Song of Solomon 1:2

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 desire (; ).

Kiss - the token of peace from the Prince of Peace (); "our Peace" (; ).

Of his mouth - marking the tenderest affection. For a king to permit his hands, or even garment, to be kissed, was counted a great honour; but that he should himself kiss another with his mouth is the greatest honour. God had in times past spoken by the mouth of His prophets, who hath declared the Church's betrothal; the bride now longs for contact with the sweet mouth of the Bridegroom Himself (; ). True of the Church before the first advent, longing for "the hope of Israel," "the desire of all nations." Also the awakened soul longing for the kiss of reconciliation: and further, the kiss that is the token of the marriage contract, and of friendship, such as Jesus vouchsafes to His friends in its highest manifestation ().

Thy love - Hebrew, loves; namely, tokens of love, loving blandishments.

Wine - which makes glad "the heavy heart" of one ready to perish, so that he "remembers his misery no more." So, in a "better" sense, Christ's love (Habakkuk 3:17). He gives the same praise to the bride's love, with the emphatic addition, "How much" (). Wine was created by His first miracle, and was the pledge given of His love at the last supper. The spiritual wine is His blood and His Spirit, the "new" and better wine of the kingdom, which we can never drink to "excess," as the other.