CHAPTER IV _The bridegroom's description of his bride, her person, her_ _accomplishments, her chastity, and her general excellence_, 1-16. NOTES ON CHAP. IV Verse Song of Solomon 4:1. _THOU_ HAST _DOVES' EYES WITHIN THY LOCKS_] Perhaps this refers rather to a sort of veil worn by many of the E... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:2. _THY TEETH_ ARE _LIKE A FLOCK_] This comparison appears to be founded on the _evenness, neatness_, and _whiteness_ of the _newly_ _shorn_ and newly _washed_ sheep.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:3. _THY LIPS_ ARE _LIKE A THREAD OF SCARLET_] Both _lips_ and _cheeks_ were _ruddy; sicut fragmen mali punici_. - VULGATE. _Like the_ _section of a pomegranate_, that side cut off on which is the _finest_ _blush_. This is a good and apt _metaphor_. But the inside may be refer... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:4. _THY NECK_ IS _LIKE THE TOWER OF DAVID_] It is certain that _bucklers_ were frequently hung about towers, both for their ornaments, and to have them at hand when their use was required; see Ezekiel 27:10. But the allusion here may be to those _pillars_ which are often seen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:5. _THY TWO BREASTS_ ARE _LIKE TWO YOUNG ROES_] I have met with many attempts to support this _similitude_, or rather to show that there is a _similitude_; but I judge them unworthy of citation. The poet speaks the _language of nature_; and in a case of this kind, where the i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:6. _UNTIL THE DAY BREAK_] Until the morning _breeze_. See Song of Solomon 2:17. _THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY_] Till the _sun sets_. _MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH_] Probably the same as the mountains of _Bether_, Song of Solomon 2:17. Mountains where the trees grew from which _myrrh_ and _in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:7. _THOU_ ART _ALL FAIR _- THERE IS _NO SPOT IN THEE._] "My beloved, every part of thee is beautiful; thou hast not a single defect." The description given of the beauties of _Daphne_, by OVID, Metam. lib. i. ver. 497, has some similarity to the above verses: - _Spectat ino... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:8. _MY SPOUSE._] The כלה _callah_ which we translate _spouse,_ seems to have a peculiar meaning. Mr. Harmer thinks the _Jewish_ _princess_ is intended by it; and this seems to receive confirmation from the bridegroom calling her _sister_, Song of Solomon 4:9, that is, one of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _THOU HAST RAVISHED MY HEART_] לבבתני _libbabtini_, "Thou hast hearted me," i.e., taken away my heart; as we say, "He has barked the tree," i.e., he has stripped it of its bark; "He has fleeced the flock," i.e., deprived them of their wool. _WITH ONE OF THINE EYES_] באצד מעיניך _beachad m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _HOW MUCH BETTER IS THY LOVE_] דדיך _dodayich; Hebrew_. μαστοισου; _Septuagint_. _Ubera tua; Vulgate_. "Thy breasts." And so all the _versions_, except the _Chaldee_. _SMELL OF THINE OINTMENTS_] Perfumes.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 11. _THY LIPS - DROP_ AS _THE HONEY-COMB_] Thy words are as delicious to my heart as the first droppings of the honey-comb are to the palate. _HONEY AND MILK_ ARE _UNDER THY TONGUE_] Eloquence and persuasive speech were compared among the ancients to _honey_ and _milk_. Thus Homer, Iliad, li... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _A GARDEN ENCLOSED - A SPRING SHUT UP, A FOUNTAIN_ _SEALED._] Different expressions to point out the _fidelity_ of the bride, or of the Jewish queen. See the _outlines_. She is _unsullied_, a chaste, pure _virgin_. None has ever _entered_ into this _garden_; none has yet _tasted_ of this _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _THY PLANTS_ ARE _AN ORCHARD OF POMEGRANATES_] This seems to refer to the _fecundity_ of the bride or Jewish queen; to the former it would be a _prediction_; to the latter, a _statement_ of _what had already taken place_. The word פרדס _pardes_, which we translate an _orchard_, is the same... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _A FOUNTAIN OF GARDENS_] Perhaps גנים _gannim_, "gardens," was originally ציים _chaiyim_, "lives," a _living_ _fountain_, a _continual spring_. See _Houbigant_. But this is expressed afterwards; though there would be nothing improper in saying, "a living fountain, a well of living waters,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 4:16. _AWAKE, O NORTH WIND; AND COME, THOU SOUTH_] It is granted that the _south wind_ in Palestine, in the summer, is _extremely hot and troublesome_; therefore, another interpretation of this passage has been proposed by Mr. _Harmer_; who thinks בואי _boi_, which we render _... [ Continue Reading ]