Song of Solomon 1:5

Song 1:5. "As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." Kedar was a place where shepherds used to seat their tents and feed their flocks, a noted place for shepherds, as you may see, Isaiah 60:7. "All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered unto thee." And Jeremiah 49:28; Jeremiah 49:29. Concerning Kedar. "Their tents and their flocks - they shall take to themselves their curtains." The people of Kedar it seems used to dwell in tents, in movable habitations, and lived by feeding of sheep; and therefore the church is very likely represented by these, and it is agreeable to many other representations in Scripture, where God's people are called his sheep, his flock, and Christ and his ministers shepherds, and the church is also compared to a tabernacle or tents: it is fitly compared to movable tents, for here we are pilgrims and strangers, and have no abiding place; these are the shepherds' tents referred to in the 8th verse.

Song of Solomon 1:5. "As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." That the spouse in this song is compared to a tent, and to the curtains of the tabernacle and temple, is an evidence that this song is no ordinary love song, and that by the spouse is not meant any particular woman, but a society, even that holy society, the church of God. It is common in the writings of the Old Testament to represent the church of God by a tent, or tents, and a house and temple, but never a particular person. See Isaiah 54:2; Zechariah 12:7; Isaiah 33:20; Lamentations 2:4; Lamentations 2:6; Isaiah 1:8. And the tabernacle and temple were known types of the church, and the curtains of both had palm-trees embroidered on them, which are abundantly made use of to represent the church. The church of God is called a house, in places too many to be mentioned. The church used to be called the temple of the Lord, as appears by Jeremiah 7:4. The church is represented by the temple, as is evident by Zechariah 4:2-9.

Song 2:7