Song of Solomon 2:17

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. DAY BREAK ... SHADOWS FLEE AWAY. Night is the image of the present world (). 'Behold men as if dwelling in, a subterranean cavern' (Plato, 'Republic,' 7: 1). UNTIL - i:e., Before that, etc. BREAK - rather, breathe: referring to the refreshing breeze of dawn in the East; or to the air of life, which distinguishes morning from the death-like stillness of night. Maurer takes this verse of the approach of night, when the breeze arises after the heat of day (cf. margin, , with ), and the "shadows" are lost in night ...

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 17. _UNTIL THE DAY BREAK_] Literally, _until the day breathe_; until the first dawn, which is usually accompanied with the most refreshing _breezes_. _THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY_] Referring to the _evening_ or _setting of_ _the sun_, at which all _shadows_ vanish. _THE MOUNTAINS OF BETHER._] Translated also _mountains of division_, supposed to mean the mountains of _Beth-horon_. There was a place called _Bithron_, 2 Samuel 2:29, on the other side of Jordan; and as the name signifies PARTITION, it might have had its name from the circumstance of its being divided or separated from Judea by the river Jordan. With this chapter the _second night_ is supposed to end....

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

UNTIL THE DAY BREAK, AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY,.... Which may be connected with Song of Solomon 2:16; either with the former part, "my beloved is mine", c. Song of Solomon 2:16 and then the sense is, as long as night and day continue, and God's covenant with both stands sure; so long union to Christ, and covenant interest in him, will abide: or with the latter part, "he feedeth among the lilies until", c. even until his second coming: or with the next clause in this verse, TURN, MY BELOVED and so is a prayer for Christ's speedy coming to her, and continued presence with her, until the day should break: which may be understood either of the Gospel day made by the rising of Christ, the sun of righteousness, at his first coming in the flesh; when the shadows of

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

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

UNTIL THE DAY BREAK. When the day cools. This is clear from the words which follow. TURN. return. BETHER. separation. See note on Song of Solomon 8:14....