Son 1:1 _The song of songs, which [is_] _Solomon's._ Ver. 1. _The song of songs._] Not a light love song - as some profane persons have fancied, and have therefore held it no part of the sacred canon - but a most excellent _Epithalamium,_ a very divine ditty, a heavenly allegory, a mystical marriag... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love [is] better than wine._ Ver. 2. _Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth._] It must be premised and remembered that this book is _penitus allegoricus et parabolicus,_ as one saith, allegorical throughout, and aboundeth all along with... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name [is as] ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee._ Ver. 3. _Because of the savour of thy good ointments._] Or, To smell to, thy ointments are best. _Odoratissimus es._ As the panther casts abroad a fragrant savour; as Alexander... [ 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. Ver. 4. _Draw me._] Those very virgins, though they love Christ, and are affected with his incomparable sweetness, to th... [ Continue Reading ]
_I [am] black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon._ Ver. 5. _I am black, but comely._] Heb., Black as the morning, or day dawning, which hath light and darkness, dimness at least, mixed together. It is not Hως ροδοδακτυλος, wherein there is mo... [ 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. Ver. 6. _Look not upon me, because I am black._] "Look not upon me," viz., with a lofty look, with... [ 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? Ver. 7. _Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth._] The sins of God's elect turn to their good - _Venenum aliquando pro... [ 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. Ver. 8. _If thou know not, O thou fairest among women._] So Christ is pleased to style her, who erst held and called herself black and sunburnt. Son 1:5 Nothi... [ Continue Reading ]
I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. Ver. 9. _I have compared thee, O my love, &c._] My pastoral love, or shepherdess companion, my fellow friend, or familiar associate in the function of spiritual feeding; my neighbour, or next, as the Greek renders it. Fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy cheeks are comely with rows [of jewels], thy neck with chains [of gold]. Ver. 10. _Thy cheeks are comely,_] _i.e., _ Thy whole face, by a synecdoche, though the cheeks are instanced, as being the seat of shamefacedness modesty, and beauty - such as was found in Esther, whose son, Artaxerxes Lon... [ Continue Reading ]
We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. Ver. 11. _We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver._] We, the whole Trinity, will join together, as we do in all our works ad extra, in framing for thee these glorious ornaments, in putting upon thee our own comeliness, Eze 16:11... [ Continue Reading ]
While the king [sitteth] at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. Ver. 12. _While the king sitteth at his table, &c._] Heb., At his round table, or ring sitting. _In accubitu circulari: in orbem enim antiquitus ad mensam sedebant._ "Send and fetch him, for we will not sit round t... [ Continue Reading ]
A bundle of myrrh [is] my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. Ver. 13. _A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved, &c._] The bride proceeds to return all the glory to her bridegroom (of all that good that he had praised her for before) by a second similitude here, and by a th... [ Continue Reading ]
My beloved [is] unto me [as] a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. Ver. 14. _My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire._] "My beloved," and "unto me." This particular application is the very quintessence and pith of faith. H πιστις ιδιοποιει ται τον Cριστον. It is the property of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, thou [art] fair, my love; behold, thou [art] fair; thou [hast] doves' eyes. Ver. 15. _Behold thou art fair, my love._] Or, My fellow friend. _as _ Son 1:9 And as she is his love, so he is her beloved, Son 1:16 and as he commends her, so she him no less. This should be all the strife between... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, thou [art] fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed [is] green. Ver. 16. _Behold thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant._] Behold thou art fair, my love, &c., said he to her _a_ It were fitter a fair deal for me to say so to thee, saith she here to him, since all my beauty is but bor... [ Continue Reading ]
The beams of our house [are] cedar, [and] our rafters of fir. Ver. 17. _The beams of our house are cedar,_] Not my, but our house, as before, our bed, and after, our galleries. All is common between the bridegroom and the bride - bed, board, house, all. It should be so between married couples, who... [ Continue Reading ]