waits for Him. We who have known Him long, beholding His approach, can say, while we rejoice with trembling, This is our Beloved, and this is our Friend! J. W. A. 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? 2. My beloved is gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: He feedeth his flock among the lilies. 4. Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, Comely as Jerusalem, Overpowering as an army with banners. 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil. 8. There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, And virgins without number. 9. 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. 10. Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Overpowering as an army with banners? 11. 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. 12. Or ever I was aware, my soul set me Among the chariots of my princely people. 13. Return, return, O Shulammite; Return, return, that we may look upon thee. Why will ye look upon the Shulammite, As upon the dance of Mahanaim? 7: 1 How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, O prince's daughter! Thy rounded thighs are like jewels, The work of the hands of a cunning workman. 2. Thy body is like a round goblet, Wherein no mingled wine is wanting: Thy waist is like an heap of wheat Set about with lilies. 3. Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe. 4. Thy neck is like the tower of ivory; Thine eyes as the pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim; Thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon Which looketh toward Damascus. 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. This question put by the chorus, and the answer it receives from the bride, show that the loss and seeking are not to be taken too seriously. The bride, knowing better than her friends where the beloved is to be found, answers, without hesitation, that he is gone down into his garden and its spice-beds to feed his flock (in his character of shepherd, compare 1:7), and gather lilies (for her—so Bossuet); actions contradictory and irrational if the words be literally understood. What the bride means is, that he, of whom she speaks, is a royal shepherd (possessed of a garden of rarest spices), and her own true friend to whom she also belongs, her "shepherd among lilies." T. L. K. 2,3. It is remarkable how naturally the assurances of mutual devotion between her Lord and herself blend here with the love of nature—the beauties of flowers and the odors of sweet spices. Perhaps this may be a foreshadowing of the joys of the Paradise above. If in this world, so fearfully cursed with sin, God has yet lavished such a wealth of beauty and loveliness, what may we not anticipate in that pure heaven where no sin exists to demand an expression of God's displeasure; where there is nothing to impose limitations upon the exuberant fulness of God's love of the beautiful, or upon His delight in the varied and endlessly diversified bliss of His obedient children! H. C. 3. I am my beloved's.** Repeated from chap. 2:16, with a significant inversion. In that day of early love her first boast was her possession of him, "My beloved is mine;" now bound to him by closer ties, she begins by confessing that she is his. T. L. K.—So long as marriage remains the type of the union of the soul with God, of Christ with the Church; so long as the faithful attachment of one soul to another shadows forth the love of the heavenly Lover who "loved us and gave Himself for us," so long will religious feeling express itself in the language of the Canticles, so long will the soul that "is joined to the Lord" utter, as its deepest cry of adoration to its Redeemer, the words of the Song of Songs, "My Beloved is mine and I am His." E. Hopkins. When Christ comes anew and reveals Himself to the soul free and full as ever, in another way than He doth unto the world, then the soul can say, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." Not that the believer can use these words at all seasons. In times of darkness and in times of sinfulness, the reality of a believer's faith is to be measured rather by his sadness than by his confidence. But in seasons when Christ reveals Himself afresh to the soul, shining out like the sun from behind a cloud, with the beams of sovereign, unmerited love—then no other words will satisfy the true believer but these, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." When first he hid himself in Jesus, he found Him suitable to all his need—the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. But now he sees Jesus to be so full a Saviour, giving to the sinner not only pardons, but overflowing, immeasurable pardons; giving not only righteousness, but a righteousness that is all Divine; giving not only His Spirit, but pouring water on him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. The soul sees all this in Jesus, and cannot but choose Him and delight in Him with a new and appropriating love, saying, "My Beloved is mine." And if any man ask, "How darest thou, sinful worm, to call that Divine Saviour thine?" The answer is here, "For I am His." He chose me from all eternity, else I never would have chosen Him. He shed His blood for me, else I never would have shed a tear for Him. He cried after me, else I never would have breathed after Him. He sought me, else I never would have sought after Him. He hath loved me, therefore I love Him. He hath chosen me, therefore I evermore choose Him. "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." McCheyne. The dearest affections of Christ and the saints in heaven are mutual and reflexive. His propriety in the Church is His unvaluable treasure. He repeats the word mine in the sweetest and most tender manner. And the Church, with the same harmonious affections, speaks of Christ. My Beloved is the chiefest of ten thousand, He is altogether lovely. My Beloved is mine, and I am His. By all their expressions of joyful love and union, we may ascend in our thoughts and foretaste the joys of heaven, where the communion of Christ and the Church is entire and uninterrupted forever. If faith and love of our unseen Saviour produce "a joy unspeakable and glorious," as if believers were wrapt up to Paradise, or Paradise descended into them, what will be the sight and fruition of Him? Bates. The Beloved's Commendation of the Bride. Vs. 4-9. 4. Fair.** The fourth time that the bride is thus addressed at the commencement of a fresh dialogue. Tirzah and Jerusalem, named together as the then two fairest cities in the land. 5-7. Now follows the longest of the repetitions of the Song, marking the continuance of the king's affection as when first solemnly proclaimed (4:1-6). So Ibn Ezra, following the Targum: "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." 8. There are threescore queens.** An allusion to what may have been historical fact when the Song was written. The numbers (according to 1 Kings 11:2, 3) were afterward enormously increased. 9. My dove.** The king proceeds in a yet tenderer strain to contrast the bride with all these other claimants for her royal estate or favor. She not only outshines them all for him, but herself has received from them disinterested blessing and praise: "One only is my dove, my perfect one, Her mother's only-loved one she, The darling one of her that gave her birth; The daughters gazed on her and called her blessed, The queens and concubines, and sang her praise." Allegorical interpreters have found it difficult to assign to this passage in all its details a good mystical sense, but in its ethical significance it is invaluable as a Divine witness to the principle of monogamy, under the Old Testament and in the luxurious age of Solomon. 10-13. This part of the Song commences with a short dialogue between the bride and the chorus, who address her, here only, as the Shulamite, and beg her to perform for their entertainment a sacred dance (7:1) of her own country (6:10-13). The bride, complying with their request, they sing some stanzas in her praise (7:1-5). 10. Who is she; or, this, as at 3:6. The question is asked by the chorus. As the morning. The glorious beauty of the bride bursts upon them like a second dawn (so the word ought to be rendered here, as at Josh. 6:15), as she comes forth to meet them at the commencement of another day. 11,12. The bride answers, recalling the occasion on which she first met with the king, and won the love which has thus exalted her. Her words might be thus paraphrased: “You speak of me as a glorious beauty; I was lately but a simple maiden engaged in rustic toils. I went down one day into the walnut-garden to inspect the young plants of the vale” (i.e., the wady, or watercourse, with now verdant banks in the early spring after the rainy season), “and to watch the budding and blossoming of vine and pomegranate. Then, suddenly, ere I was myself aware, my soul” (the soul, the seat of the affections, is here the love-bound heart); “had made me the chariot of a lordly people” (i.e., an exalted personage, one who rides on the high places of the earth). Ammi-nadib; literally, my people a noble one. The reference is either to Israel at large as a wealthy and dominant nation under Solomon, or to the bride’s own people (the Shulamites) in particular, to the chief place among whom, by her union with the king, she is now exalted. 13. Return, return. About to withdraw, the bride is recalled by the chorus, desiring yet a little longer to contemplate a grace and beauty which has won all hearts. The plural (“that we may gaze on thee”) indicates the chorus as the speakers The king has not yet appeared. O Shulamite. Probably the same as “Shunamite,” i.e., a native of the town or district of Shunem, situated in the territory of Issachar. T. L. K. In this Song the names of the two leading personages are specially significant. The name Solomon (Hebrew, Shelomoh) means the peaceful one, the prince of peace. (It occurs in the Song, in chaps. 1:1; 3:11; 8:11, 12.) Whoever will carefully read Psalm 72, considered as written either by Solomon himself or by his father for him, and bearing in mind this significance of his name, will see that the very name had an outlook toward the person and work of the great Messiah. This view will be very much confirmed if we consider the promise made to David (2 Sam. 7:12-17, 19, 29) of a royal son whose rule should be universal, His influence most blessed, and His sway eternal—a son, not Solomon himself, but one like him in certain points yet indefinitely greater. Hence Solomon’s use of his own name in this Song may certainly be supposed to look toward the typical or rather the prophetical use of his own name. This becomes far more obvious when we pass from the name of Solomon to that of his bride. It is Shulamith (twice occurring) (6:13), which is probably the Hebrew feminine of Shelomoh (Solomon). If he is the prince of peace she is the princess of peace. If his name bears in it a prophetic outlook toward the great Messiah, so does hers toward the bride of the Messiah, the Lamb’s wife. H. C. Dance of Mahanaim. The word generally designates a festival or sacred dance. But what is meant by the dance of Mahanaim? The reply can only be conjectural. First, Manahaim was a Levitical city (Josh. 21:34, 38), among the mountains of Gilead, deriving probably both its sacred character and its name (“the twofold camp”) from the angelic vision there vouchsafed to Jacob (Gen. 27:1-3). Annual festivals may have been held in memory of this event, at which the maidens came forth in the dances as at Shiloh (Jud. 21:21), so that “the dance of Mahanaim” would simply be a well-known sacred dance, taking its name from the locality in which it originated. Second, the word “Mahanaim” became in later Hebrew an ordinary designation for “the angels” or “angelic hosts” (Delitzsch). Some accordingly would render here “a dance, as it were, of angel-choirs,” i.e., one of peculiar grace and beauty, “perform for us some beautiful dance like those of the angel-choirs in heaven.” The former of these interpretations is to be preferred. Nor is there anything incongruous with Oriental custom in a company of ladies asking one of their number to dance before them. The Dance of Mahanaim. Vs. 7:1-5. The Shulamite complies with the request of her attendants, and as she glides before them in the dance they sing in further commendation of her beauty of form and grace of movement (Delitzsch). The description borrows images (like those of chaps. 4, 5, and 6) from the whole range of nature and art in various parts of the Hebrew monarchy, differing, however, from all others in one respect, that the forms of beauty here enumerated are contemplated as in active movement before the eyes of the spectator. Beginning with the sandalled feet, as was natural in speaking of a dancing figure, it ends with the head and its wealth of native ornament, reversing the order of description in chap. 4:1-5. It consists, like that, of five stanzas nearly coinciding with the verses in the text. T. L. K. All the monuments and pictures of ancient Egypt show us that the ancient Oriental ladies dressed so as to leave the busts fully open to view, and, of course, there could then be no impropriety in alluding to or describing that part of the person. It may be added, that this is the custom of modern Oriental as well as of ancient Oriental dress; and we have ourselves seen women who would sooner die than allow their faces to be viewed by strangers, and sooner be flayed alive than be seen with the top of the head uncovered, who would, at the same time, be perfectly indifferent as to a display of a part of their persons which is in Europe carefully veiled. Yet even in this respect the customs of the East and West were not so different a few generations ago as they are at present, and hence there are expressions in our own poets parallel to those of Solomon, but which excited not the least uneasiness even in the most delicate minds, in the age in which they were produced. It was in such an age that our translation of the Bible was made; and it does hence contain some expressions unsuited to the higher standard of Christian refinement which we have now reached. But these might be altered not only with safety, but with advantage to the sense; for in this particular book of Solomon, it is especially allowed by all good scholars, that even to those who look only to the first or literal sense, and whose eyes are shut to the spiritual meaning, the Song of Songs is in the original a much more readable book than the authorized version represents it to be. Kitto. 5. Thine head upon thee. Compare and contrast with chap. 5:15. The king's aspect is there likened to the majestic heights of Lebanon, the bride's head here to the soft and rounded top of Carmel. Hair . . . like purple. The ancient purple was of different shades, from bright red to a deep violet black. The deepest shade is here meant. The king. No definite article in the Hebrew. The indefinite—"a king is bound in the tresses or windings of thy hair"—is much more poetical. The words indicate the king's approach, who is the next speaker. T. L. K. 7: 6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 7. This thy stature is like to a palm tree, And thy breasts to its clusters. 8. 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; 9. And thy mouth like the best wine, That goeth down smoothly for my beloved, Gliding through the lips of those that are asleep. 10. I am my beloved's, And his desire is toward me. 11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; Let us lodge in the villages. 12. 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. 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. 8: 1 Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; Yea, and none would despise me. 2. 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. 3. His left hand should be under my head, And his right hand should embrace me. 4. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, That ye stir not up, nor awaken love, Until it please. 5. Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth. 6. 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. 7. 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 utterly be contemned. 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? 9. If she be a wall, We will build upon her a turret of silver. And if she be a door, We will inclose her with boards of cedar. 10. I am a wall, and my breasts like the towers thereof: Then was I in his eyes as one that found peace. 11. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. 12. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: Thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand, And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. 13. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, The companions hearken for thy voice: Cause me to hear it. 14. Make haste, my beloved, And be thou like to a roe or to a young hart Upon the mountains of spices. 6-10. The king and the bride. Vs. 6-9 are spoken by the king, and v. 10 by the bride. The king addresses the bride, comparing her to palm, vine, and apple-tree for nobility of form and pleasantness of fruit; and the utterances of her mouth to sweetest wine. T. L. K. It is scarcely necessary to reiterate that these conceptions and illustrations of personal beauty and form are altogether Oriental in their cast, and cannot therefore be judged of in all respects by the standard of our age and country. This is wedded love, thoroughly mutual and promptly responsive, such as takes hold of the deepest sensibilities of our being. Here, too, as throughout this exquisite poem, it manifests the richest sympathy for rural life and for the thousand beauties and charms with which God has invested the face of this fair world. Need it surprise us that God should seize upon this strong and rich affection of human souls to illustrate the love He bears to His people and the responsive love which His Spirit begets in their hearts to Himself in return? Where else can a more vivid and perfect illustration of this spiritual love be found? H. C. 10. His desire is toward me. All His affection has me for its object. The comparison of chaps. 2: 16 and 6: 3 confirms this interpretation. The bride is for the king a true Hephzibah (Isa. 63: 4), one in whom is all his delight. She proceeds to exercise her power over his loving will. The bride's invitation (7: 11; 8: 4). Responsive and antithetical to that of the king on the day of their espousals, in which he had asked her to forsake home and occupation for his sake (4: 8), and dwell with him in Jerusalem. The bride in her turn now invites her beloved to revisit in her company the lowly scenes of pastoral life, out of which his grace had raised her, and to which (though once forsaken at his bidding) her heart still innocently clings. 12. It is now again precisely the same season as that in which the king had first visited the bride on that well-remembered morning (2 : 8-17) in her mother's house. This thought enhances her desire to have him with her there again. 8 : 1. The bride continues to address the king. The thought of home and of having his presence with her there fills her heart. Royal rank and splendor are grown wearisome. The king once called her "sister" and "sister-bride." Would he were indeed as a "brother," her mother's own child whom she might meet, embrace, and welcome everywhere without restraint or shame. Her love for him is simple, sacred, pure, free from the unrest and the stains of mere earthly passion. 2. Who would instruct me. Another rendering gives a better sense both literal and allegorical — thou shouldest teach me (Isa. 54 : 13). 3. His left hand should be. The bride now turns to and addresses the chorus as before (2 : 6, 7). It is an exact repetition of 2 : 6, and here rightly rendered as expressing a wish, not as stating a fact. It introduces the last repetition of the bride's charge (v. 4), which forms the conclusion of this part of the Song. T. L. K. THE RETURN HOME. Vs. 5-14. Last Vows Sealed. Vs. 5-7. The scene changes from Jerusalem to the birthplace of the bride, where she is seen by former associates and the members of her family coming up from the open champaign toward her mother's house, leaning on the arm of the great king her beloved. 5. Who is this? Compare and contrast with chap. 3 : 6, and following. There the bride is carried in procession, and with regal state, to meet the king her bridegroom ; here in sole companionship with him, and rustic simplicity, she leans on him as her beloved. In the former scene all is splendor and exaltation, but here condescension, humility, and loving charm. Beneath this apple-tree I wakened thee. Masoretic pointing of the Hebrew text (the most ancient traditional interpretation to which we can appeal) assigns these words to the bride, but the majority of Christian Fathers to the king. The whole passage gains in clearness by the latter arrangement, which supposes two speakers, first the king, reminding the bride of a happy past, and then the bride, taking occasion from his words to ask for an assurance of his enduring affection (vs. 6, 7). 6,7. Set me as a seal, etc. The bride says this as she clings to his arm and rests her head upon his bosom. This brief dialogue corresponds to the longer one (4 : 7-5 : 1), on the day of their espousals. There the beloved sought and claimed the bride, here she seeks and clings to him. 6. For love is strong. This glorious assertion of the might and purity of true love gives the key-note of the poem. It forms, as Delitzsch has well observed, the Old Testament counterpart to Paul's panegyric (1 Cor. 13) under the New. The following is an attempt to analyze it. Love is here regarded as a universal power, an elemental principle of all true being, alone able to cope with the two eternal foes of God and man, death and his kingdom (Sheol). " For strong as death is love, Tenacious as Sheol is jealousy." "Jealousy" is here to be taken only as another term for "love," expressing the inexorable force and ardor of this affection, which can neither yield nor share possession of its object, and is identified in the mind of the sacred writer with Divine or true Life ; so he goes on to describe it as an all-pervading fire, kindled by the Eternal One, and partaking of His essence : "A very flame of the Lord." If this be the right interpretation of the Hebrew word Shalbebeth-Jab, the poet of the Old Testament surpasses even Paul, and rises here to an intuition subsequently reserved for John, and by him attained only through a life-long communion with incarnate love : "God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4 : 16). This Divine principle is next represented as overcoming in its might all opposing agencies whatsoever, symbolized by water as the antagonistic element to fire in the natural world : " Waters many have not power To quench this love, Nor streams to overwhelm it." They may in a thousand forms hiss and strive against it, but the heavenly fire will be triumphant in the end. From all which follows that love, even as a human affection, must be reverenced, and dealt with as having its motive-power in itself, and not to be bought by aught of different nature; the attempt to do this awakening only scorn: "Though one should give all substance of his house for love, With scorn should he be scorned." Of such love as this, pure, unbought, and changeless, we believe that the Song of Songs was, in the first instance, designed to give an idealized representation. T. L. K. In possession of her beloved, the Shulamite now sings of the strength of the bond which unites them to each other—love in all its sublimity. Love is not a feeling having its origin in man; it cannot, therefore, be purchased at any price. It is a flame of Jah (Jehovah), kindled by Him, and of which the supreme object should be Himself. The passion of the rich man who offers everything without giving himself will be treated with contempt, while the true love of the God who brings no present but who gives Himself has in it a power which can measure itself victoriously even against that of death and of the grave. Godet.—Verily, all His life was love: His suffering was fellow-suffering; His death a sacrifice of such priceless value, because it was the highest act of love, which at the cost of His own life sought only our salvation. And certainly He who thus loved still loves. Death cannot quench His love; no distance of time or place can limit it; no unfaithfulness on our side can blunt it. Glorious Gospel of the unbounded, the unquenchable love of Jesus for each, for all His people. This love is the burden of a song of which eternity itself shall never hear the close! Van O. Some have been tempted to wish that the poem itself had closed with this triumphant strain, and some have even ventured to regard what follows as a spurious addition. Both were wrong. The concluding scene has its own significance and beauty, besides throwing light upon the past, and helping to illustrate the meaning of the whole. The Bride's Intercession. Vs. 8-12. A brief dialogue, commencing with a question and answer probably made by the brothers of the bride concerning a younger sister who will soon be old enough to be asked in marriage. How shall they provide for her when the day comes, or so that it may come well? The answer is given in the form of a parable: "If she be a wall," i.e., steadfast in chastity and virtue, one on whom no light advances can be made, then let us honor and reward her. This fortress-wall shall be crowned as it were with a tower or battlement of silver. But "if she be a door," light-minded and accessible to seduction (Prov. 7:11, 12), then let us provide against assailants the protection of a cedar-bar or panel. In either case they wish to show themselves as mindful of the safety of their younger sister as formerly of that of the now exalted bride (1:6; 2:15). 10. I am a wall. The bride herself replies with the pride of innocence and virtue already crowned. She has shown herself to be such a fortress-wall as her brothers have alluded to, and her reward has been the royal favor, or, as she phrases it for the sake of a paronomasia, "her finding peace in the eyes of the peaceful one—Shalom with Shelomoh." 11. Solomon had a vineyard. She next turns to the king, and commends her brothers to his favorable regard by means of another parable. Solomon owns a vineyard in Baal-hamon. This vineyard he has let out to tenants who have each to pay a rent-charge of a thousand silverlings into the royal treasury. The application follows. 12. My vineyard, which is mine. The bride also has a vineyard of her own (1:6), her beauty and virtue faithfully guarded by these same brothers in time past. This vineyard now belongs to Solomon. Let him have "the thousand" which is his due—she is indeed herself henceforth entirely his—but let the faithful keepers have their meed as well. At least two hundred silverlings should be theirs—a double tithe of royal praise and honor. 13. The poem concludes with a versicle recited by the bride, renewing, at his request and for his ear, the memory of their first day of love. 14. Make haste. Better, Flee, my beloved. The bride complies with the king's request by repeating the last words of her former strain (2:17), with one significant change. She no longer thinks of the possibility of separation. The "Mountains of Bether" (division) of chap. 2:17 are now "Mountains of Besamim" (spices). His haunts and hers are henceforth the same (compare 4:6). T. L. K.—Thus the voice of the bride, which opens the poem, lingers on the ear in its close, and suggests to us that the whole is as if from her standpoint the aspiration of an ideal love, breathing itself out in desire after the beloved object—that the king may delight himself in her beauty. Redford. To common view, the Song of Songs seems to close abruptly. But the spiritual interpretation gives to it great emphasis and beauty, and renders it a most fitting termination of this high discourse. It is an aspiration on the part of the Church, or of the individual soul, that the Lord will come and make good all the things that have been represented in these raptures of heavenly love. It closes, in fact, like the last book of the New Testament; "He that testifieth of these things, saith, Surely, I come quickly; Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Kitto, —However one may interpret this inspired book, it will to the end of the ages furnish the Christian with the imagery and vocabulary of adoring love to Jesus, the lover of our souls. Griffis. Communion with Christ may be interrupted, though union is not broken. From their own experience saints understand the alternations of withdrawal and manifestation on the part of the beloved, related in the Song. He is not always in the garden, or always at the table with them, but is in Lebanon or in the top of Hermon; and when they miss Him, He often comes to them speedily and as with a sweet surprise, like a hart leaping on the mountains, and bounding on the hills. "His love in my heart casteth a mighty beat; He knoweth that the desire I have to be at Himself paineth me. I have sick nights and frequent fits of love-fevers for my well-Beloved. Nothing paineth me now but want of presence. I think it long till day. I challenge time, as too slow in its pace, that holdeth my only, only true One, my well-Beloved from me. Oh, if we were together once!" Rutherford.—The Church now loves an unseen Saviour. She longs for her absent Lord, to whom she is joined in the marriage covenant, and for whose presence she is being prepared and adorned with holy beauties by the Holy Ghost. "Rise up, my Beloved!" is her prayer. She waits the happy hour, when the Lord will gather His saints as the bride, and take them to the high mountains to be forever with Him. "Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus." Comfort one another with these words, all ye who love His appearing! We have no relish for controversy about the time and manner of the Advent; but we do want more realization of it as our "blessed hope," more thirst and more meetness for His presence. Let it be added, that this comes in well after the Book of Ecclesiastes. The weariness of heart under the sun is best cured by the fervor of spirit expressed in the Song of Songs. The world's vanity has no power to occupy or chafe those who are full of a Divine and heavenly love. The world's gayeties are nothing to hearts which are possessed by the "blessed hope," or thrilled with a joy unspeakable. D. F. Thus closes this exquisite Song, of which one cannot easily say whether most to admire its poetic beauty, its painting of wedded love, or its transcendent presentation of the love which Jesus bears to His people and which they should, and sometimes do, bear to Him. The latter, which I take to be the real significance of the poem, is a theme of exhaustless interest; the theme which wakens the strongest and purest emotions ever known to the Christian heart in this life; the theme which is destined to swell the song of the redeemed in their eternal home of purity and bliss. H. C. [The titles and publishers of leading works, additional to those given in previous volumes, are here appended to the names of authors. A helpful service in the interest of readers and writers is thus subserved.] Thomas Adams, 1614. W. H. D. Adams. William Adams, D.D. Joseph Addison, d. 1719. Rev. A. S. Aglen. Henry Ainsworth, D.D., d. 1622. J. W. A. Jas. W. Alexander, D.D. Bp. W. A. Bp. William Alexander. W. L. A. Wm. L. Alexander, D.D. Henry Alford, D.D. Richard Alleine, d. 1681. Rev. J. K. Allen. Henry Allon, D.D. American Theol. Review. Joseph Anderson, D.D. M. B. Anderson, D.D. Anon. An Unknown Writer. Thomas Arnold, D.D. William Arnot, D.D. John Arrowsmith, d. 1659. Merle D'Aubigne. Augustine, d. 430. C. E. Babb, D.D. Lord Bacon, d. 1626. John Balguy, D.L., d. 1748. A. B. Albert Barnes. Isaac Barrow, D.D., d. 1677. John H. Barrows, D.D. W. F. V. Bartlett, D.D. John Bascom, D.D. Basil, d. 379. William Bates, D.D., d. 1699. Richard Baxter, d. 1691. Rev. E. Bayley. Rev. H. W. Beecher. A. J. F. Behrends, D.D. James Bennett, D.D. Jeremy Bentham, 1747-1832. H. H. Bernard, D.D. T. D. Bernard, D.D. E. Bersier, D.D. Bp. Wm. Beveridge, d. 1708. T. B. Thomas Binney, D.D. W. G. B. Wm. G. Blaikie, D.D. Hugh Blair, D.D. G. D. B. George D. Boardman, D.D. Rev. Geo. Body. Henry M. Booth, D.D. Prof. Francis Bowen. Rev. George Bowen. A. K. H. B. Rev. A. K. H. Boyd. Rev. E. H. Bradby. Rev. Wm. Braden. Rev. Charles Bradley. Geo. G. Bradley, D.D. James Brand, D.D. Brentius, d. 1570. Rev. Chas. Bridges. Bp. Phillips Brooks. Thomas Brooks, d. 1680. W. R. Brooks, D.D. Rev. J. B. Brown. Sir Thomas Browne, d. 1682. Jas. Bruce, d. 1794. James Buchanan, D.D. Jos. S. Buckminster, D.D. Wm. I. Budington, D.D. Bp. George Bull, d. 1710. W. T. B. Wm. T. Bullock, D.D. Bib. Com. Ecclesiastes. Edmund Burke. Islay Burns, D.D. Jabez Burns, D.D. Burr. E. F. Burr, D.D. Puter Mundi, Etc. J. K. Burr, D.D. Book of Job. Elihu Burritt. Rev. J. L. Burrows. H. B. Horace Bushnell, D.D. Bp. Joseph Butler, d. 1752. Rev. H. M. Butler. W. A. B. Wm. Archer Butler, D.D. B. J. Glentworth Butler, D.D. George W. Cable. John Caird, D.D. A. Calmet, d. 1757. Rev. G. Calthrop. John Calvin, d. 1574. Richard Caren, 1652. Thomas Carlyle. Bp. Boyd Carpenter. Hugh S. Carpenter, D.D. Rev. Samuel Carr. Rev. T. T. Carter. Joseph Caryl, d. 1673. A. Caspars, D.D. Rev. R. Cecil. T. C. Thomas Chalmers, D.D. Robert Chambers. T. W. C. Talbot W. Chambers, D.D. Rev. T. Champness. W. E. Channing, D.D. C. Chapman, D.D. Leonard Chappelow, d. 1768. Stephen Charnoch, d. 1680. G. B. C. George B. Cheever, D.D. Lord Chesterfield, 1745. T. K. Cheyne, D.D. Christian Advocate, (N. Y.) M. T. Cicero. Lord Clarendon. Adam Clarke, D.D. S. Clarke, D.D., d. 1682. S. Clark, D.D., d. 1729. Rev. C. Clemance. Rev. J. Clements. Rev. J. Clifford. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Schuyler Colfax. Jeremy Collier. C. C. Colton, d. 1832. Thomas J. Conant, D.D. Book of Job. Eustace R. Conder, D.D. Cook. F. C. Cook, D.D. Bible Commentary. Joseph Cook. Prof. Josiah Cooke. Religion and Chemistry. Rev. G. Coombe. Rev. J. Coombes. Rev. E. Cooper. Rev. E. Copley. R. Cordley, D D. Bp. G. E. L. Cotton. H. C. Henry Cowles, D.D. Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song. Rev. Samuel Cox. Rev. Samuel Crook. J. C. John Cumming, D.D. Daniel Curry, D.D. Book of Job. (Hunt &Eaton, N. Y.) E. L. Curtis, D.D. R. W. Dale, D.D. Thomas Dale, D.D. A. B. D. A. B. Davidson, D.D. Book of Job, Camb. Bible. J. T. Davidson, D.D. Rev. D. Davies. Sir J. William Dawson, LL.D. Franz Delitzsch, D.D. Com. on Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. William Derham, d. 1735. David Dickson, d. 1662. Dillmann. Rev. R. Dixon. John Donne, d. 1631. George Downame, d. 1634. Prof. Henry Drummond. Rev. James Drummond. Rev. J. Duncan. William Dyer, 1696. A. E. Alfred Edersheim, D.D. Rev. R. M. Edgar. Jonathan Edwards, D.D. B. B. E. Bela B. Edwards, D.D. Rev. G. S. Eldridge. E. Erskine, D.D., d. 1754. L. J. Evans, D.D. Lange's Job. G. H. A. Ewald, D.D. Book of Job, etc. The Examiner, (N. Y.) J. H. Fairchild, D.D. Fred'k W. Farrar, D.D. Fichte. John Flavel, d. 1691. William Fleming, D. D. Geo. P. Fisher, D.D. Sam'l W. Fisher, D.D. J. F. John Foster. Rev. T. T. Fotheringham. Benjamin Franklin. D. F. Donald Fraser, D.D. William Fraser, D.D. Free Church Monthly. J. Anthony Froude. Rev. E. Garbett. Thomas Gataker, d. 1654. Pres. Merrill E. Gates. L. Gaussen, D.D. C. Geikie, D.D. Prof. John F. Genung. Epic of the Inner Life. (Houghton &Co.) J. Gerhard, d. 1637. Prof. George H. Gilbert. Poetry of Job. (McClurg, Chicago.) E. H. G. E. H. Gillett, D.D. Thomas Gisborne, 1758-1846. F. Godet, D.D. O. T. Studies; Song of Solomon. Bp. Harvey Goodwin. E. M. G. E. M. Goulburn, D.D. Richard Graves, D.D., d. 1829. Andrew Gray, D.D., 1616. W. H. G. Wm. Henry Green, D.D. Gregory of Nyssa. D. S. G. D. S. Gregory, D.D. F. Greeves. E. D. Griffin, D.D. Wm. E. Griffis, D.D. F. Guizot. William Gurnall, d. 1679. T. G. Thomas Guthrie, D.D. Sir Matthew Hale. William Hales, D.D., d. 1819. C. Cuthbert Hall, D.D. John Hall, D.D. Bp. H. Bp. Joseph Hall. Newman Hall, D.D. Robert Hall, D.D. Rev. J. N. Hallock. The Christian Life. James Hamilton, D.D. Royal Preacher. Henry Hammond, D.D., d. 1660. William Hanna, D D. Rev. A. W. Hare. Rev. J. C. Hare. J. H. John Harris, D.D. Samuel Harris, D.D. Edward Heath, 1756. H. Matthew Henry, D.D., d. 1714. J. G. Herder. S. E. Herrick, D.D. A. C. H. Bp. A. C. Hervey. J. A. Hessey, D.D. Boyle Lectures, 1873. Rev. J. W. Hicks. Richard Hill. Bernard Hodgson, 1785. H. S. Holland, D.D. J. G. Holland, d. 1881. O. W. Holmes, M.D. Rev. E. P. Hood. H. H. Heman Hooker, D.D. Ellice Hopkins. Bp. Ezekiel Hopkins, d. 1690. M. H. Mark Hopkins, D.D. Bp. George Horne, d. 1792. John Howe, D.D., d. 1705. Rev. J. Howell. Wm. D. Howells. Rev. E. Hull. F. D. H. Bp. Fredk. D. Huntington. Benj. Ibbot, d. 1725. The Interior, (Chicago.) Washington Irving. J. J. Bp. John Jackson. Rev. J. Angell James. Rev. A. Jessopp. Herrick Johnson, D.D. Rev. Wm. H. Karslake. John Keble, D.D. J. F. Keil, D.D. Commentaries. Thomas a Kempis, d. 1471. John Ker, D.D. T. L. K. T. L. Kingsbury, D.D. Bib. Com. Song of Solomon. Rev. Charles Kingsley. John Kitto, D.D. Daily Bib. Illus., etc. J. H. Kurtz, D.D. Charles Lamb. J. G. Lansing, D.D. Rev. Joseph Lathrop. Stanley Leathes, D.D. R. Lee, D.D. S. V. Leech, D.D. L. Arcbp. Robert Leighton, d. 1684. G. H. Lewes. T. L. Tayler Lewis, LL.D. Book of Job, Lange. W. H. Lewis, D.D. H. P. L. H. P. Liddon, D.D. John Locke, d. 1704. London Congregationalist. Bp. Robert Lowth, d. 1787. Martin Luther, d. 1546. R. S. McArthur, D.D. T. B. Macaulay. R. M. McCheyne, D.D. Henry C. McCook, D.D. James McCosh, D.D. J. M. M. J. M. Macdonald, D.D. Ecclesiastes. J. R. Macduff, D.D. Norman McLeod, D.D. A. M. Alexander Maclaren, D.D. R. P. Macmaster. N. McMichael, D.D. Hugh Macmillan, D.D. Rev. T. McRae. Archbp. Wm. Magee, d. 1831. Asa Mahan, D.D. Mahomet. H. E. Manning, D.D. Bp. Richard Mant. T. M. Thomas Manton, d. 1667. Frederick Marquand. Bp. Martensen. Rev. Samuel Martin. Erskine Mason, D.D. John Mason, d. 1763. William Mason, d. 1791. Spiritual Treasury. George Matheson, D.D. M. F. Maury, LL.D. Rev. E. Mellor. Henry Melvill, D.D. Rev. G. S. Merriam. Methodist Recorder. J. D. Michaelis, d. 1791. J. R. M. J. R. Miller, D.D. G. M. Bp. George Moberly. A. W. Momerie, D.D. Adolph Monod, D.D. Rev. E. Monro. M. Montaigne, d. 1592. Hannah More. J. H. Morison, D.D. J. B. Mozley, D.D. Joseph Muenscher, D.D. Rev. P. Muffet. Julius Muller, D.D. Max Muller. J. T. Munger, D.D. Sir R. Murchison. Rev. A. Mursell. T. A. Nelson, D.D. J. H. Newman, D.D. John Newton, d. 1807. Bp. Thos. Newton, d. 1782. S. J. Niccolls, D.D. Northern Christian Advocate. N. Western Cristian Advocate. Rev. J. N. Norton. George R. Noyes, D.D. O. G. F. Oehler, D.D. C. Von Orelli, D.D. Howard Osgood, D.D. J. F. Ostervald, D.D., d. 1747. John Owen, D.D., d. 1683. Rev. J. M. Oxley. Benjamin M. Palmer, D.D. J. P. Joseph Parker, D.D. John Parkhurst, D.D., d. 1797. C. H. P. Chas. H. Parkhurst, D.D. Blaise Pascal, d. 1662. Bp. Symon Patrick, d. 1707. R. W. Patterson, D.D. Wm. W. Patton, D.D. Edward Payson, D.D., d. 1827. A. P. Peabody, D.D. Rev. J. Percival. Bp. Thos. Percy, d. 1811. Bp. J. J. S. Perowne. Charles Peters, 1751. Book of Job. A. P. Austin Phelps, D.D. A. T. Pierson, D.D. E. H. Plumptre, D.D. Ecclesiastes, Camb. Bib. Plutarch. Matthew Pool. Annotations. Wm. B. Pope, D.D. Bp. B. Portens, d. 1808. Bp. H. C. Potter. Presbyterian Observer, (Baltimore.) J. Preston, 1634. E. B. Pusey, D.D. Rev. Jas. Pyecroft. Farncis Quarles, d. 1644. Fasquier Quesnel, d. 1719. Rev. Marcus Rainsford. A. R. Alexander Raleigh, D.D. G. R. George Rawlinson, D.D. Issac Ray, M.D. J. Buchanan Read. R. A. Redford, D.D. Mo. Interpreter, 1886. John Reid, D.D. North British Review, etc., etc. J. P. Richter. F. W. R. Fredk. W. Robertson, D.D. E. G. Robinson, D.D. S. R. Stuart Robinson, D.D. Unpublished Lectures on O. T. N. Rogers, d. 1658. E. F. Rosenmuller. John Ruskin. Samuel Rutherford, d. 1661. H. G. Salter. S. Salter, 1740. Bp. Robt. Sanderson, d. 1663. Adolph Saphir, D.D. J. Saurin, D.D., d. 1730. F. E. D. Schleiermacher, D.D. John Scott, D.D., d. 1694. Thos. Scott, D.D., d. 1821. C. Scriver, d. 1693. William Secker, d. 1660. Archbp. Secker, d. 1768. Jeremiah Seed, d. 1747. Thos. Shaw, D.D. W. G. T. Shedd, D.D. Bp. Thos. Sherlock, d. 1761. J. M. Sherwood, D.D. Rev. T. J. Shore. R. Sibbes, d. 1635. James Sime. John Skelton, D.D., d. 1529. Samuel Smiles. H. Smith, d. 1591. Rev. James Smith. Charles H. Spurgeon. Robert South, D.D., d. 1716. G. L. Spining, D.D. James Stalker, D.D. George Stanhope, d. 1738. A. P. S. A. P. Stanley, D.D. Rev. H. C. Stanton. Richard Steele, d. 1692. Rev. T. H. Steel. Laurence Sterne, d. 1768. George B. Stevens, D.D. Rev. T. R. Stevenson. Bp. Joseph Stock, 1626. Audrew L. Stone, D.D. R. S. S. Richard Salter Storrs, D.D. John Stoughton, D.D. C. E. Stowe, D.D. A. M. Stuart. M. S. Moses Stuart, D.D. J. H. Stuckenberg, D.D. D. Sutherland, D.D. George Swinnock, d. 1673. I. T. Isaac Taylor. Bp. Jeremy Taylor, d. 1667. N. W. Taylor, D.D. W. M. T. W. M. Taylor, D.D. F. T. Bp. Frederick Temple. D. Thomas, D.D. Jesse B. Thomas, D.D. Rev. O. Thomas. A. C. Thompson, D.D. J. P. T. Joseph P. Thompson, D.D. Archbp. Wm. Thompson. William M. Thomson, D.D. J. H. T. J. H. Thornwell, D.D. Rev. E. Thring. C. F. Thwing, D.D. Archbp. Tillotson, d. 1694. S. S. T. Sunday School Times, (Phila.) R. T. Rev. Reuben Tinker. L. T. Townsend, D.D. Archbp. R. C. Trench. H. B. T. H. B. Tristram, D.D. T. de Trugillo. H. C. T. H. Clay Trumbull, D.D. R. Turnbull, D.D. H. J. V. Henry J. Van Dyke, D.D. Henry Van Dyke, D.D. Van O. J. J. Van Oosterzee, D.D. H. Van Santvoord. Henry Varley. C. J. V. C. J. Vaughan, D.D. J. V. James Vaughan, D.D. V. Marvin R. Vincent, D.D. S rmons, 3 vols. Alexander Vinet, D.D. S. D. Waddy, D D. Charles Wadsworth, D.D. R. W. Robert Walker, D.D., d. 1783. Ralph Wardlaw, D.D. Benj. B. Warfield, D.D. Bp. H. W. Warren. E. A. Washburn, D.D. Bp. Richd. Watson, d. 1816. Thomas Watson, d. 1689. Francis Wayland, D.D. Daniel Webster. R. B. Welch, D.D. Edward Wells, D.D., d. 1727. Bp. B. F. Westcott. Westminster Confession. Rev. C. H. Wetherbe. Archbp. Whately. William Whewell, D.D. Charles White, D.D. John G. Whittier. Wm. C. Wilkinson, D.D. W. R. W. Wm. R. Williams, D.D. Sir Charles Wilson. Bp. Thos. Wilson, d. 1755. E. C. W. E. C. Wines, D.D. William Wogan, 1754. Bp. J. R. Woodford. T. D. W. T. D. Woolsey, D.D. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. Rev. J. J. Wray. G. F. W. G. F. Wright, D.D. R. Young, D.D., d. 1665. Y. Loyal Young, D.D. Rev. C. H. Zimmerman. Zion's Herald, (Boston.) Otto Zockler, D.D. G. J. Zollikofer, d. 1788. THE 1. Kings XII-XXII., 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles X-XXXVI., Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Isaiah, Four Chapters, Jeremiah, Eighteen Chapters. KINGDOM OF ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF JUDAH, CAPTIVITY AND RETURN, HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE FOUR SILENT CENTURIES. THE REVISED TEXT, ARRANGED IN SECTIONS; WITH COMMENTS SELECTED FROM THE CHOICEST, MOST ILLUMINATING AND HELPFUL THOUGHT OF THE CHRISTIAN CENTURIES. 1894. By J. GLENTWORTH BUTLER. | | PAGE | | --- | --- | | INDEX OF THE HISTORY. | 3 | | CHAPTERS AND VERSES OF THE BOOKS. | 6 | | POINTS TO BE NOTED RESPECTING THIS VOLUME. | 8 | | THE HISTORY IN 72 SECTIONS. | 9-634 | | AUTHORS CITED. | 635-637 | | 1 | Preliminary : Suggestive Thoughts Bearing upon the Character and Relations of the Old Testament History ; Witness of the Monuments to its Truthfulness. | 9 | | --- | --- | --- | | 2 | Books of Kings and Chronicles. | 34 | | 3 | Dated Events from Jeroboam to the Exile, by Willis J. Beecher, D.D. | 41 | | 4 | Revolt of the Ten Tribes, and Division of the Kingdom. 1 Kings 12 : 1-20; 2 Chronicles 10 : 1-19. | 56 | | 5 | Reign of JEROBOAM, the First King. 1 Kings 12 : 25-33 ; 13 : 1-34 ; 14 : 1-20. | 64 | | --- | --- | --- | | 6 | Reigns of NADAB, BAASHA, ELAH, and ZIMRI. 1 Kings 15 : 25-31 ; 16 : 1-20. | 79 | | 7 | Reign of OMRI. 1 Kings 16 : 21-28. | 83 | | 8 | Reign of AHAB (Begun). 1 Kings 16 : 29-34. | 88 | | 9 | ELIJAH Announces Drought to Ahab. At the Brook Cherith and with the Widow of Zarephath. 1 Kings 17 : 1-24. | 93 | | 10 | ELIJAH at Carmel : Meeting with Obadiah and Ahab ; Contest with Baal's Prophets before Assembled Israel ; Immediate Results. 1 Kings 18 : 1-46. | 103 | | 11 | ELIJAH's Flight to Horeb ; Jehovah's Treatment of his Discouraged Spirit. 1 Kings 19 : 1-21. | 118 | | 12 | AHAB's Double Victory over Benhadad. 1 Kings 20 : 1-43. | 130 | | 13 | AHAB and Naboth. Sacrilegious Murder by Jezebel. 1 Kings 21 : 1-29. | 135 | | 14 | AHAB Defeated by Benhadad, and Slain. 1 Kings 22 : 1-40 ; 2 Chronicles 18 : 1-34. | 143 | | 15 | Reign of AHAZIAH. 1 Kings 22 : 51-53 ; 2 Kings 1 : 1-18. | 149 | | 16 | ELIJAH's Translation, and ELISHA's Succession. 2 Kings 2 : 1-18. | 155 | | 17 | Reign of JEHORAM. 2 Kings 3 : 1-27. | 164 | | 18 | Six Miracles of ELISHA : Spring at Jericho Healed ; Mockers at Bethel Punished ; Prophet's Widow Supplied with Oil ; Shunamite's Son Restored ; Poisoned Pottage Purified ; Loaves and Corn Distributed ; Lost Axe-head Recovered. 2 Kings 2 : 10-25 ; 4 : 1-44 ; 6 : 1-7. | 169 | | 19 | Naaman's Leprosy Removed ; Infliction upon Gehazi. 2 Kings 5 : 1-27. | 185 | | 20 | ELISHA Delivers JEHORAM from Syrian Invasions. 2 Kings 6 : 8-23. | 199 | | 21 | Siege and Deliverance of Samaria. 2 Kings 6 : 24-33 ; 7 : 1-20. | 205 | | 22 | Shunamite's Land Restored. ELISHA and Hazael. 2 Kings 8 : 1-15. | 212 | | 23 | Reign of JEHU (Begun). He Slays JEHORAM, AHAZIAH (of Judah), and Jezebel. 2 Kings 9 : 1-37. | 217 | | SECTION | | PAGE | | --- | --- | --- | | 24 | Slays AHAB'S Sons, AHAZIAH'S Brethren, and Baal's Worshippers. His Death. 2 Kings 10:1-36. | 224 | | 25 | Reigns of JEHOAHAZ and JEHOASH. Elisha's Sickness and Death. The After Miracle. 2 Kings 13:1-25. | 233 | | 26 | Reign of JEROBOAM II. 2 Kings 14:23-29. | 242 | | 27 | Reigns of ZECHARIAH, SHALLUM, MENAHEM, and PEKAHIAH. 2 Kings 15:8-26. | 246 | | 28 | Reigns of PEKAH and HOSHEA. 2 Kings 15:27-31; 17:1-5. | 249 | | 29 | Israel Carried to Assyria. Reasons Assigned for their Captivity. Samaria Repeopled in Part by Assyrian Colonists. Ten Tribes not Lost. 2 Kings 17:6-41; 18:9-12. | 252 | | KINGDOM OF JUDAH. | | | | 30 | Reign of REHOBOAM. 2 Chronicles 11:1-23; 12:1-16; 1 Kings 12:21-24; 14:21-31. | 265 | | 31 | Reign of ABIJAH. 2 Chronicles 13:1-22; 1 Kings 15:1-8. | 273 | | 32 | Reign of ASA. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 14, 15, 16; 1 Kings 15:9-24. | 276 | | 33 | Reign of JEHOSHAPHAT. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 17-20; 1 Kings 22:41-50. | 287 | | 34 | Reigns of JEHORAM, AHAZIAH, and ATHALIAH. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 21, 22, and 23:1-15; 2 Kings 8:16-29; 11:1-16. | 297 | | 35 | Reign of JOASH. 2 Chronicles 23:16-21; 24:1-27; 2 Kings 11:17-21; 12:1-21. | 305 | | 36 | Reign of AMAZIAH. 2 Chronicles 25:1-28; 2 Kings 14:1-22. | 313 | | 37 | Reigns of UZZIAH and JOTHAM. 2 Chronicles 26:1-23; 27:1-9; 2 Kings 15:1-7; 32-38. | 318 | | 38 | Reign of AHAZ. 2 Chronicles 28:1-27; 2 Kings 16:1-20. | 324 | | 39 | Reign of HEZEKIAH. His Religious Reformation. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 29-31; 2 Kings 18:1-8. | 333 | | 40 | " " " Sickness, Recovery, and Psalm of Gratitude. Embassy from Babylon. Sin and Predicted Punishment. 2 Kings 20:1-19; 2 Chronicles 32:24-31; Isaiah, chaps. 38, 39. | 343 | | 41 | " " " Sennacherib's Army Destroyed. Death of Hezekiah. 2 Kings 18:13-37; 19:1-37; 20:20, 21; Isaiah, chaps. 36, 37; 2 Chronicles 32:1-23, 32, 33. | 356 | | 42 | Reigns of MANASSEH and AMON. 2 Chronicles 33:1-25; 2 Kings 21:1-26. | 372 | | 43 | Reign of JOSIAH. 2 Chronicles 34:1-33; 35:1-27; 2 Kings 22:1-20; 23:1-30. | 380 | | 44 | Reigns of JEHOAHAZ and JEHOIAKIM. Incidents Reported by JEREMIAH. 2 Kings 23:31-37; 24:1-7; 2 Chronicles 36:1-8; Jeremiah, chaps. 26, 36, 45. | 398 | | 45 | Story of the Rechabites, and its Lessons. Jeremiah 35:1-19. | 411 | | 46 | Reigns of JEHOIACHIN and ZEDEKIAH. 2 Kings 24:8-20; 25:1-7, 27-30; Jeremiah 39:1-7; 52:1-11, 31-34; 2 Chronicles 36:9-13. | 418 | | 47 | Main Incidents of JEREMIAH'S Connection with ZEDEKIAH. Jeremiah, chaps. 21, 27, 28, 32, 34, 37, 38. | 427 | | SECTION | | PAGE | | --- | --- | --- | | 48 | Jerusalem Destroyed and Judah Taken Captive. 2 Kings 25 : 8-21 ; 2 Chronicles 36 : 14-19 ; Jeremiah 39 : 8-18 ; 52 : 12-30. | 447 | | 49 | After History of the Remnant of Judah. 2 Kings 25 : 22-26 ; Jeremiah, chaps. 40-44. | 456 | | 50 | Period of Captivity : Condition of Exiled Jews ; Effects of Captivity. 2 Chronicles 36 : 20-23. Daniel, Isaiah, Deuteronomy and the Levitical Code as Related to Post-Exilic Period. | 465 | | 51 | The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Law in their Times. Historical Outline. | 476 | | | Chronological Outline of the Persian Period. | 483 | | 52 | Book of Ezra. Introduction. | 484 | | 53 | First Return under Jeshua and Zerubabel. Ezra, chaps. 1, 2 ; 2 Chronicles 36 : 22, 23. | 488 | | 54 | Altar and Sacrifice Restored. Temple Foundation-Work Suspended. Ezra, chaps. 3, 4. | 496 | | 55 | Temple Finished and Dedicated. Passover Kept. Ezra, chaps. 5, 6. | 503 | | 56 | Ezra Leads a Second Colony to Jerusalem. Ezra, chaps. 7, 8. | 511 | | 57 | Idolatrous Marriages Annulled. Ezra, chaps. 9, 10. | 518 | | 58 | Book of Nehemiah. | 524 | | 59 | Nehemiah's Petition, Commission, and Journey to Jerusalem. Nehemiah, chaps. 1, 2 : 1-11. | 529 | | 60 | Conference and Decision to Build the Wall. Confronting Adversaries. Nehemiah, chaps. 2 : 12-20 ; 3 : 4. | 534 | | 61 | Reform of Usury. Nehemiah's Generosity. Nehemiah 5 : 1-19. | 545 | | 62 | Opposition. Wall Completed. Second Registry. Nehemiah, chaps. 6, 7. | 551 | | 63 | Convocation for Worship and Covenant. Nehemiah, chaps. 8-10. | 557 | | 64 | Nehemiah's Return. Dedication of Wall. Reform of Abuses. Nehemiah, chaps. 11-13. | 569 | | 65 | Book of Esther. | 580 | | 66 | Esther Displaces Vashti. Mordecai's Service to the King. Esther, chaps. 1, 2. | 585 | | 67 | Haman's Destructive Device. Mordecai's Charge to Esther. Esther, chaps. 3, 4. | 591 | | 68 | Esther's First Banquet. The King's Sleepless Night. Mordecai Honored. Esther, chaps. 5, 6. | 598 | | 69 | Esther Accuses Haman. Mordecai Elevated. Decree in Favor of the Jews. Esther, chaps. 7, 8. | 603 | | 70 | Jews' Self-Defence. Feast of Purim. Mordecai's Advancement. Esther, chaps. 9, 10. | 608 | | 71 | Between the Testaments. The History. | 615 | | 72 | " " " The Literature. | 624 | | 1 KINGS. | | | 2 KINGS. | | | 2 KINGS. | | | 2 CHRONICLES. | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | | XII. | 1-20 | 56 | I. | 1-18 | 149 | XVI. | 1-20 | 324 | X. | 1-19 | 56 | | | 21-24 | 265 | II. | 1-18 | 155 | XVII. | 1-5 | 249 | XI. | 1-23 | 265 | | | 25-33 | 64 | | 19-25 | 169 | | 6-41 | 252 | XII. | 1-16 | 265 | | XIII. | 1-34 | 64 | III. | 1-27 | 164 | XVIII. | 1-8 | 333 | XIII. | 1-22 | 273 | | XIV. | 1-20 | 64 | IV. | 1-44 | 169 | | 9-12 | 252 | XIV. | 1-15 | 276 | | | 21-31 | 265 | V. | 1-27 | 185 | | 13-37 | 356 | XV. | 1-19 | 276 | | XV. | 1-8 | 273 | VI. | 1-7 | 169 | XIX. | 1-37 | 356 | XVI. | 1-14 | 276 | | | 9-24 | 276 | | 8-23 | 199 | XX. | 1-19 | 343 | XVII. | 1-19 | 287 | | | 25-31 | 79 | | 24-33 | 205 | | 20, 21 | 356 | XVIII. | 1-34 | 287 | | XVI. | 1-20 | 79 | VII. | 1-20 | 205 | XXI. | 1-26 | 372 | XIX. | 1-11 | 287 | | XVII. | 1-24 | 93 | VIII. | 1-15 | 212 | XXII. | 1-20 | 380 | XX. | 1-37 | 287 | | XVIII. | 1-46 | 103 | | 16-29 | 297 | XXIII. | 1-30 | 380 | XXI. | 1-20 | 297 | | XIX. | 1-21 | 118 | IX. | 1-37 | 217 | | 31-37 | 398 | XXII. | 1-12 | 297 | | XX. | 1-43 | 130 | X. | 1-36 | 224 | XXIV. | 1-7 | 398 | XXIII. | 1-15 | 297 | | XXI. | 1-29 | 135 | XI. | 1-16 | 297 | | 8-20 | 418 | | 16-21 | 305 | | XXII. | 1-40 | 143 | | 17-21 | 305 | XXV. | 1-7 | 418 | XXIV. | 1-27 | 305 | | | 41-50 | 287 | XII. | 1-21 | 305 | | 8-21 | 447 | XXV. | 1-28 | 313 | | | 51-53 | 149 | XIII. | 1-25 | 233 | | 22-26 | 456 | XXVI. | 1-23 | 318 | | | | | XIV. | 1-22 | 313 | | 27-30 | 418 | XXVII. | 1-9 | 318 | | | | | | 23-29 | 242 | | | | XXVIII. | 1-27 | 324 | | | | | XV. | 1-7 | 318 | | | | XXIX. | 1-36 | 333 | | | | | | 8-26 | 246 | | | | XXX. | 1-27 | 333 | | | | | | 27-31 | 249 | | | | XXXI. | 1-21 | 333 | | | | | | 32-38 | 318 | | | | XXXII. | 1-23 | 356 | | | | | | | | | | | | 24-31 | 343 | | | | | | | | | | | | 32, 33 | 356 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXIII. | 1-25 | 372 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXIV. | 1-33 | 380 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXV. | 1-27 | 380 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXVI. | 1-8 | 398 | | | | | | | | | | | | 9-13 | 418 | | | | | | | | | | | | 14 19 | 447 | | | | | | | | | | | | 20-23 | 465 | | EZRA. | | NEHEMIAH. | | ESTHER. | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | | I. | 488 | I. | 529 | I. | 585 | | II. | 488 | II. 1-11 | 529 | II. | 585 | | III. | 496 | 12-20 | 534 | III. | 591 | | IV. | 496 | III. | 534 | IV. | 591 | | V. | 503 | IV. | 534 | V. | 598 | | VI. | 503 | V. | 545 | VI. | 598 | | VII. | 511 | VI. | 551 | VII. | 603 | | VIII. | 511 | VII. | 551 | VIII. | 603 | | IX. | 518 | VIII. | 557 | IX. | 608 | | X. | 518 | IX. | 557 | X. | 608 | | | | X. | 557 | | | | | | XI. | 569 | | | | | | XII. | 569 | | | | | | XIII. | 569 | | | | ISAIAH. | | JEREMIAH. | | JEREMIAH. | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | | XXXVI. | 356 | XXI. | 436 | XXXIX. 8-18 | 447 | | XXXVII. | 356 | XXVI. | 398 | XL. | 456 | | XXXVIII. | 343 | XXVII. | 430 | XLI. | 456 | | XXXIX. | 343 | XXVIII. | 430 | XLII. | 456 | | | | XXXII. | 442 | XLIII. | 456 | | | | XXXIV. | 433 | XLIV. | 456 | | | | XXXV. | 411 | XLV. | 398 | | | | XXXVI. | 398 | LII. 1-11 | 418 | | | | XXXVII. | 436 | 12-30 | 447 | | | | XXXVIII. | 436 | 31-34 | 418 | | | | XXXIX. 1-7 | 418 | | | 1. As the closing Historical Volume of the Old Testament, its orderly place is in connection with Volume III. Volumes IV., V. and VI. (including the Psalms and the Books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon) are interposed at the end of Solomon's reign because of the relation of David and Solomon to four of these Books, while the subject-matter of the fifth (the Book of Job) brings it into close affinity with the three Books (mainly) of Solomonic origin. 2. Four chapters of Isaiah and eighteen chapters of Jeremiah are embodied in this volume for the simple reason that these chapters are essentially historical. Their contents are necessary to the completeness of the Historical Record, since they contain details either equivalent (and so confirmatory) or additional to those of the Books of Kings and Chronicles. Jeremiah, in particular, furnishes many interesting and instructive personal incidents which disclose with greater fulness the character of the later Kings of Judah, and the causes of the final destruction of the Kingdom; while he alone records the immediate after history of the Remnant of Judah. 3. This volume presents a measurably full account of the contemporary place and work of all of the Writing Prophets, whose inspired acts and disclosures constitute an integral portion of the History, so that a fair knowledge of these Prophets and the substance of their prophecies may be found herein. The volume is thus closely linked with the Prophetic Books which follow, while in those Books will be found a corresponding connection at every point with the History as herein recorded. 4. The careful attention of the reader is earnestly invited to the full and masterly Chronological Summary, kindly prepared by Professor Willis J. Beecher, contained in the Third Section. The method (generally adopted) of attaching isolated dates to specific events is purposely disregarded in this volume, for the sufficient reason that no single date of a disconnected event can convey either intelligible or helpful knowledge to a thoughtful reader. But this accurate, thoroughly digested Table of "Dated Events," if only its clear explanations and its related events with their dates are carefully studied at the outset, and afterward continuously referred to, will give an intelligent idea of the period in which every event occurred, since it exhibits such event in its relation to other contemporary events, with which it is more or less directly associated. The special study of this admirable Summary (pages 41-55) and the mastery of its chief points of historical detail is therefore strongly urged upon the reader who seeks to obtain a thorough comprehension of the Inspired History. PRELIMINARY: SUGGESTIVE THOUGHT BEARING UPON THE CHARACTER OF THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY, AND ITS RELATIONS TO THE NEW TESTAMENT; WITH HELPFUL EXPLANATIONS TOUCHING MINOR POINTS OF PRACTICAL INTEREST CONNECTED WITH THE HISTORY.* THE existence and personality of God is the great postulate of the soul; and that being granted, it is at once seen to be both a possible and a probable thing that He should communicate in some way with man in his state of conscious guilt and spiritual helplessness. The Bible claims to be such a communication; and we can trace it up through the centuries to the dates at which its several component parts were written; we can establish that its books were written by the men whose names they bear; and that in their Greek and Hebrew forms they have come down to us with wonderful accuracy, so that we have more certainty that we have Paul's epistles as he wrote them than we have that the letters of Cicero to his friend Atticus are preserved in their original form. All these things are settled for the sacred books precisely as we settle the genuineness and authenticity of other ancient writings. W. M. Taylor. Whoever will impartially consider the great length and variety of times and circumstances through which these books have passed, the many hands through which the copies have gone and by which they have been transcribed, and then observe how few or none of the passages containing any difficulty or inconsistency in them are of any weight or moment that can affect the design or use of the whole—whoever considers this will be so far from being disturbed at the difficulties he may find in the present copies of these or any other of the Holy Books, that he must conclude it a wonderful * The reader is referred to the first thirty-three pages of Volume III., of which these pages are designed as a supplement and completion. Though the topics are, in part, the same, the treatment will not be found redundant. B. blessing of Providence that hath preserved these writings so uncorrupt and entire as they are. Pyle. The Bible grew by degrees to its present size; and as in a house stone is laid on stone and story built upon story, so book was added to book, history to history, prophecy to prophecy, gospel to gospel, and one epistle to another, till the hands of John laid on the cops-stone, and, standing on the pinnacle of this sacred edifice, he pronounced God's wide and withering curse on all who should impair its integrity. Guthrie. The Old Testament history, throughout a period of some thousand years, written by different hands, and at many different times, not only exhibits a series of events, arranged and exclusively designed to prepare the way for the advent of the Messiah, and the accomplishment of the plan of salvation, but has woven into its very texture all the doctrines and duties of Christianity—doctrines and duties not fully developed nor understood till the coming of Christ, but now to be clearly traced in the ancient records. Can there be a doubt about the Author of the history? It would be as easy to counterfeit the heavens and the earth as to forge such a series of documents. The Bible, then, must be the book of God. Haldane. Who but God could make the Bible? What eye but that which surveys the world at a glance, and beholds all nations, with their multifarious ills and complicated wants, as they are, and reads with intuitive certainty the moral pulsation of every heart, could see far enough and wide enough and deep enough for such a work? What but the all-comprehensive mind could devise a religious system, humble in its grandeur and majestic in its simplicity, which should be equally applicable to men in every nation and every age; which has power to reclaim the heart and control the life; to disarm the world of its enmity against God; to restore the wanderer; raise the disconsolate, and light up a smile on the pale cheek of death? Surely, this is no common undertaking. There is but one Being who ever thought of doing it; and the volume that reveals this purpose has, written deeply and indelibly upon its sacred page, the signature of God. Beman. The Scriptures of the Old Testament that have been so faithfully preserved and so fully attested contain the most satisfactory and convincing internal evidences of their truth. The character of God which they exhibit, nowhere delineated in the writings of any of the wisest of this world, unenlightened by revelation, is such as carries with it its own confirmation. The character they give of man is verified in the history of every nation and of each individual. The majesty, purity, and suitableness to the condition of man, of the doctrine they contain—the soundness and unrivalled excellence of the moral precepts they inculcate, and the glory of the succeeding dispensation which toward their close they indicate with increasing clearness; and all this confirmed and verified in the minutest particulars by the New Testament Scriptures—form a body of internal evidence, to which nothing but the deep corruption of the human heart could render any one insensible. Haldane. We take these Scriptures, and observe their entire coincidence and harmony, through all their extent and amid all their varieties, in the utterance of one vast spiritual system. We go over their whole range and find them all agreeing upon this, though written by so many and such different persons: Revelation answering to Genesis across the passage of centuries—Deep calling unto Deep;—and the inference seems inevitable that they come to us from God; that One controlling and infinite Mind has been moving in the midst of these changing circumstances. And then we take the system itself which they reveal to us; we observe its unity, its vast sublimity, its absolute purity; we notice how it meets all man's wants and satisfies his powers, how it interweaves itself at the edges with the ascertained truths of philosophy or of science, accepting them all and reconciling their differences; we see how it points to other departments and realms of truth harmonious with itself, which God sees constantly, but which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and of which no angelic messenger has brought to us a report—and everywhere we find in this system the signatures of Divinity. We accept it as from God. Then we look to its results, and they are all beneficent. So we know it to be God's. Storrs. # The Old and New Testaments, Two Phases of One Revelation. In his characteristic and terse way the church father Augustine defines the relation existing between the two Testaments in these words: In Veteri Testamento Novum latet, in Novo Vetus patet (in the Old Testament, the New lies hid; in the New, the Old lies open). The full appreciation of the fundamental truth contained in these words is becoming more and more a feature of the evangelical biblical research of our day. That the two Testaments represent the two phases of the one revelation, differing from each other not in kind, but only in degree, and that the two form the one revelation and history of revelation from God to fallen man, to restore him to his lost estate, is the accepted position of all but negative scholars. In principle the two Testaments are thus one; the New is rooted in the Old, and can find its true interpretation only from this standpoint. . . . The entire New Testament consciously and ex professo stands upon the basis of the Old, of which it is the continuation and completion. The words in Luke 24: 44 are fundamental on this point. And when the New thus refers to the Old, it is solely and alone to the canonical writings of the latter, to the Palestinian collection of Hebrew sacred books. It is a singular and most significant fact that neither directly nor indirectly have any other writings of that day and generation exerted a material influence upon the contents of the New Testament. There is not a single indication of a non-canonical book having been quoted or having in the substance of the New Testament books influenced the writers or the speakers. The appeal, direct and indirect, is always to the canonical books of the Old as the sole authority and source of knowledge. The New Testament literature, which by no means is hermetically sealed to other writings, as is seen from its use of Septuagint, its citations of Greek poets, its moving and living in the atmosphere of its age, in the establishment of its principles and doctrines, builds upon and appeals solely and alone to the canonical writings of the Old Testament, and to these alone, because they and they alone are the inspired Revelation of God to man. For the New Testament the unity of the Old is a fixed and fundamental fact. And this is in full agreement with the character of the biblical books. They are the record of a gradual unfolding of God's plans for the redemption of man, and, in fact, this is the golden chord that connects them all and makes them one. The sacred literature of no other people can lay claim to this unique feature. While it may be difficult at present to assign to each and every book its peculiar position and necessary rôle in the development, yet it must not be forgotten that some of the books are as yet imperfectly understood. But this is known, that these books, as far as clearly understood, represent the different stages in one process, the development of principles from germ to full fruit. In this process these books, one and all, have some portion or part to record; and it would be difficult to show that even the smallest could be omitted without in one or the other material point injuring our understanding of the unfolding of God's kingdom on earth; and, on the other hand, there is no material stage in this process on which the canonical writings are silent. Internally they constitute a one-ness; their unity is undeniable. Comparative religious science can claim no phenomenon of this kind for any other nation. Even when under the scalpel of modern criticism, the truth that the Scriptures practically constitute one volume, consisting of parts mutually complementary and supplementary, remains. Schodde. Christianity recognizes in the Old Dispensation its divinely ordained preparatory stage. This peculiar connection between the two Testaments, their different stages of revelation being fraught with one and the same spirit and constituting a marvellous whole, is a witness to the Divine origin of the Jewish, as well as the Christian religion. When we examine into the Books of the two Testaments we find, both in their history and doctrine, a connection extending through centuries, a gradual progress which points to one comprehensive plan which could by no possibility have had its origin in the mind of short-lived man, but can only be reasonably explained by that Divine causation to which the Bible itself refers all things; and if we proceed further to test this conclusion by comparing it with our knowledge of other kinds, we shall find that not only do the Divine revelations intimately agree together, but with the condition and needs of our human nature, with the fundamental relations of the universe, and with the being of God. Incomparable wisdom, holiness, and love breathe on us from the Scripture pages, and perfectly satisfy the demands of conscience and the search of the intellect after the highest truth. Hess of Zurich says: "Nothing has so convinced me of the truth of Christianity, its revelation, history, and doctrine, as the having found in the sacred records, on the one hand, what perfectly satisfies the needs of humanity for time and eternity, and, on the other hand, in the Divine provision toward this end such a connected progress from small to great, from the particular to the universal, as would have been impossible to human invention." Auberlen. The full sense of the New Testament can only be reached by a thorough study of the Old Testament upon which it was founded. The connection between them is a living organic connection, as between the seed and the fruit. It was the same Being, the same Divine will, the same fundamental principles of salvation that were taught in the one as in the other. These facts are essential to the right understanding of Scripture, and he must sorely miss the meaning of the New Testament who lets go his hold upon the conviction of the eternal truth of the Old. Gardiner. #### History the Basis of Both Testaments. We cannot read the Old Testament without seeing that the whole of it rests on the basis of a history—the history contained in what we call the books of Moses. Now, if you turn to the New Testament, you will find that it begins, in like manner, with a history: the history of the four Gospels; and what the Pentateuch is to the Old Testament, the Gospels are to the New. Here, then, is a symmetry in the two parts of the Bible. Each begins with a history which pervades and inspires all that follows. Only, the two histories are different, while they are connected. The one is that of a divinely chosen people, selected for a special purpose. The other is that of a Divine Person. And a person is superior to a people merely as a people, as a corporate body, for a person has an immortality: a nation has not; and a person can be charged with far higher lessons than a nation. The two histories are on two planes, a lower and a higher; the lower is imperfect without the higher, and the higher assumes and completes the lower. Ker. Christianity, including therein the dispensation of the Old Testament, is in nothing more distinguished from the other religions of the world than in its objective or historical character. The religions of Greece and Rome, of Egypt, India, Persia, and the East generally, were speculative systems, which did not even seriously postulate a historical basis. But it is otherwise with the religion of the Bible. There, whether we look to the Old or the New Testament, to the Jewish dispensation or to the Christian, we find a scheme of doctrine which is bound up with facts; which depends absolutely upon them; which is null and void without them; and which may be regarded as for all practical purposes established if they are shown to deserve acceptance. As a religion of fact, and not merely of opinion—as one whose chief scene is this world, and whose main doctrines are events exhibited openly before the eyes of men—as one, moreover, which, instead of affecting a dogmatic form, adopts from first to last, with very rare exceptions, the historical shape, the religion of the Bible comes necessarily within the sphere of the historical inquirer, and challenges him to investigate it according to what he regards as the principles of his science. Moreover, as Christianity is in point of fact connected intimately with certain records, and as those records extend over a period of several thousands of years, and “profess to contain a kind of abridgment of the history of the world,” its points of contact with profane history are (practically speaking) infinite; and it becomes impossible for the historical inquirer to avoid the question, in what light he is to view the documents which, if authentic, must exercise so important an influence over his studies and conclusions. G. R. An examination of the chief characteristics of the Hebrew Scriptures indicates: a Vital Connection between Religion and History; a unity of thought, sentiment, and practical aim underlying their great variety of form, and a progressive development of religious doctrine, not final, but pointing forward to a fuller unfolding. 1. In these Old Testament Scriptures, religion is shown as the soul of history; the supreme reality and central power in human affairs; the deepest foundation of human life. The Bible account of the ORIGIN OF RELIGION is that man began his journey on this globe not as a deserted orphan, turned adrift to seek God as best he could, but in communion with the Father of spirits. God talked with him, and he could talk with God. God marked for him the path of duty, and it lay in his choice to walk in it or to wander from it. Compared with recent hypotheses of the slow and painful ascent of man from irrational, speechless, lawless, godless apehood, the Bible account has at all events the advantage of dignity, beauty, intelligibility, and analogy with the known facts of human experience. In Genesis God is shown as the ultimate source of all being, preparing the earth from the beginning to be the home of man. Man’s very existence is traced to God’s purpose to realize His own likeness in human nature. Man is shown as conversant with God, as soon as he began to know himself and the world around him. The foundations of marriage, property, labor, moral duty and responsibility, are all laid in God’s revealed will, and man’s conscious relation to his Maker. Moral evil, or sin, is represented as wilful disobedience to the known will of God. The tendency to evil is shown to be hereditary as well as personal, and teeming with seeds of increase. Human life is regarded as a whole; and God is seen as the Ruler and Judge of Mankind, as well as the personal Friend and Saviour of every one who fears and trusts Him. FAITH, as the mainspring and sheet anchor of the religious life; PRAYER, as direct personal converse with the Unseen Father of spirits, and as actually heard and answered by Him; and DIVINE PROVIDENCE as regulating all human affairs from the greatest to the least, are so exemplified in these ancient Hebrew annals, that the story of Abraham, of Jacob, of Joseph, possesses an undecaying charm for Christian minds of the highest spiritual culture. They are typical for all time. No example of after ages has been able to cast them into the shade. In the “Pentateuch” there is no break of continuity. The narrative passes briefly over the centuries, at first of peaceful prosperity, then of bitter adversity, during which Israel’s descendants “increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty.” It hastens to tell the story of the deliverance from bondage, and of the creation of an organized nation. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/butler/ 7: 6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 7. This thy stature is like to a palm tree, And thy breasts to its clusters. 8. 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; 9. And thy mouth like the best wine, That goeth down smoothly for my beloved, Gliding through the lips of those that are asleep. 10. I am my beloved's, And his desire is toward me. 11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; Let us lodge in the villages. 12. 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. 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. 8: 1 Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; Yea, and none would despise me. 2. 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. 3. His left hand should be under my head, And his right hand should embrace me. 4. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, That ye stir not up, nor awaken love, Until it please. 5. Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth. 6. 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. 7. 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 utterly be contemned. 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? 9. If she be a wall, We will build upon her a turret of silver. And if she be a door, We will inclose her with boards of cedar. 10. I am a wall, and my breasts like the towers thereof: Then was I in his eyes as one that found peace. 11. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. 12. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: Thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand, And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. 13. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, The companions hearken for thy voice: Cause me to hear it. 14. Make haste, my beloved, And be thou like to a roe or to a young hart Upon the mountains of spices. 6-10. The king and the bride. Vs. 6-9 are spoken by the king, and v. 10 by the bride. The king addresses the bride, comparing her to palm, vine, and apple-tree for nobility of form and pleasantness of fruit; and the utterances of her mouth to sweetest wine. T. L. K. It is scarcely necessary to reiterate that these conceptions and illustrations of personal beauty and form are altogether Oriental in their cast, and cannot therefore be judged of in all respects by the standard of our age and country. This is wedded love, thoroughly mutual and promptly responsive, such as takes hold of the deepest sensibilities of our being. Here, too, as throughout this exquisite poem, it manifests the richest sympathy for rural life and for the thousand beauties and charms with which God has invested the face of this fair world. Need it surprise us that God should seize upon this strong and rich affection of human souls to illustrate the love He bears to His people and the responsive love which His Spirit begets in their hearts to Himself in return? Where else can a more vivid and perfect illustration of this spiritual love be found? H. C. 10. His desire is toward me. All His affection has me for its object. The comparison of chaps. 2: 16 and 6: 3 confirms this interpretation. The bride is for the king a true Hephzibah (Isa. 63: 4), one in whom is all his delight. She proceeds to exercise her power over his loving will. The bride's invitation (7: 11; 8: 4). Responsive and antithetical to that of the king on the day of their espousals, in which he had asked her to forsake home and occupation for his sake (4: 8), and dwell with him in Jerusalem. The bride in her turn now invites her beloved to revisit in her company the lowly scenes of pastoral life, out of which his grace had raised her, and to which (though once forsaken at his bidding) her heart still innocently clings. 12. It is now again precisely the same season as that in which the king had first visited the bride on that well-remembered morning (2 : 8-17) in her mother's house. This thought enhances her desire to have him with her there again. 8 : 1. The bride continues to address the king. The thought of home and of having his presence with her there fills her heart. Royal rank and splendor are grown wearisome. The king once called her "sister" and "sister-bride." Would he were indeed as a "brother," her mother's own child whom she might meet, embrace, and welcome everywhere without restraint or shame. Her love for him is simple, sacred, pure, free from the unrest and the stains of mere earthly passion. 2. Who would instruct me. Another rendering gives a better sense both literal and allegorical — thou shouldest teach me (Isa. 54 : 13). 3. His left hand should be. The bride now turns to and addresses the chorus as before (2 : 6, 7). It is an exact repetition of 2 : 6, and here rightly rendered as expressing a wish, not as stating a fact. It introduces the last repetition of the bride's charge (v. 4), which forms the conclusion of this part of the Song. T. L. K. THE RETURN HOME. Vs. 5-14. Last Vows Sealed. Vs. 5-7. The scene changes from Jerusalem to the birthplace of the bride, where she is seen by former associates and the members of her family coming up from the open champaign toward her mother's house, leaning on the arm of the great king her beloved. 5. Who is this? Compare and contrast with chap. 3 : 6, and following. There the bride is carried in procession, and with regal state, to meet the king her bridegroom ; here in sole companionship with him, and rustic simplicity, she leans on him as her beloved. In the former scene all is splendor and exaltation, but here condescension, humility, and loving charm. Beneath this apple-tree I wakened thee. Masoretic pointing of the Hebrew text (the most ancient traditional interpretation to which we can appeal) assigns these words to the bride, but the majority of Christian Fathers to the king. The whole passage gains in clearness by the latter arrangement, which supposes two speakers, first the king, reminding the bride of a happy past, and then the bride, taking occasion from his words to ask for an assurance of his enduring affection (vs. 6, 7). 6,7. Set me as a seal, etc. The bride says this as she clings to his arm and rests her head upon his bosom. This brief dialogue corresponds to the longer one (4 : 7-5 : 1), on the day of their espousals. There the beloved sought and claimed the bride, here she seeks and clings to him. 6. For love is strong. This glorious assertion of the might and purity of true love gives the key-note of the poem. It forms, as Delitzsch has well observed, the Old Testament counterpart to Paul's panegyric (1 Cor. 13) under the New. The following is an attempt to analyze it. Love is here regarded as a universal power, an elemental principle of all true being, alone able to cope with the two eternal foes of God and man, death and his kingdom (Sheol). " For strong as death is love, Tenacious as Sheol is jealousy." "Jealousy" is here to be taken only as another term for "love," expressing the inexorable force and ardor of this affection, which can neither yield nor share possession of its object, and is identified in the mind of the sacred writer with Divine or true Life ; so he goes on to describe it as an all-pervading fire, kindled by the Eternal One, and partaking of His essence : "A very flame of the Lord." If this be the right interpretation of the Hebrew word Shalbebeth-Jab, the poet of the Old Testament surpasses even Paul, and rises here to an intuition subsequently reserved for John, and by him attained only through a life-long communion with incarnate love : "God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4 : 16). This Divine principle is next represented as overcoming in its might all opposing agencies whatsoever, symbolized by water as the antagonistic element to fire in the natural world : " Waters many have not power To quench this love, Nor streams to overwhelm it." They may in a thousand forms hiss and strive against it, but the heavenly fire will be triumphant in the end. From all which follows that love, even as a human affection, must be reverenced, and dealt with as having its motive-power in itself, and not to be bought by aught of different nature; the attempt to do this awakening only scorn: "Though one should give all substance of his house for love, With scorn should he be scorned." Of such love as this, pure, unbought, and changeless, we believe that the Song of Songs was, in the first instance, designed to give an idealized representation. T. L. K. In possession of her beloved, the Shulamite now sings of the strength of the bond which unites them to each other—love in all its sublimity. Love is not a feeling having its origin in man; it cannot, therefore, be purchased at any price. It is a flame of Jah (Jehovah), kindled by Him, and of which the supreme object should be Himself. The passion of the rich man who offers everything without giving himself will be treated with contempt, while the true love of the God who brings no present but who gives Himself has in it a power which can measure itself victoriously even against that of death and of the grave. Godet.—Verily, all His life was love: His suffering was fellow-suffering; His death a sacrifice of such priceless value, because it was the highest act of love, which at the cost of His own life sought only our salvation. And certainly He who thus loved still loves. Death cannot quench His love; no distance of time or place can limit it; no unfaithfulness on our side can blunt it. Glorious Gospel of the unbounded, the unquenchable love of Jesus for each, for all His people. This love is the burden of a song of which eternity itself shall never hear the close! Van O. Some have been tempted to wish that the poem itself had closed with this triumphant strain, and some have even ventured to regard what follows as a spurious addition. Both were wrong. The concluding scene has its own significance and beauty, besides throwing light upon the past, and helping to illustrate the meaning of the whole. The Bride's Intercession. Vs. 8-12. A brief dialogue, commencing with a question and answer probably made by the brothers of the bride concerning a younger sister who will soon be old enough to be asked in marriage. How shall they provide for her when the day comes, or so that it may come well? The answer is given in the form of a parable: "If she be a wall," i.e., steadfast in chastity and virtue, one on whom no light advances can be made, then let us honor and reward her. This fortress-wall shall be crowned as it were with a tower or battlement of silver. But "if she be a door," light-minded and accessible to seduction (Prov. 7:11, 12), then let us provide against assailants the protection of a cedar-bar or panel. In either case they wish to show themselves as mindful of the safety of their younger sister as formerly of that of the now exalted bride (1:6; 2:15). 10. I am a wall. The bride herself replies with the pride of innocence and virtue already crowned. She has shown herself to be such a fortress-wall as her brothers have alluded to, and her reward has been the royal favor, or, as she phrases it for the sake of a paronomasia, "her finding peace in the eyes of the peaceful one—Shalom with Shelomoh." 11. Solomon had a vineyard. She next turns to the king, and commends her brothers to his favorable regard by means of another parable. Solomon owns a vineyard in Baal-hamon. This vineyard he has let out to tenants who have each to pay a rent-charge of a thousand silverlings into the royal treasury. The application follows. 12. My vineyard, which is mine. The bride also has a vineyard of her own (1:6), her beauty and virtue faithfully guarded by these same brothers in time past. This vineyard now belongs to Solomon. Let him have "the thousand" which is his due—she is indeed herself henceforth entirely his—but let the faithful keepers have their meed as well. At least two hundred silverlings should be theirs—a double tithe of royal praise and honor. 13. The poem concludes with a versicle recited by the bride, renewing, at his request and for his ear, the memory of their first day of love. 14. Make haste. Better, Flee, my beloved. The bride complies with the king's request by repeating the last words of her former strain (2:17), with one significant change. She no longer thinks of the possibility of separation. The "Mountains of Bether" (division) of chap. 2:17 are now "Mountains of Besamim" (spices). His haunts and hers are henceforth the same (compare 4:6). T. L. K.—Thus the voice of the bride, which opens the poem, lingers on the ear in its close, and suggests to us that the whole is as if from her standpoint the aspiration of an ideal love, breathing itself out in desire after the beloved object—that the king may delight himself in her beauty. Redford. To common view, the Song of Songs seems to close abruptly. But the spiritual interpretation gives to it great emphasis and beauty, and renders it a most fitting termination of this high discourse. It is an aspiration on the part of the Church, or of the individual soul, that the Lord will come and make good all the things that have been represented in these raptures of heavenly love. It closes, in fact, like the last book of the New Testament; "He that testifieth of these things, saith, Surely, I come quickly; Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Kitto, —However one may interpret this inspired book, it will to the end of the ages furnish the Christian with the imagery and vocabulary of adoring love to Jesus, the lover of our souls. Griffis. Communion with Christ may be interrupted, though union is not broken. From their own experience saints understand the alternations of withdrawal and manifestation on the part of the beloved, related in the Song. He is not always in the garden, or always at the table with them, but is in Lebanon or in the top of Hermon; and when they miss Him, He often comes to them speedily and as with a sweet surprise, like a hart leaping on the mountains, and bounding on the hills. "His love in my heart casteth a mighty beat; He knoweth that the desire I have to be at Himself paineth me. I have sick nights and frequent fits of love-fevers for my well-Beloved. Nothing paineth me now but want of presence. I think it long till day. I challenge time, as too slow in its pace, that holdeth my only, only true One, my well-Beloved from me. Oh, if we were together once!" Rutherford.—The Church now loves an unseen Saviour. She longs for her absent Lord, to whom she is joined in the marriage covenant, and for whose presence she is being prepared and adorned with holy beauties by the Holy Ghost. "Rise up, my Beloved!" is her prayer. She waits the happy hour, when the Lord will gather His saints as the bride, and take them to the high mountains to be forever with Him. "Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus." Comfort one another with these words, all ye who love His appearing! We have no relish for controversy about the time and manner of the Advent; but we do want more realization of it as our "blessed hope," more thirst and more meetness for His presence. Let it be added, that this comes in well after the Book of Ecclesiastes. The weariness of heart under the sun is best cured by the fervor of spirit expressed in the Song of Songs. The world's vanity has no power to occupy or chafe those who are full of a Divine and heavenly love. The world's gayeties are nothing to hearts which are possessed by the "blessed hope," or thrilled with a joy unspeakable. D. F. Thus closes this exquisite Song, of which one cannot easily say whether most to admire its poetic beauty, its painting of wedded love, or its transcendent presentation of the love which Jesus bears to His people and which they should, and sometimes do, bear to Him. The latter, which I take to be the real significance of the poem, is a theme of exhaustless interest; the theme which wakens the strongest and purest emotions ever known to the Christian heart in this life; the theme which is destined to swell the song of the redeemed in their eternal home of purity and bliss. H. C. [The titles and publishers of leading works, additional to those given in previous volumes, are here appended to the names of authors. A helpful service in the interest of readers and writers is thus subserved.] Thomas Adams, 1614. W. H. D. Adams. William Adams, D.D. Joseph Addison, d. 1719. Rev. A. S. Aglen. Henry Ainsworth, D.D., d. 1622. J. W. A. Jas. W. Alexander, D.D. Bp. W. A. Bp. William Alexander. W. L. A. Wm. L. Alexander, D.D. Henry Alford, D.D. Richard Alleine, d. 1681. Rev. J. K. Allen. Henry Allon, D.D. American Theol. Review. Joseph Anderson, D.D. M. B. Anderson, D.D. Anon. An Unknown Writer. Thomas Arnold, D.D. William Arnot, D.D. John Arrowsmith, d. 1659. Merle D'Aubigne. Augustine, d. 430. C. E. Babb, D.D. Lord Bacon, d. 1626. John Balguy, D.L., d. 1748. A. B. Albert Barnes. Isaac Barrow, D.D., d. 1677. John H. Barrows, D.D. W. F. V. Bartlett, D.D. John Bascom, D.D. Basil, d. 379. William Bates, D.D., d. 1699. Richard Baxter, d. 1691. Rev. E. Bayley. Rev. H. W. 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Unpublished Lectures on O. T. N. Rogers, d. 1658. E. F. Rosenmuller. John Ruskin. Samuel Rutherford, d. 1661. H. G. Salter. S. Salter, 1740. Bp. Robt. Sanderson, d. 1663. Adolph Saphir, D.D. J. Saurin, D.D., d. 1730. F. E. D. Schleiermacher, D.D. John Scott, D.D., d. 1694. Thos. Scott, D.D., d. 1821. C. Scriver, d. 1693. William Secker, d. 1660. Archbp. Secker, d. 1768. Jeremiah Seed, d. 1747. Thos. Shaw, D.D. W. G. T. Shedd, D.D. Bp. Thos. Sherlock, d. 1761. J. M. Sherwood, D.D. Rev. T. J. Shore. R. Sibbes, d. 1635. James Sime. John Skelton, D.D., d. 1529. Samuel Smiles. H. Smith, d. 1591. Rev. James Smith. Charles H. Spurgeon. Robert South, D.D., d. 1716. G. L. Spining, D.D. James Stalker, D.D. George Stanhope, d. 1738. A. P. S. A. P. Stanley, D.D. Rev. H. C. Stanton. Richard Steele, d. 1692. Rev. T. H. Steel. Laurence Sterne, d. 1768. George B. Stevens, D.D. Rev. T. R. Stevenson. Bp. Joseph Stock, 1626. Audrew L. Stone, D.D. R. S. S. Richard Salter Storrs, D.D. John Stoughton, D.D. C. E. Stowe, D.D. A. M. Stuart. M. S. Moses Stuart, D.D. J. H. Stuckenberg, D.D. D. Sutherland, D.D. George Swinnock, d. 1673. I. T. Isaac Taylor. Bp. Jeremy Taylor, d. 1667. N. W. Taylor, D.D. W. M. T. W. M. Taylor, D.D. F. T. Bp. Frederick Temple. D. Thomas, D.D. Jesse B. Thomas, D.D. Rev. O. Thomas. A. C. Thompson, D.D. J. P. T. Joseph P. Thompson, D.D. Archbp. Wm. Thompson. William M. Thomson, D.D. J. H. T. J. H. Thornwell, D.D. Rev. E. Thring. C. F. Thwing, D.D. Archbp. Tillotson, d. 1694. S. S. T. Sunday School Times, (Phila.) R. T. Rev. Reuben Tinker. L. T. Townsend, D.D. Archbp. R. C. Trench. H. B. T. H. B. Tristram, D.D. T. de Trugillo. H. C. T. H. Clay Trumbull, D.D. R. Turnbull, D.D. H. J. V. Henry J. Van Dyke, D.D. Henry Van Dyke, D.D. Van O. J. J. Van Oosterzee, D.D. H. Van Santvoord. Henry Varley. C. J. V. C. J. Vaughan, D.D. J. V. James Vaughan, D.D. V. Marvin R. Vincent, D.D. S rmons, 3 vols. Alexander Vinet, D.D. S. D. Waddy, D D. Charles Wadsworth, D.D. R. W. Robert Walker, D.D., d. 1783. Ralph Wardlaw, D.D. Benj. B. Warfield, D.D. Bp. H. W. Warren. E. A. Washburn, D.D. Bp. Richd. Watson, d. 1816. Thomas Watson, d. 1689. Francis Wayland, D.D. Daniel Webster. R. B. Welch, D.D. Edward Wells, D.D., d. 1727. Bp. B. F. Westcott. Westminster Confession. Rev. C. H. Wetherbe. Archbp. Whately. William Whewell, D.D. Charles White, D.D. John G. Whittier. Wm. C. Wilkinson, D.D. W. R. W. Wm. R. Williams, D.D. Sir Charles Wilson. Bp. Thos. Wilson, d. 1755. E. C. W. E. C. Wines, D.D. William Wogan, 1754. Bp. J. R. Woodford. T. D. W. T. D. Woolsey, D.D. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. Rev. J. J. Wray. G. F. W. G. F. Wright, D.D. R. Young, D.D., d. 1665. Y. Loyal Young, D.D. Rev. C. H. Zimmerman. Zion's Herald, (Boston.) Otto Zockler, D.D. G. J. Zollikofer, d. 1788. THE 1. Kings XII-XXII., 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles X-XXXVI., Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Isaiah, Four Chapters, Jeremiah, Eighteen Chapters. KINGDOM OF ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF JUDAH, CAPTIVITY AND RETURN, HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE FOUR SILENT CENTURIES. THE REVISED TEXT, ARRANGED IN SECTIONS; WITH COMMENTS SELECTED FROM THE CHOICEST, MOST ILLUMINATING AND HELPFUL THOUGHT OF THE CHRISTIAN CENTURIES. 1894. By J. GLENTWORTH BUTLER. | | PAGE | | --- | --- | | INDEX OF THE HISTORY. | 3 | | CHAPTERS AND VERSES OF THE BOOKS. | 6 | | POINTS TO BE NOTED RESPECTING THIS VOLUME. | 8 | | THE HISTORY IN 72 SECTIONS. | 9-634 | | AUTHORS CITED. | 635-637 | | 1 | Preliminary : Suggestive Thoughts Bearing upon the Character and Relations of the Old Testament History ; Witness of the Monuments to its Truthfulness. | 9 | | --- | --- | --- | | 2 | Books of Kings and Chronicles. | 34 | | 3 | Dated Events from Jeroboam to the Exile, by Willis J. Beecher, D.D. | 41 | | 4 | Revolt of the Ten Tribes, and Division of the Kingdom. 1 Kings 12 : 1-20; 2 Chronicles 10 : 1-19. | 56 | | 5 | Reign of JEROBOAM, the First King. 1 Kings 12 : 25-33 ; 13 : 1-34 ; 14 : 1-20. | 64 | | --- | --- | --- | | 6 | Reigns of NADAB, BAASHA, ELAH, and ZIMRI. 1 Kings 15 : 25-31 ; 16 : 1-20. | 79 | | 7 | Reign of OMRI. 1 Kings 16 : 21-28. | 83 | | 8 | Reign of AHAB (Begun). 1 Kings 16 : 29-34. | 88 | | 9 | ELIJAH Announces Drought to Ahab. At the Brook Cherith and with the Widow of Zarephath. 1 Kings 17 : 1-24. | 93 | | 10 | ELIJAH at Carmel : Meeting with Obadiah and Ahab ; Contest with Baal's Prophets before Assembled Israel ; Immediate Results. 1 Kings 18 : 1-46. | 103 | | 11 | ELIJAH's Flight to Horeb ; Jehovah's Treatment of his Discouraged Spirit. 1 Kings 19 : 1-21. | 118 | | 12 | AHAB's Double Victory over Benhadad. 1 Kings 20 : 1-43. | 130 | | 13 | AHAB and Naboth. Sacrilegious Murder by Jezebel. 1 Kings 21 : 1-29. | 135 | | 14 | AHAB Defeated by Benhadad, and Slain. 1 Kings 22 : 1-40 ; 2 Chronicles 18 : 1-34. | 143 | | 15 | Reign of AHAZIAH. 1 Kings 22 : 51-53 ; 2 Kings 1 : 1-18. | 149 | | 16 | ELIJAH's Translation, and ELISHA's Succession. 2 Kings 2 : 1-18. | 155 | | 17 | Reign of JEHORAM. 2 Kings 3 : 1-27. | 164 | | 18 | Six Miracles of ELISHA : Spring at Jericho Healed ; Mockers at Bethel Punished ; Prophet's Widow Supplied with Oil ; Shunamite's Son Restored ; Poisoned Pottage Purified ; Loaves and Corn Distributed ; Lost Axe-head Recovered. 2 Kings 2 : 10-25 ; 4 : 1-44 ; 6 : 1-7. | 169 | | 19 | Naaman's Leprosy Removed ; Infliction upon Gehazi. 2 Kings 5 : 1-27. | 185 | | 20 | ELISHA Delivers JEHORAM from Syrian Invasions. 2 Kings 6 : 8-23. | 199 | | 21 | Siege and Deliverance of Samaria. 2 Kings 6 : 24-33 ; 7 : 1-20. | 205 | | 22 | Shunamite's Land Restored. ELISHA and Hazael. 2 Kings 8 : 1-15. | 212 | | 23 | Reign of JEHU (Begun). He Slays JEHORAM, AHAZIAH (of Judah), and Jezebel. 2 Kings 9 : 1-37. | 217 | | SECTION | | PAGE | | --- | --- | --- | | 24 | Slays AHAB'S Sons, AHAZIAH'S Brethren, and Baal's Worshippers. His Death. 2 Kings 10:1-36. | 224 | | 25 | Reigns of JEHOAHAZ and JEHOASH. Elisha's Sickness and Death. The After Miracle. 2 Kings 13:1-25. | 233 | | 26 | Reign of JEROBOAM II. 2 Kings 14:23-29. | 242 | | 27 | Reigns of ZECHARIAH, SHALLUM, MENAHEM, and PEKAHIAH. 2 Kings 15:8-26. | 246 | | 28 | Reigns of PEKAH and HOSHEA. 2 Kings 15:27-31; 17:1-5. | 249 | | 29 | Israel Carried to Assyria. Reasons Assigned for their Captivity. Samaria Repeopled in Part by Assyrian Colonists. Ten Tribes not Lost. 2 Kings 17:6-41; 18:9-12. | 252 | | KINGDOM OF JUDAH. | | | | 30 | Reign of REHOBOAM. 2 Chronicles 11:1-23; 12:1-16; 1 Kings 12:21-24; 14:21-31. | 265 | | 31 | Reign of ABIJAH. 2 Chronicles 13:1-22; 1 Kings 15:1-8. | 273 | | 32 | Reign of ASA. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 14, 15, 16; 1 Kings 15:9-24. | 276 | | 33 | Reign of JEHOSHAPHAT. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 17-20; 1 Kings 22:41-50. | 287 | | 34 | Reigns of JEHORAM, AHAZIAH, and ATHALIAH. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 21, 22, and 23:1-15; 2 Kings 8:16-29; 11:1-16. | 297 | | 35 | Reign of JOASH. 2 Chronicles 23:16-21; 24:1-27; 2 Kings 11:17-21; 12:1-21. | 305 | | 36 | Reign of AMAZIAH. 2 Chronicles 25:1-28; 2 Kings 14:1-22. | 313 | | 37 | Reigns of UZZIAH and JOTHAM. 2 Chronicles 26:1-23; 27:1-9; 2 Kings 15:1-7; 32-38. | 318 | | 38 | Reign of AHAZ. 2 Chronicles 28:1-27; 2 Kings 16:1-20. | 324 | | 39 | Reign of HEZEKIAH. His Religious Reformation. 2 Chronicles, chaps. 29-31; 2 Kings 18:1-8. | 333 | | 40 | " " " Sickness, Recovery, and Psalm of Gratitude. Embassy from Babylon. Sin and Predicted Punishment. 2 Kings 20:1-19; 2 Chronicles 32:24-31; Isaiah, chaps. 38, 39. | 343 | | 41 | " " " Sennacherib's Army Destroyed. Death of Hezekiah. 2 Kings 18:13-37; 19:1-37; 20:20, 21; Isaiah, chaps. 36, 37; 2 Chronicles 32:1-23, 32, 33. | 356 | | 42 | Reigns of MANASSEH and AMON. 2 Chronicles 33:1-25; 2 Kings 21:1-26. | 372 | | 43 | Reign of JOSIAH. 2 Chronicles 34:1-33; 35:1-27; 2 Kings 22:1-20; 23:1-30. | 380 | | 44 | Reigns of JEHOAHAZ and JEHOIAKIM. Incidents Reported by JEREMIAH. 2 Kings 23:31-37; 24:1-7; 2 Chronicles 36:1-8; Jeremiah, chaps. 26, 36, 45. | 398 | | 45 | Story of the Rechabites, and its Lessons. Jeremiah 35:1-19. | 411 | | 46 | Reigns of JEHOIACHIN and ZEDEKIAH. 2 Kings 24:8-20; 25:1-7, 27-30; Jeremiah 39:1-7; 52:1-11, 31-34; 2 Chronicles 36:9-13. | 418 | | 47 | Main Incidents of JEREMIAH'S Connection with ZEDEKIAH. Jeremiah, chaps. 21, 27, 28, 32, 34, 37, 38. | 427 | | SECTION | | PAGE | | --- | --- | --- | | 48 | Jerusalem Destroyed and Judah Taken Captive. 2 Kings 25 : 8-21 ; 2 Chronicles 36 : 14-19 ; Jeremiah 39 : 8-18 ; 52 : 12-30. | 447 | | 49 | After History of the Remnant of Judah. 2 Kings 25 : 22-26 ; Jeremiah, chaps. 40-44. | 456 | | 50 | Period of Captivity : Condition of Exiled Jews ; Effects of Captivity. 2 Chronicles 36 : 20-23. Daniel, Isaiah, Deuteronomy and the Levitical Code as Related to Post-Exilic Period. | 465 | | 51 | The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Law in their Times. Historical Outline. | 476 | | | Chronological Outline of the Persian Period. | 483 | | 52 | Book of Ezra. Introduction. | 484 | | 53 | First Return under Jeshua and Zerubabel. Ezra, chaps. 1, 2 ; 2 Chronicles 36 : 22, 23. | 488 | | 54 | Altar and Sacrifice Restored. Temple Foundation-Work Suspended. Ezra, chaps. 3, 4. | 496 | | 55 | Temple Finished and Dedicated. Passover Kept. Ezra, chaps. 5, 6. | 503 | | 56 | Ezra Leads a Second Colony to Jerusalem. Ezra, chaps. 7, 8. | 511 | | 57 | Idolatrous Marriages Annulled. Ezra, chaps. 9, 10. | 518 | | 58 | Book of Nehemiah. | 524 | | 59 | Nehemiah's Petition, Commission, and Journey to Jerusalem. Nehemiah, chaps. 1, 2 : 1-11. | 529 | | 60 | Conference and Decision to Build the Wall. Confronting Adversaries. Nehemiah, chaps. 2 : 12-20 ; 3 : 4. | 534 | | 61 | Reform of Usury. Nehemiah's Generosity. Nehemiah 5 : 1-19. | 545 | | 62 | Opposition. Wall Completed. Second Registry. Nehemiah, chaps. 6, 7. | 551 | | 63 | Convocation for Worship and Covenant. Nehemiah, chaps. 8-10. | 557 | | 64 | Nehemiah's Return. Dedication of Wall. Reform of Abuses. Nehemiah, chaps. 11-13. | 569 | | 65 | Book of Esther. | 580 | | 66 | Esther Displaces Vashti. Mordecai's Service to the King. Esther, chaps. 1, 2. | 585 | | 67 | Haman's Destructive Device. Mordecai's Charge to Esther. Esther, chaps. 3, 4. | 591 | | 68 | Esther's First Banquet. The King's Sleepless Night. Mordecai Honored. Esther, chaps. 5, 6. | 598 | | 69 | Esther Accuses Haman. Mordecai Elevated. Decree in Favor of the Jews. Esther, chaps. 7, 8. | 603 | | 70 | Jews' Self-Defence. Feast of Purim. Mordecai's Advancement. Esther, chaps. 9, 10. | 608 | | 71 | Between the Testaments. The History. | 615 | | 72 | " " " The Literature. | 624 | | 1 KINGS. | | | 2 KINGS. | | | 2 KINGS. | | | 2 CHRONICLES. | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | CHAP. | VERSES. | PAGE. | | XII. | 1-20 | 56 | I. | 1-18 | 149 | XVI. | 1-20 | 324 | X. | 1-19 | 56 | | | 21-24 | 265 | II. | 1-18 | 155 | XVII. | 1-5 | 249 | XI. | 1-23 | 265 | | | 25-33 | 64 | | 19-25 | 169 | | 6-41 | 252 | XII. | 1-16 | 265 | | XIII. | 1-34 | 64 | III. | 1-27 | 164 | XVIII. | 1-8 | 333 | XIII. | 1-22 | 273 | | XIV. | 1-20 | 64 | IV. | 1-44 | 169 | | 9-12 | 252 | XIV. | 1-15 | 276 | | | 21-31 | 265 | V. | 1-27 | 185 | | 13-37 | 356 | XV. | 1-19 | 276 | | XV. | 1-8 | 273 | VI. | 1-7 | 169 | XIX. | 1-37 | 356 | XVI. | 1-14 | 276 | | | 9-24 | 276 | | 8-23 | 199 | XX. | 1-19 | 343 | XVII. | 1-19 | 287 | | | 25-31 | 79 | | 24-33 | 205 | | 20, 21 | 356 | XVIII. | 1-34 | 287 | | XVI. | 1-20 | 79 | VII. | 1-20 | 205 | XXI. | 1-26 | 372 | XIX. | 1-11 | 287 | | XVII. | 1-24 | 93 | VIII. | 1-15 | 212 | XXII. | 1-20 | 380 | XX. | 1-37 | 287 | | XVIII. | 1-46 | 103 | | 16-29 | 297 | XXIII. | 1-30 | 380 | XXI. | 1-20 | 297 | | XIX. | 1-21 | 118 | IX. | 1-37 | 217 | | 31-37 | 398 | XXII. | 1-12 | 297 | | XX. | 1-43 | 130 | X. | 1-36 | 224 | XXIV. | 1-7 | 398 | XXIII. | 1-15 | 297 | | XXI. | 1-29 | 135 | XI. | 1-16 | 297 | | 8-20 | 418 | | 16-21 | 305 | | XXII. | 1-40 | 143 | | 17-21 | 305 | XXV. | 1-7 | 418 | XXIV. | 1-27 | 305 | | | 41-50 | 287 | XII. | 1-21 | 305 | | 8-21 | 447 | XXV. | 1-28 | 313 | | | 51-53 | 149 | XIII. | 1-25 | 233 | | 22-26 | 456 | XXVI. | 1-23 | 318 | | | | | XIV. | 1-22 | 313 | | 27-30 | 418 | XXVII. | 1-9 | 318 | | | | | | 23-29 | 242 | | | | XXVIII. | 1-27 | 324 | | | | | XV. | 1-7 | 318 | | | | XXIX. | 1-36 | 333 | | | | | | 8-26 | 246 | | | | XXX. | 1-27 | 333 | | | | | | 27-31 | 249 | | | | XXXI. | 1-21 | 333 | | | | | | 32-38 | 318 | | | | XXXII. | 1-23 | 356 | | | | | | | | | | | | 24-31 | 343 | | | | | | | | | | | | 32, 33 | 356 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXIII. | 1-25 | 372 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXIV. | 1-33 | 380 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXV. | 1-27 | 380 | | | | | | | | | | | XXXVI. | 1-8 | 398 | | | | | | | | | | | | 9-13 | 418 | | | | | | | | | | | | 14 19 | 447 | | | | | | | | | | | | 20-23 | 465 | | EZRA. | | NEHEMIAH. | | ESTHER. | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | | I. | 488 | I. | 529 | I. | 585 | | II. | 488 | II. 1-11 | 529 | II. | 585 | | III. | 496 | 12-20 | 534 | III. | 591 | | IV. | 496 | III. | 534 | IV. | 591 | | V. | 503 | IV. | 534 | V. | 598 | | VI. | 503 | V. | 545 | VI. | 598 | | VII. | 511 | VI. | 551 | VII. | 603 | | VIII. | 511 | VII. | 551 | VIII. | 603 | | IX. | 518 | VIII. | 557 | IX. | 608 | | X. | 518 | IX. | 557 | X. | 608 | | | | X. | 557 | | | | | | XI. | 569 | | | | | | XII. | 569 | | | | | | XIII. | 569 | | | | ISAIAH. | | JEREMIAH. | | JEREMIAH. | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | CHAPTER. | PAGE. | | XXXVI. | 356 | XXI. | 436 | XXXIX. 8-18 | 447 | | XXXVII. | 356 | XXVI. | 398 | XL. | 456 | | XXXVIII. | 343 | XXVII. | 430 | XLI. | 456 | | XXXIX. | 343 | XXVIII. | 430 | XLII. | 456 | | | | XXXII. | 442 | XLIII. | 456 | | | | XXXIV. | 433 | XLIV. | 456 | | | | XXXV. | 411 | XLV. | 398 | | | | XXXVI. | 398 | LII. 1-11 | 418 | | | | XXXVII. | 436 | 12-30 | 447 | | | | XXXVIII. | 436 | 31-34 | 418 | | | | XXXIX. 1-7 | 418 | | | 1. As the closing Historical Volume of the Old Testament, its orderly place is in connection with Volume III. Volumes IV., V. and VI. (including the Psalms and the Books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon) are interposed at the end of Solomon's reign because of the relation of David and Solomon to four of these Books, while the subject-matter of the fifth (the Book of Job) brings it into close affinity with the three Books (mainly) of Solomonic origin. 2. Four chapters of Isaiah and eighteen chapters of Jeremiah are embodied in this volume for the simple reason that these chapters are essentially historical. Their contents are necessary to the completeness of the Historical Record, since they contain details either equivalent (and so confirmatory) or additional to those of the Books of Kings and Chronicles. Jeremiah, in particular, furnishes many interesting and instructive personal incidents which disclose with greater fulness the character of the later Kings of Judah, and the causes of the final destruction of the Kingdom; while he alone records the immediate after history of the Remnant of Judah. 3. This volume presents a measurably full account of the contemporary place and work of all of the Writing Prophets, whose inspired acts and disclosures constitute an integral portion of the History, so that a fair knowledge of these Prophets and the substance of their prophecies may be found herein. The volume is thus closely linked with the Prophetic Books which follow, while in those Books will be found a corresponding connection at every point with the History as herein recorded. 4. The careful attention of the reader is earnestly invited to the full and masterly Chronological Summary, kindly prepared by Professor Willis J. Beecher, contained in the Third Section. The method (generally adopted) of attaching isolated dates to specific events is purposely disregarded in this volume, for the sufficient reason that no single date of a disconnected event can convey either intelligible or helpful knowledge to a thoughtful reader. But this accurate, thoroughly digested Table of "Dated Events," if only its clear explanations and its related events with their dates are carefully studied at the outset, and afterward continuously referred to, will give an intelligent idea of the period in which every event occurred, since it exhibits such event in its relation to other contemporary events, with which it is more or less directly associated. The special study of this admirable Summary (pages 41-55) and the mastery of its chief points of historical detail is therefore strongly urged upon the reader who seeks to obtain a thorough comprehension of the Inspired History. PRELIMINARY: SUGGESTIVE THOUGHT BEARING UPON THE CHARACTER OF THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY, AND ITS RELATIONS TO THE NEW TESTAMENT; WITH HELPFUL EXPLANATIONS TOUCHING MINOR POINTS OF PRACTICAL INTEREST CONNECTED WITH THE HISTORY.* THE existence and personality of God is the great postulate of the soul; and that being granted, it is at once seen to be both a possible and a probable thing that He should communicate in some way with man in his state of conscious guilt and spiritual helplessness. The Bible claims to be such a communication; and we can trace it up through the centuries to the dates at which its several component parts were written; we can establish that its books were written by the men whose names they bear; and that in their Greek and Hebrew forms they have come down to us with wonderful accuracy, so that we have more certainty that we have Paul's epistles as he wrote them than we have that the letters of Cicero to his friend Atticus are preserved in their original form. All these things are settled for the sacred books precisely as we settle the genuineness and authenticity of other ancient writings. W. M. Taylor. Whoever will impartially consider the great length and variety of times and circumstances through which these books have passed, the many hands through which the copies have gone and by which they have been transcribed, and then observe how few or none of the passages containing any difficulty or inconsistency in them are of any weight or moment that can affect the design or use of the whole—whoever considers this will be so far from being disturbed at the difficulties he may find in the present copies of these or any other of the Holy Books, that he must conclude it a wonderful * The reader is referred to the first thirty-three pages of Volume III., of which these pages are designed as a supplement and completion. Though the topics are, in part, the same, the treatment will not be found redundant. B. blessing of Providence that hath preserved these writings so uncorrupt and entire as they are. Pyle. The Bible grew by degrees to its present size; and as in a house stone is laid on stone and story built upon story, so book was added to book, history to history, prophecy to prophecy, gospel to gospel, and one epistle to another, till the hands of John laid on the cops-stone, and, standing on the pinnacle of this sacred edifice, he pronounced God's wide and withering curse on all who should impair its integrity. Guthrie. The Old Testament history, throughout a period of some thousand years, written by different hands, and at many different times, not only exhibits a series of events, arranged and exclusively designed to prepare the way for the advent of the Messiah, and the accomplishment of the plan of salvation, but has woven into its very texture all the doctrines and duties of Christianity—doctrines and duties not fully developed nor understood till the coming of Christ, but now to be clearly traced in the ancient records. Can there be a doubt about the Author of the history? It would be as easy to counterfeit the heavens and the earth as to forge such a series of documents. The Bible, then, must be the book of God. Haldane. Who but God could make the Bible? What eye but that which surveys the world at a glance, and beholds all nations, with their multifarious ills and complicated wants, as they are, and reads with intuitive certainty the moral pulsation of every heart, could see far enough and wide enough and deep enough for such a work? What but the all-comprehensive mind could devise a religious system, humble in its grandeur and majestic in its simplicity, which should be equally applicable to men in every nation and every age; which has power to reclaim the heart and control the life; to disarm the world of its enmity against God; to restore the wanderer; raise the disconsolate, and light up a smile on the pale cheek of death? Surely, this is no common undertaking. There is but one Being who ever thought of doing it; and the volume that reveals this purpose has, written deeply and indelibly upon its sacred page, the signature of God. Beman. The Scriptures of the Old Testament that have been so faithfully preserved and so fully attested contain the most satisfactory and convincing internal evidences of their truth. The character of God which they exhibit, nowhere delineated in the writings of any of the wisest of this world, unenlightened by revelation, is such as carries with it its own confirmation. The character they give of man is verified in the history of every nation and of each individual. The majesty, purity, and suitableness to the condition of man, of the doctrine they contain—the soundness and unrivalled excellence of the moral precepts they inculcate, and the glory of the succeeding dispensation which toward their close they indicate with increasing clearness; and all this confirmed and verified in the minutest particulars by the New Testament Scriptures—form a body of internal evidence, to which nothing but the deep corruption of the human heart could render any one insensible. Haldane. We take these Scriptures, and observe their entire coincidence and harmony, through all their extent and amid all their varieties, in the utterance of one vast spiritual system. We go over their whole range and find them all agreeing upon this, though written by so many and such different persons: Revelation answering to Genesis across the passage of centuries—Deep calling unto Deep;—and the inference seems inevitable that they come to us from God; that One controlling and infinite Mind has been moving in the midst of these changing circumstances. And then we take the system itself which they reveal to us; we observe its unity, its vast sublimity, its absolute purity; we notice how it meets all man's wants and satisfies his powers, how it interweaves itself at the edges with the ascertained truths of philosophy or of science, accepting them all and reconciling their differences; we see how it points to other departments and realms of truth harmonious with itself, which God sees constantly, but which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and of which no angelic messenger has brought to us a report—and everywhere we find in this system the signatures of Divinity. We accept it as from God. Then we look to its results, and they are all beneficent. So we know it to be God's. Storrs. # The Old and New Testaments, Two Phases of One Revelation. In his characteristic and terse way the church father Augustine defines the relation existing between the two Testaments in these words: In Veteri Testamento Novum latet, in Novo Vetus patet (in the Old Testament, the New lies hid; in the New, the Old lies open). The full appreciation of the fundamental truth contained in these words is becoming more and more a feature of the evangelical biblical research of our day. That the two Testaments represent the two phases of the one revelation, differing from each other not in kind, but only in degree, and that the two form the one revelation and history of revelation from God to fallen man, to restore him to his lost estate, is the accepted position of all but negative scholars. In principle the two Testaments are thus one; the New is rooted in the Old, and can find its true interpretation only from this standpoint. . . . The entire New Testament consciously and ex professo stands upon the basis of the Old, of which it is the continuation and completion. The words in Luke 24: 44 are fundamental on this point. And when the New thus refers to the Old, it is solely and alone to the canonical writings of the latter, to the Palestinian collection of Hebrew sacred books. It is a singular and most significant fact that neither directly nor indirectly have any other writings of that day and generation exerted a material influence upon the contents of the New Testament. There is not a single indication of a non-canonical book having been quoted or having in the substance of the New Testament books influenced the writers or the speakers. The appeal, direct and indirect, is always to the canonical books of the Old as the sole authority and source of knowledge. The New Testament literature, which by no means is hermetically sealed to other writings, as is seen from its use of Septuagint, its citations of Greek poets, its moving and living in the atmosphere of its age, in the establishment of its principles and doctrines, builds upon and appeals solely and alone to the canonical writings of the Old Testament, and to these alone, because they and they alone are the inspired Revelation of God to man. For the New Testament the unity of the Old is a fixed and fundamental fact. And this is in full agreement with the character of the biblical books. They are the record of a gradual unfolding of God's plans for the redemption of man, and, in fact, this is the golden chord that connects them all and makes them one. The sacred literature of no other people can lay claim to this unique feature. While it may be difficult at present to assign to each and every book its peculiar position and necessary rôle in the development, yet it must not be forgotten that some of the books are as yet imperfectly understood. But this is known, that these books, as far as clearly understood, represent the different stages in one process, the development of principles from germ to full fruit. In this process these books, one and all, have some portion or part to record; and it would be difficult to show that even the smallest could be omitted without in one or the other material point injuring our understanding of the unfolding of God's kingdom on earth; and, on the other hand, there is no material stage in this process on which the canonical writings are silent. Internally they constitute a one-ness; their unity is undeniable. Comparative religious science can claim no phenomenon of this kind for any other nation. Even when under the scalpel of modern criticism, the truth that the Scriptures practically constitute one volume, consisting of parts mutually complementary and supplementary, remains. Schodde. Christianity recognizes in the Old Dispensation its divinely ordained preparatory stage. This peculiar connection between the two Testaments, their different stages of revelation being fraught with one and the same spirit and constituting a marvellous whole, is a witness to the Divine origin of the Jewish, as well as the Christian religion. When we examine into the Books of the two Testaments we find, both in their history and doctrine, a connection extending through centuries, a gradual progress which points to one comprehensive plan which could by no possibility have had its origin in the mind of short-lived man, but can only be reasonably explained by that Divine causation to which the Bible itself refers all things; and if we proceed further to test this conclusion by comparing it with our knowledge of other kinds, we shall find that not only do the Divine revelations intimately agree together, but with the condition and needs of our human nature, with the fundamental relations of the universe, and with the being of God. Incomparable wisdom, holiness, and love breathe on us from the Scripture pages, and perfectly satisfy the demands of conscience and the search of the intellect after the highest truth. Hess of Zurich says: "Nothing has so convinced me of the truth of Christianity, its revelation, history, and doctrine, as the having found in the sacred records, on the one hand, what perfectly satisfies the needs of humanity for time and eternity, and, on the other hand, in the Divine provision toward this end such a connected progress from small to great, from the particular to the universal, as would have been impossible to human invention." Auberlen. The full sense of the New Testament can only be reached by a thorough study of the Old Testament upon which it was founded. The connection between them is a living organic connection, as between the seed and the fruit. It was the same Being, the same Divine will, the same fundamental principles of salvation that were taught in the one as in the other. These facts are essential to the right understanding of Scripture, and he must sorely miss the meaning of the New Testament who lets go his hold upon the conviction of the eternal truth of the Old. Gardiner. #### History the Basis of Both Testaments. We cannot read the Old Testament without seeing that the whole of it rests on the basis of a history—the history contained in what we call the books of Moses. Now, if you turn to the New Testament, you will find that it begins, in like manner, with a history: the history of the four Gospels; and what the Pentateuch is to the Old Testament, the Gospels are to the New. Here, then, is a symmetry in the two parts of the Bible. Each begins with a history which pervades and inspires all that follows. Only, the two histories are different, while they are connected. The one is that of a divinely chosen people, selected for a special purpose. The other is that of a Divine Person. And a person is superior to a people merely as a people, as a corporate body, for a person has an immortality: a nation has not; and a person can be charged with far higher lessons than a nation. The two histories are on two planes, a lower and a higher; the lower is imperfect without the higher, and the higher assumes and completes the lower. Ker. Christianity, including therein the dispensation of the Old Testament, is in nothing more distinguished from the other religions of the world than in its objective or historical character. The religions of Greece and Rome, of Egypt, India, Persia, and the East generally, were speculative systems, which did not even seriously postulate a historical basis. But it is otherwise with the religion of the Bible. There, whether we look to the Old or the New Testament, to the Jewish dispensation or to the Christian, we find a scheme of doctrine which is bound up with facts; which depends absolutely upon them; which is null and void without them; and which may be regarded as for all practical purposes established if they are shown to deserve acceptance. As a religion of fact, and not merely of opinion—as one whose chief scene is this world, and whose main doctrines are events exhibited openly before the eyes of men—as one, moreover, which, instead of affecting a dogmatic form, adopts from first to last, with very rare exceptions, the historical shape, the religion of the Bible comes necessarily within the sphere of the historical inquirer, and challenges him to investigate it according to what he regards as the principles of his science. Moreover, as Christianity is in point of fact connected intimately with certain records, and as those records extend over a period of several thousands of years, and “profess to contain a kind of abridgment of the history of the world,” its points of contact with profane history are (practically speaking) infinite; and it becomes impossible for the historical inquirer to avoid the question, in what light he is to view the documents which, if authentic, must exercise so important an influence over his studies and conclusions. G. R. An examination of the chief characteristics of the Hebrew Scriptures indicates: a Vital Connection between Religion and History; a unity of thought, sentiment, and practical aim underlying their great variety of form, and a progressive development of religious doctrine, not final, but pointing forward to a fuller unfolding. 1. In these Old Testament Scriptures, religion is shown as the soul of history; the supreme reality and central power in human affairs; the deepest foundation of human life. The Bible account of the ORIGIN OF RELIGION is that man began his journey on this globe not as a deserted orphan, turned adrift to seek God as best he could, but in communion with the Father of spirits. God talked with him, and he could talk with God. God marked for him the path of duty, and it lay in his choice to walk in it or to wander from it. Compared with recent hypotheses of the slow and painful ascent of man from irrational, speechless, lawless, godless apehood, the Bible account has at all events the advantage of dignity, beauty, intelligibility, and analogy with the known facts of human experience. In Genesis God is shown as the ultimate source of all being, preparing the earth from the beginning to be the home of man. Man’s very existence is traced to God’s purpose to realize His own likeness in human nature. Man is shown as conversant with God, as soon as he began to know himself and the world around him. The foundations of marriage, property, labor, moral duty and responsibility, are all laid in God’s revealed will, and man’s conscious relation to his Maker. Moral evil, or sin, is represented as wilful disobedience to the known will of God. The tendency to evil is shown to be hereditary as well as personal, and teeming with seeds of increase. Human life is regarded as a whole; and God is seen as the Ruler and Judge of Mankind, as well as the personal Friend and Saviour of every one who fears and trusts Him. FAITH, as the mainspring and sheet anchor of the religious life; PRAYER, as direct personal converse with the Unseen Father of spirits, and as actually heard and answered by Him; and DIVINE PROVIDENCE as regulating all human affairs from the greatest to the least, are so exemplified in these ancient Hebrew annals, that the story of Abraham, of Jacob, of Joseph, possesses an undecaying charm for Christian minds of the highest spiritual culture. They are typical for all time. No example of after ages has been able to cast them into the shade. In the “Pentateuch” there is no break of continuity. The narrative passes briefly over the centuries, at first of peaceful prosperity, then of bitter adversity, during which Israel’s descendants “increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty.” It hastens to tell the story of the deliverance from bondage, and of the creation of an organized nation. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/butler/