Song of Solomon 2:14

O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. O MY DOVE - here expressing endearment: and the defenseless innocence of the Church (). Doves are noted for constant attachment emblems, also, in their soft, plaintive note, of softened penitents (): other points of likeness are their beauty, typifying the change in the converted (); the dove-like spirit breathed into the saint by the Holy Spirit, whose emblem is the dove; the message of peace from God to sinful men, as Noah's dove, with the olive branch, intimated that the flood of wrath was past; timidity fleeing with fear...

14-17 The church is Christ's dove; she returns to him, as her Noah. Christ is the Rock, in whom alone she can think herself safe, and find herself easy, as a dove in the hole of a rock, when struck at by the birds of prey. Christ calls her to come boldly to the throne of grace, having a great High Priest there, to tell what her request is. Speak freely, fear not a slight or a repulse. The voice of prayer is sweet and acceptable to God; those who are sanctified have the best comeliness. The first risings of sinful thoughts and desires, the beginnings of trifling pursuits which waste the time, trifling visits, small departures from truth, whatever would admit some conformity to the world; all these, and many more, are little foxes which must be removed. This is a charge to believers to mortify their sinful appetites and passions, which are as little foxes, that destroy their graces and co...

Verse 14. _MY DOVE - IN THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCK_] He compares his bride hiding herself in her secret chambers and closets to a _dove_ in the clefts of the rock....

The bride relates to the chorus a visit which the beloved had paid her some time previously in her native home. He on a fair spring morning solicits her company. The bride, immersed in rustic toils, refuses for the present, but confessing her love, bids him return at the cool of day. It is a spring-time of affection which is here described, still earlier than that of the former chapter, a day of pure first-love, in which, on either side, all royal state and circumstance is forgotten or concealed. Hence, perhaps, the annual recitation of the Song of Songs by the synagogue with each return of spring, at the Feast of Passover, and special interpretations of this passage by Hebrew doctors, as referring to the paschal call of Israel out of Egypt, and by Christian fathers, as foreshadowing the evangelic mysteries of Easter - Resurrection and Regeneration. The whole scene has also been thought...

EXPOSITION SONG OF SOLOMON 2:2 AS A LILY AMONG THORNS, SO IS MY LOVE AMONG THE DAUGHTERS. The king responds, taking up the lovely simile and giving it a very apt and charming turn, "My love is beyond comparison the chief and all around her are not worthy of notice beside her." The meaning is not thorns on the tree itself. The word would be different in that case. Rather it is thorn plants or bushes (_choach_);_ _see 2 Kings 14:9. _The daughters_;_ i.e._ the young damsels. The word "son" or "daughter" was commonly so used in Hebrew, the idea being that of simplicity, innocence, and gentleness. Song of Solomon

O MY DOVE,.... An epithet sometimes used by lovers q, and is a new title Christ gives to his church, to express his affection for her and interest in her; and to draw her out of her retirement, to go along with him. The dove is a creature innocent and harmless, beautiful, cleanly, and chaste; sociable and fruitful, weak and timorous, of a mournful voice, and swift in flying; all which is suitable to the church and people of God: they are harmless and inoffensive in their lives and conversations; they are beautiful through the righteousness of Christ on them, and the grace of the Spirit in them; they are clean through the word Christ has spoken, and having their hearts purified by faith; they are as chaste virgins espoused to Christ, and their love to him is single and unfeigned; they cleave to him, are fruitful in grace and good works; and the church being espoused to Christ brings forth...

Here we have a dialogue of love between the Lord Jesus and his people. Song of Solomon 2:1. _I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys._ Amongst all flowers, there is none that can be compared with him. «White is his soul, from blemish free, Red with the blood he shed for me.» Song of Solomon 2:2. _As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters._ The child of God cannot long be mistaken for a worldling. The lily rises up above its thorny companions, but everybody knows that it is not a thorn; and chiefly do the quick eyes of the Lord Jesus discern his people wherever they may be found. You, dear friend, may perhaps come of a graceless family, or you may live in a house where God i

DOVE There is beautiful order here. First we have what the bride is as seen in Christ, "My dove." In herself most faulty; in Him "blameless and harmless" (Philippians 2:15) the very character of the dove. The bride's place of safety, "in the clefts of the rock" -- hidden, so to speak, in the wounds of Christ. Thirdly, her privilege. "Stairs" speaks of access. It is not "secret places," as in A.V, but "the secret of the stairs" -- the way and privilege of access to His presence; (Ephesians 2:18); (Colossians 3:1); (Hebrews 10:19). Fourthly, the order of approach: she is to come near before she speaks, "Le

CHAPTER 2 The voice of the bride is heard again in the opening verses of this chapter; some understand it as meaning the Messiah speaking of Himself as the Rose and the Lily of the valley, but it is rather the bride. She is in her purity and separation like the lily among thorns, among the apostates of the nation during the end of the Jewish age. Of the Messiah she speaks as the apple-tree. She has no fruit of herself, but rests under Him as the blessed fruit-bearer. Under Him she finds her shelter, while He protects her and she can enjoy His fruit under His shadow. There she, and all true believers have rapture and rest and enjoy His fruit, which is sweet to the taste. The Bridegroom has brought her to His own place. She is in the house of wine (the better translation, instead of banqueting house). Unlimited joy and gladness are now her portion; the banner of love is over her; while she...

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8 contains one of the most beautiful poems in the whole book; it breathes the air of the fresh spring-time, when, according to our own poet, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love; here it is a young woman's fancy that hears the steps of the beloved hastening over the mountains, drawn by the sweet attractiveness of love. (1) The beloved comes (Song of Solomon 2:8 f.). (2) His speech (Song of Solomon 2:10). (3) The bride calls for his companionship (Song of Solomon 2:16 f.). Note the vividness, the dramatic force, of the opening words, Hark my belo