The song of songs, which is Solomon's. THE SONG OF SONGS - the most excellent of all songs, Hebrew idiom (). A foretaste on earth of the "new song" to be sung in glory (). SOLOMON'S - "King of Israel," or "Jerusalem," is not added, as in the opening of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes; not because Sol... [ Continue Reading ]
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. LET HIM - abruptly. She names him not, as is natural to one whose heart is full of some much-desired friend: so Mary Magdalene at the Sepulchre, as if everyone must know whom she means, the One chief object of her de... [ Continue Reading ]
Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. BECAUSE OF - rather, 'As regards lª- the savour of thy ointments, it is good' (Maurer). In Song of Solomon 4:10, the Bridegroom reciprocates the praise of the bride in similar te... [ Continue Reading ]
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 remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. DRAW ME - (1) The cry of ancient Israel for Messiah; e.g., Simeon Anna, etc. (2) The cry of an awakened soul for th... [ Continue Reading ]
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. BLACK ... AS THE TENTS OF KEDAR - from the root kaadar, to be black (). She draws the image from the black goat-skins with which the Scenite Arabs ("Kedar" was in Arabia Petraea) cover their t... [ Continue Reading ]
Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. She feels as if her blackness was so great as to be gazed at by all. LOOK NOT UPON ME (TOO CLOSELY... [ Continue Reading ]
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? MY SOUL LOVETH - more intense than "the virgins" and "the upright love thee" (Song of Solomon 1:3; Matthew 22:37). T... [ Continue Reading ]
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. IF THOU KNOW NOT. She ought to have known (John 14:8). The confession of her ignorance and blackness leads Him to call her "fairest." Her jealousy of lettin... [ Continue Reading ]
I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. HORSES IN PHARAOH'S CHARIOTS - celebrated for beauty, swiftness, and ardour, at the Red sea. These qualities, which seem to belong to the ungodly, really belong to the saint (Moody Stuart). The allusion may be to the h... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. ROWS OF JEWELS - (.) Olearius says, Persian ladies wear two or three rows of pearls round the head, beginning on the forehead, and descending down to the cheeks and under the chin, so that their faces seem to be set in pearl... [ Continue Reading ]
We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. WE - the Trinity implied by the Holy Spirit, whether it was so by the writer of the Song or not. 'The Jews acknowledged God as king, and Messiah as king, in interpreting the Song, but did not know that these two are one' (Leighton). MAKE - n... [ Continue Reading ]
While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. AT HIS TABLE. It is the presence of the Sun of Righteousness that draws out the believer's odours of grace. It was the sight of Him at table that caused the two women to bring forth their ointments for Him. Histori... [ Continue Reading ]
A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. BUNDLE OF MYRRH - implying abundant preciousness. So the Greek for "precious" [ timee (G5092)], literally, preciousness, 1 Peter 2:7. Even a little myrrh was costly, much more a bundle. Sanctius takes it of a... [ Continue Reading ]
My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. CLUSTER - Jesus Christ is one, yet manifold in His graces. OF CAMPHIRE - or, cypress. The hennah is meant, whose odorous flowers grow in clusters, of a colour white and yellow softly blended: its bark is dark, the folia... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes. FAIR - He discerns beauty in her who had said, "I am black," because of the everlasting covenant. DOVES' EYES - large and beautiful in the doves of Syria. The prominent features of her beauty: gentleness, innocent, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. Reply of the Bride. THOU ART FAIR, MY BELOVED. She presumes to call Him beloved, because He called her so first. Thou callest me "fair;" if I am so, it is not in myself, it is all from thee (); but thou art fair in thyself ... [ Continue Reading ]
The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. THE BEAMS OF OUR HOUSE (ARE) CEDAR - (see note. Song of Solomon 1:16; but primarily the kiosk, Isaiah 11:10.) Cedar is pleasing to the eye and smell, hard, and never eaten by worms. FIR - rather, cypress, which is hard, durable, and frag... [ Continue Reading ]