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COMMENTARY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. GEORGE BURROAVES, D. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL INSTRUCTION IN LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, REVISED. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 JAMES S. CLAXTON, 
 
 SUCCESSOR TO WM. B. & ALFRED MARTIEN, 
 1214 Chestnut Street. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
 
 William S. Martien, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PREFACE 5 
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE SONG 75 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 Chapter I. - - - - - 78 
 
 Chapter II. . - - - 79 
 
 Chapter III. - - - - - 81 
 
 Chapter IV. . - - - 82 
 
 Chapter V. 83 
 
 Chapter VI. . - - - 85 
 
 Chapter VII. - - - - - 86 
 
 Chapter VIII. - - - - 87 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE SONG. 
 
 Chapter I. - - - - 89 
 
 Chapter II. - - - - - 93 
 
 Chapter III. - - - - - 99 
 
 Chapter IV. ... - 102 
 
 Chapter V. 1^7 
 
 Chapter VI. - - - 110 
 
 Chapter VII. - - - - - HI 
 
 Chapter VIII. - 115 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 COMMENTARY ON THE SONG. 
 
 Chapter I. 121 
 
 Chapter II. - - - - 218 
 
 Chapter III. .... - 274 
 
 Chapter IV. 298 
 
 Chapter V. 312 
 
 Chapter VI. .... 383 
 
 Chapter VII. - - - - - 401 
 
 Chapter VIII. - - - - 424 
 
P 11 E F A C E . 
 
 The notes which have grown into the following 
 pages were begun amid the pious exercises and 
 duties connected with the pastoral charge of a 
 retired congregation, and without any idea of 
 making a volume for the press. They have 
 gradually taken their present form. The Analysis 
 now stands, with no material alteration, as it was 
 written some years ago; and subsequent research 
 has brought to light no reason for changing the 
 views then adopted concerning the general mean- 
 ing of this portion of Scripture. To those who 
 consider the misapprehension that has prevailed in 
 reference to the Song, the Introduction may not 
 seem unnecessarily long, inasmuch as an answer to 
 
G PRE F A C E. 
 
 objections, an argument in defence of the alle- 
 gorical meaning, and a statement of the principles 
 of interpretation, are required before proceeding to 
 the exposition. The Summary and Analysis give 
 the writer's idea of the meaning of the Song. In 
 the exposition, the aim has been to unfold the 
 truth, in the way supposed the most desirable to a 
 soul animated with fervent love for the Lord 
 Jesus, and craving the hidden manna which the 
 Holy Spirit has lodged in this precious portion of 
 the Scriptures. The heart hungering and thirst- 
 ing for righteousness, does not rest satisfied with 
 the stalk and husks, but is anxious for the 
 luscious kernel, of these fruits of eternal life. 
 As here viewed, the Song is a continuous and 
 coherent whole, illustrating some of the most 
 exalted and delightful exercises of the believing 
 heart. According to our exposition, there will 
 not be found in the book a single passage to 
 which the most fastidious taste can take the least 
 exception. A correct interpretation of the book 
 is its only proper vindication. Those who engage 
 in the work of Scripture exposition, become best 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 aware of the difficulties of the undertaking; and 
 while the writer is sensible of the difficulty 
 attending a Commentary on the Song, and sub- 
 mits this volume with diffidence to those who love 
 the adorable Redeemer, he shall be happy if any- 
 thing has been done, in however humble a degree, 
 for enabling them to value this book, and draw 
 herefrom truth for nourishing a more vigorous 
 affection for their Beloved and their Friend. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The effect of sin has been to destroy in the human 
 heart the love of God, and substitute for it the love of 
 unworthy things. The object of redemption is the res- 
 toration of man from his condition of .enmity against 
 God, and from all the consequences of sin, to the posses- 
 sion and enjoyment of perfect love to God. Hence, as 
 hatred of God is the spirit of sin, love is represented as 
 the essential grace, as the fulfilling of the law. The 
 growth of the soul in holiness must be estimated, not by 
 deep excitement, whether of ecstasy or of overwhelming 
 sorrow, not by burning zeal or untiring activity, not by 
 acquaintance with all mysteries and all knowledge, not 
 by giving our goods to feed the poor and our body to be 
 burned; but by the love which beareth all tilings, be- 
 lieveth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 
 Long before the time of the apostle Paul, Plato had 
 celebrated the excellence of this affection, though exer- 
 cised in an inferior sphere. "It is proper to exhort 
 every man to behave in all things piously towards the 
 gods, that we may escape from the ills and obtain the 
 good to which Love is our guide and commander; who 
 confers on us the greatest benefits for the present, and 
 for the future gives us the strongest hopes that if we pay 
 the debt of piety to heaven, he will restore us to our 
 original nature, and make us happy by healing our ills. 
 2 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Love appears to be himself the most beautiful and best; 
 and to be the cause of such like beautiful things in other 
 beings. lie it is who produces 
 
 Peace amongst men, upon the sea a calm; 
 Stillness on winds, on beds of sorrow sleep. 
 
 It is he who divests us of all feelings of alienation, and 
 fills us with those of friendship ; gracious to the good ; 
 looked up to by the wise; admired by the inhabitants of 
 heaven ; the parent of refinement, of tenderness, of ele- 
 gance, and of grace; in labour, in fear, in wishes, and in 
 discourse, the pilot, the encourager, the assistant, and 
 best protector ; of gods and men, taken altogether, the 
 ornament; a leader the most beautiful and best, in whose 
 train it is the duty of every one to follow, bearing a 
 part in that sweet song which he sings himself when 
 soothing the mind of every one among divinities and 
 
 men. 
 
 '* 
 
 To this love we are restored in sanctification. Per- 
 fect sanctification carries with it perfect love. The 
 death of Christ, the agency of the Holy Spirit, all the 
 means of grace, all the dealings of Providence with the 
 saints, converge on this one point, the forming anew in 
 man of this lost love. As the sanctification of the soul 
 is through the truth, we might therefore suppose, that in 
 giving us the Scriptures, God would give full elucida- 
 tions of this very important principle or affection. This 
 he has been careful to do. He has shown love to be not 
 only important but essential, 1 Cor. xiii. 1 — 3; has 
 
 * Banquet, Stallbaum's ed., p. 15G. 
 
 "Love is the leading passion of the soul; all the rest conform them- 
 selves to it, desire and hope and fear, joy and sorrow." — Leighton. 
 
 "The entire economy of salvation is constructed on the principle of 
 restoring to the world the lost spirit of love."— Harris. 
 
N T R D U C T I N. 11 
 
 given a full and excellent definition of it as the root of 
 our best and holy feelings. 1 Cor. xiii. 4 — 7; has shown 
 its perpetuity, its superiority to knowledge, faith, and 
 hope, and its inseparable connection with the happiness 
 and existence of the soul of man, 1 Cor. xiii. 8 — 13; he 
 has embodied it for our benefit in the living example of 
 Jesus Christ; has shown that God, to whose image we 
 must be restored, is love, 1 John iv. 8; has given the 
 blood of his Son for removing the difficulty in the way 
 of establishing in us this principle; and has sent his 
 Spirit for forming it within us by a new creation, and 
 for opening channels in the heart, through which its 
 influence may reach and control all our other powers. 
 All this has been necessary, because divine love is so 
 perfectly opposite to our natural disposition. Its pre- 
 sence makes us new creatures, gives us new workings of 
 the affections, and prompts to new language from the 
 lips. 
 
 Now, it is not unreasonable to suppose that He who 
 has given us such means for cherishing this heavenly 
 affection would go farther, and add a description of the 
 actual operations of a heart in which this love is found, 
 and would give us language such as these emotions 
 would naturally adopt in using the words of men; so 
 that in giving utterance to this love, the saints should 
 not be left to the uncertainty and danger of adopting 
 such words as human error might suggest; but have 
 readily furnished language of precision and beauty made 
 ready to our hands by the same Spirit who is working 
 within us this affection. Much of the difficulty and 
 uncertainty of metaphysical disquisitions arises from the 
 imperfection of language, and the want of precision in 
 its use. Words are the signs of ideas, and if the lan- 
 guage in which we hear or speak on any subject, be 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 imperfect, our apprehension, as thus got on that subject, 
 must be incorrect. It is important that those who have 
 received a spiritual discernment of the things which are 
 freely given to us of God, should be able to speak of 
 them, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but in 
 words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, 1 Cor. ii. 13, that 
 the Spirit who prompts the emotion should furnish the 
 language in which such emotion may find suitable Utter- 
 ance for showing forth the praise of the Redeemer. This 
 has been done for us in a beautiful manner in the Song 
 of Solomon.* 
 
 * This book is received as canonical for the following reasons. 
 
 1. We have seen that there is every ground for the presumption that 
 the Divine Author of the Scriptures would give us a book on the sub- 
 ject with which this is occupied. 2. There can be no presumption 
 against it from the nature of the book, for there are other parts of 
 Scripture containing the same kind of illustrations. 3. "Ezra wrote, 
 and, we may believe," says Warburton, "acted by the inspiration of 
 the Most High, amid the last blaze indeed, yet in the full lustre of 
 expiring prophecy. And such a man would not have placed any book 
 that was not sacred in the same volume with the law and the pro- 
 phets." 4. The Song of Songs has always been a canonical book in 
 the Jewish church. 5. Our Saviour and his apostles gave their sanc- 
 tion to the canon of the Scriptures received by the Jewish church; in 
 that canon this book had then a place; and therefore, though not 
 quoted by Christ and the apostles, it clearly received their sanction as 
 canonical. 0. In his Antiquities, (viii. 2, 5,) Josephus speaks of 
 Solomon as inspired; and in his work against Apion, gives the number 
 of their canonical books as thirty. nine: the Song is necessary to make 
 up this number. 7. According to Eusebius, (iv. 26,) Melito, Bishop 
 of Sardis, in the second century of the Christian era, went to Palestine 
 for the purpose of ascertaining the sacred books of the Jewish canon, 
 and found the Song of Solomon among the number. 8. Origen in 
 the third century, Jerome, Augustine, and Theodorct in the fifth cen- 
 tury, not to mention various others, all testify to the same point. The 
 testimony of the Christian Church on this Bubject is uniform. This 
 book, illustrating that love which is the very core of the believer's 
 spi ritual life, is therefore a part of the Scriptures given by inspi- 
 ration. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 The services of the Jewish ritual point out the way in 
 which this newness of heart, this divine love may be 
 attained by sinners. The Epistle to the Hebrews, as 
 well as the general language of piety, shows how impos- 
 sible it is to understand the work of Christ and the office 
 of the Holy Spirit, without those typical allusions. The 
 leprosy is the emblem of our spiritual state of nature; 
 the sacrifices show the ground of pardon ; the sacred 
 anointing oil, and the water of the laver, illustrate the 
 excellency of the Holy Spirit, and his cleansing power, 
 in developing those fruits, the first of which is love. In 
 the same mode, by allegorical language and emblems, 
 the Song shows what this affection is as already formed 
 and in operation. The heart on which the work of the 
 Spirit has been felt to the greatest extent can best tell 
 how much at a loss we must be in speaking of spiritual 
 exercises and love to Jesus, were Ave cut off from the lan- 
 guage of this Song. Should the soul be influenced to 
 these feelings by the Holy Spirit, and inclined to use 
 such expressions of devoted love, without having at the 
 same time a knowledge of this book as given by inspira- 
 tion, we would hesitate, would feel ourselves guilty of 
 presumption, and could not answer those who might 
 upbraid us with irreverence or fanaticism. There are 
 persons of undoubted piety, in the early stages of the 
 Christian life, though having long borne the profession, 
 who are as reluctant to believe the reality of the exer- 
 cises of the most advanced Christians, as is the impeni- 
 tent to admit the reality of the first emotions attending a 
 change of heart; the error in both instances arises from 
 unwillingness to believe what has not been personally 
 experienced. If, in consequence of having never felt 
 such deep emotions, persons of certain attainments in 
 piety may object to this book as using language too 
 9* 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 strong, tlic unrenewed heart may, -with the same pro- 
 priety, doubt the reality of all the exercises of religion. 
 Beyond controversy, there are spiritual exercises which 
 can he hotter and more naturally expressed in the lan- 
 gnage of this Song, than in any other portion of the 
 Scriptures. And the Holy Spirit has put into our hands 
 this precious scroll, written full of the characters of love, 
 and whispers to us that we can never do wrong in speak- 
 ing of Jesus in these terms ; and that we may judge of 
 the nature of our love to him by our disposition to speak 
 of him in such language, and by finding in our hearts 
 emotions corresponding with these expressions. 
 
 The several books of the word of God have some par- 
 ticular aim and some leading topic. The Gospels furnish 
 the life of God manifest in flesh; the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews opens the doctrine of atonement as vicarious 
 and possessing infinite value from the divine nature of 
 Him who suffered; Proverbs embody the practical duties 
 of daily life; the Psalms are the pious heart's language 
 of devotion; the Song is its language of love. Devotion 
 being the utterance of the different feelings of the soul in 
 combination and resting with reverence on the majesty 
 and goodness of God, and love being the bond which 
 brings us into union with God and gives all our other 
 powers their proper exercise, we find in the Psalms 
 expressions in which to embody our general feelings of 
 repentance, contrition, trust, veneration and praise; in 
 the Song, the expressions are restricted to the various 
 operations of the one exercise of love. These deepest 
 spiritual emotions of the human soul are here exhibited 
 in a way best adapted to the comprehension and wants of 
 man. In the portraits of Shakspeare we have veins of 
 a profound metaphysics, never surpassed, yet so arrayed 
 in flesh and blood, that we overlook the mental abstrac- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 tions, in the beauty and attractiveness of their guise. 
 And no metaphysical disquisition however laboured, no 
 didactic statement however clear, could give as intelligi- 
 bly as docs this Song, the nature of those exalted exer- 
 cises of the human soul which constitute love to our 
 redeeming Lord. 
 
 Love to Jesus Christ becomes through sanctification, 
 the strongest passion that can take possession of the 
 human heart. Ambition, avarice, and passion may have 
 more of the unnatural vigour attending fever; this carries 
 with it the quiet, enduring energy of health, with suffi- 
 cient power to consume those unhallowed principles, and 
 bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of 
 Jesus. The power of this love cannot be known without 
 being felt; and none but those who have experienced the 
 greatest intensity of it possible on earth, can be capable 
 judges, whether any language used in expressing it may 
 be exaggerated. The love of the pious heart to God 
 being thus strong, and indeed not utterable even by the 
 strongest terms; the love of God towards us is as incom- 
 prehensible as his eternity, omnipresence, or Almighty 
 power. If, therefore, ho condescends to illustrate to our 
 comprehension the nature of this reciprocal love, the 
 Holy Spirit must be expected to draw his comparisons 
 from the strongest and tenderest instances of affection 
 known among men, and use, in so doing, all the colouring 
 that can be supplied even from the domains of poetry. 
 Hence, in this Song, the relation of husband and bride is 
 Belected. Nor is this comparison peculiar to the Song. 
 It is used throughout the New no less than the Old 
 Testament, and at the close of Revelation the Church is 
 spoken of as the bride, the wife of the Lamb. The 
 relation of father and son, imperfect though it be. is 
 nevertheless the best that language can furnish for setting 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 forth the union between the first and second persons of 
 the Trinity; and the relation between husband and wife 
 is the best known to us, for illustrating the union between 
 Jesus and his redeemed. This union must be far more 
 intimate and far more tender than the marriage relation. 
 The attachment of two persons, strangers perhaps to each 
 other previously during almost their whole life, must, 
 even in its greatest purity, ripeness, and strength, fall 
 very far below the love of Jesus for a soul he has formed 
 for the end of loving him; whose constitution has been 
 framed by sanctification of the Holy Ghost, according to 
 what he can love and desires to love; whom he has 
 allured to himself by overpowering manifestations of 
 love ; whom he loved not merely from the first moments 
 of its being, but even before the origin of its being; and 
 who owes its being to his loving it before it was called 
 into existence, even before the world began; over whose 
 course he has watched from its first breath; for whose 
 rescue from misery he did himself submit to death. 
 ]>esides all this, he has the tender and incomprehensilile 
 love of the infinite God. Such love on his part, demands 
 corresponding affection on ours. And how can any 
 earthly comparison reach the measure of this love, when 
 it is such, th'at if any man hate not his father, and 
 mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, 
 yea, and his own life also, he cannot be worthy of the 
 love of his Lord. The comparison of father and son is 
 not more imperfect in expressing the relation of the first 
 and second persons of the Trinity, than is the love of the 
 husband and wife, even when taken in the strongest 
 terms, imperfect in unfolding the love of Christ for his 
 people. This illustration <>f that love is the best we can 
 now have; but like all human comparisons applied to 
 God, falls very i'dv short of the truth. The expressions 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 in the Song, however hyperbolical they may seem to 
 some minds, give therefore nothing more than a shadow 
 of this love. The language appears strong, not because 
 it is exaggerated, but because we are not capable of 
 appreciating the love of God. Now we see the love of 
 Christ through a glass darkly, even in our brightest 
 hours. Angels, who have a better understanding of the 
 subject, see that this language, instead of being exagge- 
 rated, is, as everything heavenly expressed in human 
 language must be, very imperfect. Though the Holy 
 Spirit has selected the most endearing relation on earth, 
 the marriage state, and set forth the reciprocal affections 
 of that relation in the glowing terms, ardent language, 
 and richly coloured imagery of oriental poetry; the whole 
 is not sufficient for enabling us to comprehend, in any 
 other than an indistinct manner, the wondrous love of 
 Christ, which passeth knowledge. 
 
 Beset with the inseparable infirmity of human nature, 
 an over estimate of ourselves, and forgetting that the 
 difficulty in understanding it may lie mainly with us, we 
 act as though capable judges of the extent of God's love, 
 and of the way it should be expressed; and we censure 
 the language of the Holy Spirit as improper and extra- 
 vagant, because we know so little of this love as to be 
 unable to see how incomprehensible its nature.* All the 
 objections brought against the Song, arise from this 
 source. Those who would reject it from the canon of 
 Scripture, or, if retaining it, would pass it over in silence 
 
 * "Would it not then be a sad thing, if, when there is true and 
 Bound reasoning, one should not blame himself and his own want of 
 skill, but Bhonld anxiously transfer the blame from himself to the argu- 
 ments, and thereupon pass the rest of his life in hating and reviling 
 arguments, and so be deprived of the truth and knowledge.' - — J'hito's 
 Fkccdo, 90. 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as unfit for use in the present age, do this, not because it 
 has less direct testimony than the other books in favour 
 of its inspiration, but because its general character is not 
 what they would expect to find in writing coming from 
 God. No part of the Scriptures can show more uninter- 
 ruptedly than this, the concurrent testimony of the Jew- 
 ish and Christian churches. It bears the clearest inter- 
 nal evidence of having been written by the author of 
 Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The affection here illustrated 
 is a leading one in the Christian life; the mode of illus- 
 trating it is the one generally employed in other parts of 
 the word of God, and is indeed the best that could be 
 used for the purpose. All this, certain opposers of the 
 book will admit, but still object to it strenuously, through 
 prejudices arising from what appears to them exagge- 
 rated, if not indelicate expressions. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, and in view of what has been already said 
 concerning the impossibility of doing anything like full 
 justice to the infinite love of God in human language, 
 even adorned with the highest efforts of poetic genius; 
 such persons would do well to reflect that the difficulty 
 lies not in the book, but in themselves ; that the Holy 
 Spirit can use no other than the best possible words; and 
 that all these apparent imperfections might vanish under 
 the influence of a keener spiritual discernment, and a 
 deeper love. Different minds in which sin exerts an 
 influence, have an affinity for different kinds of error, 
 and an opposition to different kinds of truths. As sanc- 
 tification releases us from our native corruptions by 
 degrees, the < Ihristian life is a gradual progress in work- 
 ing the soul loose from the dominion of error. Hence, 
 some men reject the whole WOrd of God; others reject 
 particular books; while some persons who receive as 
 inspired the whole canon of Scripture, can never become 
 
INTRODUCTION. 10 
 
 reconciled to some of its doctrines. A defect in the 
 intellectual or spiritual man is at the root of all this 
 error. The defect is not in the pages of inspiration, but 
 in the human heart.* 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds gives this advice to young artists : 
 " With respect to the pictures that you are to choose for 
 your models, I would have you take those of established 
 reputation, rather than follow your own fancy. If you 
 should not admire them at first, you will, by endeavour- 
 ing to imitate them, find that the world has not been 
 mistaken. The habit of contemplating and brooding 
 over the ideas of great geniuses, till you find yourself 
 warmed by the contact, is the true method of forming an 
 artist-like mind." Thus Dr. Arnold: "The cartoons of 
 Raphael at Hampton Court Palace, the frescoes of the 
 same great painter in the galleries of the Vatican at 
 Rome, the famous statues of the Laocoon and the Apollo 
 Belvidere, and the church of St. Peter at Rome, the 
 most magnificent building perhaps in the world — all alike 
 are generally found to disappoint a person on his first 
 view of them. But let him be sure that they are excel- 
 lent, and that he only wants the knowledge and the taste 
 to appreciate them properly, and every succeeding sight 
 of them will open his eyes more and more, till he learns 
 to admire them, not indeed as much as they deserve, but 
 
 * "The very essence of truth is plainness ami brightness; the dark- 
 ness and crookedness is our own. The wisdom of God created under. 
 Btanding tit and proportionable to truth, the object and end of it, as 
 the eye to the thing visible. If our understanding have a film of 
 ignorance over it, or be blear with gazing on other false glistenings, 
 what is that to truth? If we will but purge with sovereign eye-salve 
 that intellectual ray which God hath planted in us, then we would 
 believe the Scriptures protesting their own plainness and perspicuity, 
 calling to them to be instructed, not only the wise and the learned, but 
 the simple." — Milton, Of Reformation in England, Book I. 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 so much as greatly to enrich and enlarge his own mind, 
 by becoming acquainted with such perfect beauty. So it 
 is with great poets; they must be read often and studied 
 reverently, before an unpractised mind can gain any 
 thing like an adequate notion of their excellence. The 
 reader must be convinced that if he does not fully ad- 
 mire them, it is his fault, and not theirs. Here, as in 
 everything else, humility is the surest path to exalta- 
 tion." These remarks apply with the greatest force to 
 the Scriptures, embodying as they do, in the noblest and 
 most appropriate language, not the conceptions of the 
 human intellect, but truths so unusual, so grand, and so 
 ennobling, that even after having been revealed, they 
 cannot be received by the natural man without a discern- 
 ment imparted by the Spirit. The truths illustrated in 
 this Song, are pre-eminently among those which are 
 spiritually discerned. They are not so much the princi- 
 ples of the doctrine of Christ, as the things which are 
 brought more particularly into view as we go on unto 
 perfection. The nature of the subject, love, makes it 
 belong to the advanced part of the Christian life more 
 especially; and as sanctification refines our spiritual per- 
 ceptions, and by raising us from our degradation of dark- 
 ness towards the condition of saints in light, gives us the 
 ability to appreciate the love of Jesus — we see more and 
 more beauty in this Song; we see in it nothing but 
 beauty: we find our objections against it arose from the 
 corrupt heart rather than from the book; we feel thank- 
 ful that the Author of our faith has provided for us 
 words so rich, so glowing, and so perfect for giving utter- 
 ance to our emotions; and we rejoice to find, under the 
 light of the Holy Ghost, our unsanctified misapprehen- 
 sions giving place to the conviction, that the love of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 Jesus towards us is infinitely greater than is even here 
 expressed. 
 
 The Scriptures contain truths, promises, and illustra- 
 tions, adapted to every variety of circumstances, and to 
 every grade of religious experience. Particular truths 
 can be fully understood, and the power of certain pro- 
 mises can be adequately felt, only by our being brought 
 into situations where the soul is made to feel the need of 
 those truths and those promises. Here are innumerable 
 gradations of truth adapted to the different degrees of 
 the growth of the soul in grace, from the first exercises 
 of conviction to the highest measure of sanctification 
 attainable on earth. A particular development of our 
 spiritual perceptions is requisite for feeling the beauty 
 and power of any one of the portions of truth in this 
 ascending scale; and as the unrenewed man, even with 
 profound learning, fails to apprehend the perfection of 
 holy beauty in passages with which he has a mere scien- 
 tific acquaintance, the Christian, while understanding all 
 the heart can know of the truths adapted to the steps of 
 religious experience through which he has passed, may 
 yet fail to comprehend and appreciate thoroughly, por- 
 tions of holy writ lying in regions of pious exercises 
 whereunto he has not attained. Three things are neces- 
 sary for understanding perfectly the Scriptures: such an 
 acquaintance with them as may be derived from human 
 learning; the illumination of the Holy Spirit; and a 
 position in the circumstances for which those truths were 
 specially given and adapted. The two last are not 
 inferior in importance to the first, and other things being 
 equal, the man who has the advantage not only of the 
 teaching of the Spirit, but of being led by Providence 
 through the circumstances of life in which the want of 
 certain promises is felt, and their comforting power 
 3 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 enjoyed, will be better able than other persons to sec 
 beauty, and richness, and glory, in many domains of 
 gospel truths, which must have lain unobserved by him, 
 had he not been drawn into these green pastures, and 
 beside these still waters, by the Presence that dwelt amid 
 the pillar of fire in the wilderness. 
 
 Hence, this Song is not so much a favourite in the 
 early Btage of the religious life, as at subsequent periods 
 when we have grown in grace. It is the manual of the 
 advanced Christian. When love has been more per- 
 fected by the Spirit, hither do we come for expressions 
 of that love. "When we arc anxious to hear from the 
 lips of Jesus the fulness of his love to us, here do we 
 rejoice to sit and listen. The Jews were not wrong 
 when they represented this book as the holy of holies in 
 the fabric of revelation; for assuredly, the voice here 
 speaking, the living oracles here uttered, can be heard 
 only by those who have been initiated into the mysteries 
 of godliness and dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. 
 Accordingly, this book has been a favourite with eminent 
 Christians. While some persons versed in biblical lore, 
 but ignorant of the alphabet of piety, can see nothing 
 further in this Song than an amatory eclogue ; and 
 others, whose piety we are far from doubting, can repre- 
 sent these words given by inspiration, as "leading us 
 away from pure and spiritual devotion," by "connecting 
 amatory ideas and feelings with a devotional frame of 
 mind;"* there is, and always has been, in the Church, 
 a class of persons of no questionable character for 
 ability, learning, or holiness, who esteem this book 
 among the choicest portions of the word of God. "Were 
 we to speak of the partiality of Lady Guyon for this 
 book, some might reply, she was a mystic. Whether 
 
 * Stuart on the old Testament, p. 874. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 mystic or not, far better would it be for the world, were 
 
 the tone of her deep, fervent, energetic piety, more 
 
 common. But who will bring the charge of mysticism 
 
 against Leighton, Owen, Romaine, President Edwards, 
 
 and Chalmers. That most profound of metaphysician-, 
 
 the immortal author of the treatise on the Freedom of 
 
 the Will, was peculiarly fond of the book of Canticles, 
 
 and read and meditated much upon it. "The whole 
 
 book of Canticles," says he, "used to be pleasant to me, 
 
 and I used to be much in reading it about that time, and 
 
 found from time to time an inward sweetness that would 
 
 carry me away in my contemplations." The great 
 
 leader of the Free Church of Scotland in her exodus, 
 
 speaking of Dr. Pye Smith's asserting the non-inspiration 
 
 of the Song, says: "It would bespeak not only a more 
 
 pious but a more philosophic docility, to leave that book 
 
 in undisturbed possession of the place which it now 
 
 enjoys, where it might minister, as in ages heretofore, to 
 
 the saintly and seraphic contemplations of the advanced 
 
 Christian, who discovers that in this poem a greater 
 
 than Solomon is here, whose name to him is as ointment 
 
 poured forth, and who, while he luxuriates with spiritual 
 
 satisfaction over pages that the world has unhallowed, 
 
 breathes of the ethereal purity of the third heavens, as 
 
 well as their ethereal fervour." Owen says: "Then may 
 
 a man judge himself to have somewhat profited in the 
 
 experience of a mystery of a blessed intercourse and 
 
 communion with Christ, when the expressions of love in 
 
 that holy Dialogue, the Song, do give light and life unto 
 
 his mind, and efficaciously communicate unto him an 
 
 experience of their power. But because these things 
 
 are little understood by many, the book itself is much 
 
 neglected, if not despised." In the words of the saintly 
 
 McChcyne, "No book furnishes a better test than does 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Song, of the depth of a man's Christianity. If his 
 religion be in his head only, a dry form of doctrines ; or 
 if it hath place merely in his fancy, like Pliable in Pil- 
 grim's Progress, he will see nothing here to attract him. 
 But if his religion have a hold on his heart, this will be 
 a favourite portion of the word of God." Beza, the 
 friend and associate of Calvin, writes : " Those instructed 
 and advanced in the divine life, the writer of this Song 
 does, as it were, carry away with him beyond the regions 
 of earth to the contemplation of heavenly things — as 
 though being now citizens of heaven, they might knock 
 for admission at its gates." Butherford's Letters, so 
 rich in pious affection and heavenly unction, take their 
 colouring from the Song ; and McCheyne, who found in 
 these "Letters" daily delight, though dying at the age of 
 nine and twenty, had scarcely left himself a single text of 
 the Song on which he had not already discoursed. 
 
 When, therefore, this book is admitted to be inspired, 
 and to have been sanctioned and loved by the ablest and 
 most saintly men of even the present age, those who 
 make these concessions, yet hold the book in disesteem, 
 would act with humility and wisdom by feeling that the 
 difficulty in appreciating it lies with themselves. Much 
 of what is censured as exceptionable, disappears from the 
 Song when read in the original, rather than in our 
 translation, and properly understood. There are argu- 
 ments on this point which we might urge, but on which 
 we do not rely. It might be stated that the Song is 
 in strict accordance with the nature of oriental poetry, 
 and that many things which appear strange to us are 
 but the peculiarities of this oriental costume. The 
 Hebrew modes of thinking and writing, were different 
 from ours ; though not more so than the habits of thought 
 and diction yet found in the literature of eastern nations. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 Ancient fable mentions a person who possessed the power 
 of turning everything lie touched into gold ; some minds 
 possess the faculty of turning everything they touch into 
 intellectual gold; others have the characteristic of turn- 
 ing everything into impurity; even the grace of God into 
 lasciviousness, and his truth into a lie. Much of the 
 alleged indelicacy of this book, is the fault not of the 
 author but of the translators, as may be seen by entering 
 into the spirit of the original, or by reading any good 
 translation, like that of Ilosenmiiller, Dopke, or John 
 Mason Good. 
 
 But on the points here mentioned we shall not in- 
 sist. We take the higher and nobler ground, which we 
 trust the subsequent exposition will show to be truth, that 
 that there is nothing in this Song contrary to delicacy of 
 taste and purity of thought. Even what are called by 
 some persons the indelicate passages of holy writ, are far 
 from being found in this Song. We venture to assert, 
 that the parts looked on with most distrust, are capable 
 of a natural interpretation incapable of offending the 
 most sensitive modesty, and tending directly to our edi- 
 fication in holiness. With the same reasonable spirit 
 which is essential for enjoying the finest works of unin- 
 spired genius, let us feel that this Song is everything it 
 has been represented by an innumerable cloud of wit- 
 nesses ; that Ave are not at liberty to reject or neglect a 
 book so manifestly of Divine origin; that if the Song has 
 been ridiculed by the corrupt heart, or misused to pur- 
 poses of evil, the same has happened with almost every 
 other portion of the Bible ; that all Scripture is given by 
 inspiration of God, and is profitable ; and that by pa- 
 tient continuance as learners at the feet of Him who is 
 meek and lowly in heart, we shall become sensible of its 
 beauties, and filled with admiring love. 
 3* 
 
26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As the enemy of souls contests every step of our pro- 
 gress from error into the full light of truth, failing to 
 make us reject this book as uninspired, or as improper 
 for the use of the pure in heart, he will be equally satis- 
 fied in depriving us of its benefit, by leading to a wrong 
 interpretation. Much of the dislike to this Song, even 
 by Christians, has arisen from the erroneous method pur- 
 sued in the exposition, by some of the most pious com- 
 mentators. Even a pious man may go astray, through 
 a false theory of interpretation. There is no book in 
 the Bible further removed than this Song, beyond the 
 capability of an impious man, even of great learning, for 
 giving a proper exposition. There are portions of Scrip- 
 ture containing an unadorned statement of doctrine or 
 facts, which a scholar who takes them up as he would an 
 uninspired classic, may interpret fairly according to the 
 literal meaning. Such a man may be called a commen- 
 tator on the Scriptures, he can hardly be called an 
 expounder of them. It is a dangerous error, and one 
 into which the unsanctified heart is continually liable to 
 fall, that learning is the one essential thing in biblical 
 interpretation. The importance in this book of a well 
 furnished head, may cause us to undervalue the aid 
 necessary from a pious heart. Bringing to the subject 
 of religion our modes of thinking on common topics, we 
 forget that the Scriptures have difficulties which require 
 spiritual discernment, no less than philological acumen, 
 and that a man may "understand all mysteries and all 
 knowledge," while destitute of the love which is the key 
 to the solution of its deepest and most edifying problems. 
 The mere philologist and antiquary perform an important 
 work in the business of exposition. It is nothing more 
 than the work of hewing the wood and drawing the 
 water. In religious worship, the tendency of the heart, 
 
I M I It D U C T I N. '11 
 
 under its corrupt inclinations, is to exalt the ceremonial 
 above the spiritual ; and in devotion to the study of the 
 Scriptures, we are in danger of exalting the scientific 
 above the spiritual; of resting in the means, rather than 
 in the end; in learned investigation, rather than in the 
 spiritual apprehension by the heart, of the truths to 
 •which those investigations lead. The enemy of holiness 
 and parent of error cares not in what -way he succeeds in 
 keeping us from understanding the truth; whether by 
 inducing us to neglect the essential aids of learning and 
 study, under the fanatical impression that the Spirit will 
 give all needed illumination without the use of means, or 
 by leading us to rest in these scientific investigations 
 alone, without the indispensable assistance of the Holy 
 Spirit. Here, especially, must the well furnished head 
 be found in alliance with a heart controlled by grace. 
 There is no portion of the Scriptures which reijuires 
 more than does this Song, a sanctified state of the affec- 
 tions in him who undertakes the interpretation. With- 
 out this, the marrow of the book cannot be relished or 
 detected. Here, especially, are things which must be 
 not so much philologically, as spiritually discerned; and 
 which, to the natural mind, however learned, without the 
 teaching of the Spirit, must appear as absolute foolish- 
 ness. To such we may say, in the language of Herbert: 
 
 "Slight imt these few -words; 
 If truly Baid, they may take part 
 
 Among the best in art. 
 The fineness which a hymn or psalm affords, 
 Is, when the soul unto the lines accords." 
 
 In this Song, truth is taught, not by didactic state- 
 ments, but by figurative illustrations. As the doctrines 
 relating to the person and work of Jesus are not only 
 set forth literally in the New Testament, but are illustra- 
 
28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ted by the emblems of the Jewish service ; so the recipro- 
 cal love of Christ and his people, unfolded by plain state- 
 ment in other portions of the Bible, is here elucidated by 
 poetical imagery and comparisons. The types are cor- 
 rectly interpreted by a knowledge of the doctrines of the 
 New Testament, while those doctrines are in turn made 
 clear only by intelligent acquaintance with the meaning 
 of the types. And the love of the Redeemer and the re- 
 deemed, as taught by himself ami his inspired disciples, is 
 illustrated in the emblematical language of this Song; 
 while, at the same time, the key to a knowledge of these 
 instructive figures is found in acquaintance with the 
 divine love here so beautifully elucidated. A single 
 emblem or illustration, standing out by itself, is called a 
 type or figure of things to come. "When the emblems 
 are multiplied, and the figure continued to some length, 
 the whole becomes an allegory. Such is the nature of 
 this book. It is an allegorical illustration of the ope- 
 rations of love in the bosom of the saint and of the 
 Redeemer. 
 
 Lowth defines an allegory to be " a figure, which, 
 under the literal sense of the words, conceals a foreign 
 or a distant meaning." Dividing allegories into three 
 kinds, the continued metaphor, the parabolic allegory, 
 and the mystical or historic allegory, he supposes this 
 Song to belong to the third class, which conveys under 
 the veil of some historical narrative a sacred and more 
 elevated meaning. According to him, the parabolic alle- 
 gory " consists of a continued narration of fictitious 
 events, applied by way of simile to the illustration of 
 some important truth." The difference between the his- 
 toric and the parabolic allegory lies in this fact: in the 
 latter, the incidents are partly or wholly fictitious; in the 
 former they are entirely real. "We differ from him, in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 holding this book to belong to the parabolic, rather than 
 the historic allegory. Fairbairn's definition is good:* 
 "An allegory is a narrative, either expressly feigned for 
 the purpose, or, if describing facts which really took 
 place, describing them only for the purpose of represent- 
 ing certain higher truths or principles than the narrative 
 in its immediate representation, whether real or fictitious, 
 could possibly have taught. The immediate representa- 
 tion, therefore, is cither invented, or at least used, as a 
 mere cover for the higher sense, which may refer to 
 things ever so remote from those primarily denoted, if 
 only the corresponding relations are preserved." The 
 inquiry then arises — Receiving this book as a part of the 
 canon, what reasons have we for giving it an allegorical 
 interpretation? While proceeding to mention these, we 
 consider the point as incontestably settled, that no por- 
 tion of the Scriptures has a better right than this Song 
 to a place among the pages of inspiration. Taking this 
 book as canonical, are we to go no further than the 
 literal import, or are we to give it an allegorical mean- 
 ing? We expound it allegorically for the following 
 reasons. 
 
 1. The reception of this book into the canon cannot be 
 accounted for but on the ground that it represents alle- 
 gorically the reciprocal love of Christ and his people. 
 There must have been some reason for taking it into the 
 canon. It could not have been for singing of carnal love : 
 this the whole aim of the Scriptures opposes. And when 
 such men as Umbreit, Amnion, and Yelthusen maintain 
 that it consists of amatory epistles by Solomon, and 
 Michaelis supposes it was placed here to guard against 
 the opinions of those who hold conjugal love inconsistent 
 with the love of God — they forget that a house divided 
 * Fairbairn's Typology, vol. i. p. 10. 
 
30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 against itself cannot stand; that as the design of the 
 Scriptures is to effect the purity of heart necessary for 
 seeing God, they cannot by any possibility sing of illicit 
 love, or even the praises of conjugal affection. "Impos- 
 sible! impossible!" says Aben Ezra, the celebrated rabbi, 
 "that the Song of songs should treat of carnal love; 
 everything is expressed in it in the "way of allegory. 
 Were not the book of the highest dignity, it could never 
 have been incorporated among the sacred writings. Nor 
 on this point is there any controversy." To all such 
 objections, the answer of Rosenmiiller is sufficient: "The 
 universal genius and method of the sacred books exclude 
 the idea of admitting among them songs about the ordi- 
 nary love of man and woman." The marriage of Solomon 
 was not a thing of such importance, as to warrant the 
 Jews in placing among the sacred Scriptures a song 
 restricted to this topic only, and uninspired. Nothing 
 "was admitted into the canon that is not inspired, and that 
 has not a direct bearing on the spiritual improvement of 
 man — that is not profitable for instruction in righteous- 
 ness. 2 Tim. iii. 16. 
 
 2. The allegorical interpretation is in perfect accord- 
 ance with the spirit of oriental poetry. "The Song of 
 songs is an oriental poem ; and this allegoric mode of 
 describing the sacred union subsisting between mankind 
 at large, or an individual and pious soul, and the great 
 Creator, is common to almost all eastern poets, from the 
 earliest down to the present age. It is impossible, without 
 such an esoteric interpretation, to understand many of 
 the passages of the chaste and virtuous Sadi, or the more 
 impassioned Hafiz; and the Turkish commentators, Feri- 
 dun, Sudi, and Seid Ali, following the example of the 
 ancient Hushangis, have uniformly thus interpreted them, 
 as they have also the writings of all the Sufi poets; 
 
INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 though in many instances they have unquestionably pur- 
 sued their mystic meaning to an extravagant length. 
 The Leili and Mejnun of the Persians may be contem- 
 plated as the royal bridegroom and his beloved spouse of 
 the Hebrews. The former have furnished a subject for a 
 variety of the bards of Iran. But whether, in the instance 
 before us, Solomon intended, or not, to introduce the 
 mystic allegory here assumed, it is incontrovertible that 
 precisely such an allegory exists in the Mesnavi, or poem 
 upon the loves of the same illustrious personages, Leili 
 and Mejnun, by the elegant Nezami, who, as well as 
 Hafiz, in the opinion of Sir William Jones, always appears 
 to apply the name of Leili to the omnipresent Spirit of 
 God. This emblematic mysticism in the bards of Iran, is 
 quite as conspicuous in those of India; and the Vedantis, 
 or Hindu commentators, have been as eager as the Sufis 
 themselves to attribute such a double meaning to their 
 compositions. Of all the poems of the East, by far the 
 nearest in subject, style, and imagery, to the Song of 
 Solomon, are the Gitagovinda,* or Songs of Jayadeva. 
 The subject of the inimitable Jayadeva is the loves of 
 Crishna and Radha, or the reciprocal attraction between 
 the divine goodness and the human soul. His style, like 
 that of the Hebrew bard, is in the highest degree flowery; 
 his poem consists of distinct songs or idyls, some of which 
 are soliloquies, and others dialogues; but all of them, like 
 the Song of songs, confined to the same theme, and in 
 some measure progressive in its history."f Major Scott 
 "Waring says: "The Persians insist that we should give 
 them the credit of understanding their own language; 
 that all the odes of their celebrated poets are mystical, 
 
 * A translation of this may be found in Adam Clark's Commentary 
 
 on the Song, and in Sir William Jones's Works. 
 
 f Song of songs, or Sacred Idyls, by John Mason Good, p. _i>. 
 
32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and breathe a fervent spirit of adoration towards the 
 Supreme Being. They maintain that the poets, being 
 generally Soofees, profess eager desire without carnal 
 affection, and circulate the cup, but no material goblet, 
 since all is spiritual to them, all is mystery within mys- 
 tery. In fact, they regard the poetry as of the same 
 nature as Solomon's Song; and, indeed, the fact that so 
 large a proportion of the poetry of Western Asia, that is, 
 of Arabia and Persia, is employed in the expression of 
 religious emotions mystically, under the same image that 
 we find there, is a very strong argument for the general 
 opinion that the Canticles form a mystical, or allegorical, 
 or religious poem, the details of which, although they 
 seem to us hard to be understood, are perfectly intelligi- 
 ble, in a sacred sense, to the Persian and Arabian of the 
 present day, as they were to the ancient Hebrew." 
 
 In his essay on the mystical poetry of the Persians 
 and Hindus, Sir William Jones says all that need be said 
 on this subject: "A figurative mode of expressing the 
 fervour of devotion, or the ardent love of created spirits 
 towards their beneficent Creator, has prevailed from time 
 immemorial in Asia: particularly among the Persian 
 thcists, both ancient Ilushangis and modern Sufis. This 
 singular species of poetry consists almost wholly of a 
 mystical religious allegory, though it seems, on a tran- 
 sient view, to contain only the sentiments of a wild and 
 voluptuous libertinism. Passages in Barrow on the love 
 of God, and the mysterious union of the soul with 
 him, border on quietism and enthusiastic devotion; and 
 differ only from the mystical theology of the Sufis and 
 Yogis, as the flowers and fruits of Europe differ in Bcent 
 and flavour from those of Asia; or as European differs 
 from Asiatic eloquence; the same strain, in poetical 
 measure, would rise up to the odes of Spencer on divine 
 
INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 love and beauty; and in a higher key, with richer embel- 
 lishments, to the songs of Hafiz and Jayadeva, the rap- 
 tures of the Masnavi, and the mysteries of the Bhagavat. 
 Many zealous admirers of Ilafiz insist that by wine he 
 invariably means devotion, by kisses and embraces the 
 raptures of piety. The poet himself gives a colour in 
 many passages to such an interpretation; and without it 
 we can hardly conceive that his poems, or those of his 
 numerous imitators, would be tolerated in a Musselman 
 country, especially at Constantinople, where they are 
 venerated as divine compositions."* The Sufis have a 
 regular lexicon of large size, the express design of which 
 is to give the allegorical meaning of the words most fre- 
 quently used in this kind of poetry — as in the following 
 specimens : wine means devotion ; sleep, meditation ; per- 
 fume, religious hope; kiss, pious rapture; ebriety, reli- 
 gious ardour; lips, mysteries of God; beauty, perfections 
 of God; tresses, glory of God. 
 
 As the Song is an oriental production, the allegorical 
 interpretation is the natural one to a person acquainted 
 with the spirit of oriental literature. To such, the literal 
 interpretation is that which appears far-fetched, vapid, 
 and unnatural. 
 
 3. The names employed to designate the two important 
 persons in this Song, prove it to be an allegory. Sholo- 
 moh and Shulamith differ from each other only as Cor- 
 nelius differs from Cornelia. They are in as perfect 
 keeping with the tenor of the allegory as John Banyan's 
 Christian and Christiana are with the scope of the Pil- 
 grim's Progress. According to prophecy, Jesus was to 
 be called the Prince of Peace; and angels heralded his 
 coming. as "peace on earth." The names here adopted 
 
 * Sir W. Jones's essay on " The Mystical Poetry of the Persians 
 ami Hindus." — Works, vol. i. p. 440. 
 
•34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are in accordance with such a character — Shelomoh mean- 
 ing Prince of peace; and Shulamith, the bride of Shelo- 
 moh, the Princess of peace. 
 
 4. There are many things in the Song which cannot 
 be explained by any knowledge we have of Hebrew cus- 
 toms ; nor indeed in any way, without taking the book as 
 an allegory, rather than a personal narrative, without 
 reference to facts as existing, and solely to illustrate 
 truth. Such departure from rigid facts and customs is 
 allowable in an allegory. In reading history, our object 
 is to have reproduced before the mind a picture of 
 events as they really existed: in an allegory we look for 
 nothing further than the illustration of truth ; and there- 
 fore he who weaves it, is not bound, in bringing together 
 the incidents, to follow any order of nature or of facts; 
 but is at liberty to combine incidents in any way that 
 imagination, guided by reason, sees conducive to the end 
 in view. "By what other means," says Warburton, 
 "except by revelation, can an allegorical writing be 
 known to be allegorical, but by circumstances in it which 
 cannot be reconciled to the story or fable that serves 
 both for a cover and vehicle to the moral? "When the 
 allegory is of some length, it can scarce be otherwise but 
 that some circumstances in it must be varied from the 
 fact to adapt it to the moral."* In such compositions as 
 the vision of Mirza or of Theodore, the history of Seged 
 or the Tilgrim's Progress, the adventures of Sir Guyon 
 or of Faustus, we do not expect an adherence to facts, or 
 even to probabilities. "The poet is universally allowed 
 to place his personages, even when strictly historical, in 
 circumstances which we know could not have been those 
 that actually surrrounded them."f And we must notice 
 
 * Warburton's Divine Legation, book iii. 274. 
 f Edinbprgh Review, No. 181, p. 109. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 35 
 
 the difference between an allegory and a type. Types 
 are incidents, personages, or objects, appointed under the 
 Old Dispensation as illustration of truths to be thereafter 
 fully revealed. The meaning conveyed by them is meta- 
 phorical, but the incidents in which that meaning is em- 
 bodied, are not to any degree imaginary, but are through- 
 out real. While an allegory is a continued metaphor, the 
 materials composing it may be drawn indiscriminately 
 from the domains of fact or of fiction. This Song is not 
 a typical, but an allegorical representation of the love of 
 Christ and his Church, a love that existed and needed 
 elucidation under the Old Economy, no less than under 
 the New. Hence many things are found in it that are a 
 deviation from Jewish customs, and from human facts; 
 and are here written down for setting in a clear light this 
 wondrous love. It will be sufficient now to refer to chap, 
 iii. 2, chap. v. 7, and chap. iii. 10, "paved with love." 
 Therefore it is that Rosenmiiller says, on chap. iii. 4, 
 J line satis patet aA/jjoyr/.w^ Juec inteUigenda esse. And 
 it is for obviating the difficulty arising from the disagree- 
 ment of circumstances here mentioned, with Jewish anti- 
 quities, that some commentators have resorted to the sup- 
 position that a part of the incidents here recorded, occur- 
 red only in a dream. When the book is viewed as an 
 allegory, all these difficulties disappear. 
 
 5. The obvious connection of this Song with the forty- 
 fifth and seventy-second psalms, is another claim for 
 giving it an allegorical meaning. The thirty-seventh 
 psalm bears a very strong resemblance to the book of 
 Proverbs, and the thirty-ninth psalm to the book of Job; 
 as the Song does to the psalms just mentioned. There 
 arc certainly trilogies to be found in the book of Psalms, 
 though we would run no parallel whatever between them 
 and the trilogy of the Greek drama. Thus, according to 
 
36 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Ilengstenberg, psalms cviii. ex. and cxi. form a trilogy. 
 The same is true of the Song of Solomon, and psalm xlv. 
 and lxxii. They are all the parts of a whole, and draw 
 their imagery from the court and reign of Solomon. 
 Psalm lxxii. represents the nature of the reign of the 
 Prince of Peace as righteous, universal, gracious, and 
 enduring; psalm xlv. sets forth, under the marriage of a 
 noble, beauteous, conquering prince with a foreign prin- 
 cess, the relation of the Messiah to his chosen people ; the 
 Song of Solomon illustrates under a comparison drawn 
 from the mutual affection of such a king and queen, 
 doubtless the same referred to in psalm xlv. — the recipro- 
 cal love of Jesus and his redeemed. The oldest inter- 
 preters, both Jewish and Christian, give these two psalms 
 no other than an allegorical interpretation. Considering, 
 therefore, their identity with this book, in imagery, spirit, 
 and aim, all correct principles of exposition require that 
 we give to the Song, equally with them, an allegorical 
 interpretation. 
 
 6. The Scriptures apply the spirit of this allegory to 
 Christ and the Church. This is not indeed done within 
 the narrow compass of the book called the Song. It is 
 enough that such application be found in the limits of 
 the Bible. The clew to the meaning of the parable of 
 the sower was not given at the time it was spoken, but 
 afterwards, when the disciples had been made to feel 
 themselves unable to see through the mystery, and had 
 come to Jesus for an explanation. The interpretation of 
 this parable and of others, is as much detached from the 
 parable as the grounds for explaining this Song are 
 detached from the Song. The clew to the whole system 
 of the Jewish ritual is not found till we come to the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews. The solution of many of the 
 prophecies given in allegorical dress, is to be got, not 
 
INTRODUCTION. 37 
 
 from any hints appended as to the specific facts pointed 
 ont thereby, but only from the general meaning of such 
 symbols in prophetical language, and from the future 
 history of the world, viewed in comparison with such 
 meaning. It is not a thing of the least moment, that the 
 clew to a prophecy, parable, or allegory, be given in the 
 book containing it, or by the man who gave it utterance. 
 The material point is, that it be spoken by the Holy 
 Spirit, and be found within the word of God. The 
 various books of inspiration are merely different chapters 
 in the one great volume of revelation. The whole has 
 one Author, the divine Spirit of Wisdom, and whatever 
 truths are there found, derive their authority, "not of 
 men, neither by man," but from the presence of the 
 Holy Ghost. And according to the laws of poetic com- 
 position, we could not expect to find in Canticles itself, 
 an indication that the book is an allegory, and that such 
 is its meaning. The poem is more finished and more 
 pleasant as a study, in its present form, than it could be 
 with the thread of the allegory continually broken by 
 interpolations concerning the meaning. Is it necessary, 
 or in good taste, to write on an allegorical picture or 
 piece of statuary, what it means. The finest allegorical 
 poems, and the finest allegorical passages of poems not 
 wholly allegorical, are framed on the same principle with 
 this Song — of leaving much to be done by the reader 
 towards threading out the literal meaning. Every piece 
 of this kind is a species of enigma : the solution of this is 
 to be sought at the lips of the Holy Spirit ; he will lay 
 open the veins of wisdom here contained, to those who 
 search for them as for hid treasures. 
 
 Tin- question therefore is, Do we find in the Scriptures 
 any clew to the meaning of an allegory like this? any 
 
 thing leading us to suppose that such language may be 
 
 4* 
 
38 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 applied to the illustration of the love of Christ and his 
 people? On this point we have full and satisfactory 
 instructions. In many passages, the relation of husband 
 and wife is used for setting forth the love and the rela- 
 . tions of the Redeemer and the redeemed. This is, in 
 truth, the leading and standing comparison on this sub- 
 ject, throughout the whole Scriptures. For establishing 
 the inspiration of a book, there is no necessity for it to be 
 quoted by Christ and his Apostles, or for its illustrations 
 to receive such sanction. The Song is not the only book 
 in the Old Testament where this comparison is used. 
 It is the leading and standing comparison on this subject. 
 And how can there be a doubt concerning its meaning, 
 after such language as this : "I have likened the daugh- 
 ter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman." Jer. vi. 2. 
 After such frequent repetition of it through the compass 
 of revelation, one of the last things in the Scriptures is 
 the setting of this allegory beyond all question, by call- 
 ing the Church "the bride, the wife of the Lamb," Rev. 
 xxi. 9; as though it was said, The bride alluded to in 
 those many passages as the wife of the Lamb, is the 
 redeemed Church. And how could we expect anything 
 more satisfactory than the words of our Saviour, in Matt, 
 xxii. 1 — 10, and xxv. 1 — 13? There the meaning is 
 made clear by the restriction, "The kingdom of heaven 
 is like unto a certain king which made a marriage." 
 
 Here, therefore, we have a volume which the Holy 
 Spirit has given to man by inspiration, consisting of 
 different chapters, called by us books, published at inter- 
 vals, through a succession of ages, according to his aviso 
 arrangements in unfolding the plan of salvation. One of 
 these chapters is occupied as an elucidation of the love of 
 Christ and his people, by means of a comparison taken 
 from the love of husband and wife. In perfect keeping 
 
INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 with the laws of poetry, this allegory is not marred by 
 the introduction of sentences giving a clew to its literal 
 meaning. It lies in the casket of revelation, an exquisite 
 gem, engraved with emblematical characters, with no- 
 thing literal thereon to break the consistency of their 
 beauty. But in other parts of this volume, its author, 
 the Holy Spirit, has very distinctly stated that the bride 
 there introduced is the redeemed Church, the sanctified 
 soul; and that "her Maker is her husband, the Lord of 
 Hosts is his name." 
 
 7. The Scriptures do more than merely apply the 
 spirit of this allegory to Christ and his Church; they set 
 forth the union of Christ and his Church, as a great fact 
 on which the relation of marriage is founded, for being 
 the illustration of this union to the comprehension of 
 men. In Eph. v. 22 — 33, the apostle takes the truth of 
 the oneness of Jesus and his people, and makes it the 
 basis of an argument for illustrating and enforcing the 
 duties of the marriage relation. These were very much 
 violated in the heathen world, as they are even at the 
 present day; they lie at the foundation of everything 
 good and stable among men, and therefore required to be 
 set in a very clear light, and on a very strong basis. 
 This has been done. What, therefore, is that basis? 
 It is nothing less than the union existing between Christ 
 and his people, and the likeness of the relation between 
 husband and wife to this union. He does not go from the 
 marriage relation to the union of Christ and the Church, 
 as though the former was the first and better estab- 
 lished principle; but he comes down from the union of 
 Jesus and his people, to the marriage relation, inas- 
 much as that union was the first and best recognized 
 fact, and the ground of the reciprocal duties of the mar- 
 riage state. 
 
40 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 While man was formed in the image of God, and thus 
 hears in his constitution certain endowments which are 
 the likeness of certain attributes of the divine character; 
 in his social relation, the union between husband and 
 wife was intended to be an image of the relation existing 
 between Jesus and the redeemed; just as the relation of 
 father and son is an illustration of the union between two 
 persons of the Trinity. In the purpose of God, this 
 union existed before the creation of man and the institu- 
 tion of the marriage relation. It was an original picture 
 lodged in the mind of God, of a great and glorious fact 
 thereafter to be developed, which it was necessary to 
 unfold to man, and of which the marriage relation was 
 a transcript. God could doubtless have made other 
 arrangements for representing to us this spiritual rela- 
 tion; it is sufficient for us to know that marriage has 
 been shaped with reference to this end. Love in the 
 human soul is the image of love in God, and the love of 
 husband and wife is the image of that love of God in 
 Christ exercised towards his people. This is not an 
 uncertain figment of the fancy, but truth resting on the 
 deliberate purpose of God the Creator. 
 
 The apostle brings out distinctly several points on 
 this topic; Christ is the head of the Church; — the 
 Church is his body; — he is the Saviour of this body, by 
 and through him it was created anew from its state of 
 spiritual death; — this salvation or new creation is the 
 result of his love, and is a strong exhibition of that love ; 
 — it required him to leave heaven and suffer great sacri- 
 fices; — it prompts him to foster and cherish the Church 
 by sanctification ; — this is in order that the Church 
 may be without spot or wrinkle, perfectly lovely; — the 
 Church, as a consequence, is subject to Christ. He 
 states these truths as the foundation of the follow ing 
 
INTRODUCTION. 41 
 
 duties: As Christ is the head of the Church, so the hus- 
 band is the head of the wife ; as the Church is the body 
 of Christ, so the wife is really one with the husband, as 
 truly as the body of an individual is one with the person ; 
 — as the Church is formed from Christ, so the wife was 
 formed from the body of the husband; — as this forming 
 of the Church is the result of his love, or for the purpose 
 of gratifying that love, so the existence of the marriage 
 relation calls into exercise the strongest affection of 
 man; — as it required Jesus to leave the glory of the 
 Father and heaven, so must a man leave father and 
 mother and cleave to his wife;— as Christ fosters and 
 cherishes the Church, so should a man foster and cherish 
 his wife, even as his own body; — as this was done in 
 order that the Church might be made more lovely, 
 husbands should so cherish their wives as to bear with 
 infirmities;— as the Church is subject to Christ, so 
 must the wife be subject to the husband. According to 
 the plain purport of this passage, this union is the 
 appointed means for illustrating to us what is the nature 
 of the relation between Christ and his people ; and the 
 character of that relation cannot be understood in this 
 world without studying this union. Therefore, in apply- 
 ing to Christ and his Church the language of the Song, 
 we are only using in words prepared for us by the Holy 
 Spirit the illustrations which the Creator established on 
 this subject when the world began. 
 
 8. Man was made in the image of God— that is, his 
 nature or soul has been filled up with endowments which 
 represent certain characteristics of the invisible God. 
 These faculties are a living portrait of divine attributes, 
 far from being perfect, yet correct as far as they go, and 
 sufficient for our present wants until we are brought into 
 a more perfect state and a clear vision of the divine 
 
42 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 glory. That such a state is before us, is evident from 
 the promises given us of seeing God. Matt. v. 8; 
 1 Cor. xii. 12. "When, therefore, the Scriptures speak of 
 God as hearing, seeing, loving, hating, &c, they do not 
 use illustrations caught up at random, as when Ave use a 
 common simile; but they are adopting as representations 
 of the divine attributes things which were established for 
 this purpose by the Creator. The furniture of the taber- 
 nacle, and the Jewish ritual were not more definitely 
 appointed by God as representations of divine things, 
 than was the fabric of the human soul. And when God 
 said, "Let us make man in our image," he meant, "Let 
 us now form a creature who shall be a portrait, shall 
 combine a likeness, of certain of our intellectual and 
 moral perfections." Of those thus implanted in the soul, 
 a leading one was love. "God is love." This affection 
 was inlaid in the human heart for representing to us the 
 love of God. When we ask of our Creator what is the 
 character of his love to the saints, he replies, that in 
 forming us in his image, he placed in the soul love as the 
 image of his love; and that by studying the workings of 
 this affection in the tenderest and dearest relations, we 
 Avill see what he intended to be the standing represent- 
 ation of his love to us. Love to God is the gem ; and the 
 frame-work of the soul with its curious workmanship and 
 costly finishing, is the setting wherein this brilliant is 
 inlaid for reflecting the splendour of the divine love. 
 This living temple of the human soul, which once stood 
 in perfection, has been laid in ruins by sin; and the 
 Bculpture bearing the image of the divine attributes has 
 been, lying, like the alabaster slabs and statues of Nine- 
 veh, dilapidated, defaced, and hidden Prom new. Some 
 of the truths originally written on the chambers of the 
 soul, but so sadly lost, have been brought to light again 
 
INTRODUCTION. 48 
 
 and written in the pages of Scripture — thence to be 
 transferred by the Holy Spirit to the fleshly tablet of the 
 heart. The love of God, engraved so gloriously on the 
 soul at creation, but now so completely lost, has been 
 rescued from ruins, and is set before us in this alabaster 
 tablet of the Song, by the same original image, the love 
 of the human heart — dim and broken indeed, yet the 
 best means possible for illustrating the love of God to us, 
 in our present state. By going down into the ruins of 
 the soul, and exhuming the table on which is wrought in 
 bold relief the affection of husband and wife, we shall 
 find — though in lines broken and decayed — what our 
 Creator has appointed as the image to us of the love 
 of God. 
 
 9. Hence, the principle of allegorical instruction is 
 found to be wrought into the very nature of man. The 
 human soul is itself a living allegory: the truths it 
 embodies and represents are truths relating to the 
 character of God.* We are living emblems of the divine 
 perfections. We were formed for being illustrations of 
 the attributes of our invisible, spiritual Creator. Accord- 
 ingly, when genius would make abstract truths tangible, 
 intelligible, and attractive, resort is at once had to 
 emblems, comparisons, and allegories. These constitute, 
 to a great extent, the embellishments of poetry. Some 
 of the greatest works of genius are pure allegories. 
 This principle pervades the whole Pagan Mythology of 
 all countries and all ages. Even facts have there 
 received an allegorical shape for embalming them in the 
 memory and making them interesting to the curiosity of 
 future ages. "The ancients," says Bryant, ''loved to 
 
 * "The system of the world may be called an allegorical fiction in 
 which there is an outward bodily appearance wherein a meaning lies 
 concealed, as the soul within the body." — Sattusi on the goda. 
 
44 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 wrap up everything in mystery and fable."* Which- 
 ever of the two leading theories concerning the origin of 
 Pagan idolatry be adopted, the principle here stated will 
 appear true. The beautiful fable of Cupid and Psychef 
 has the same aim with the Song of Solomon — the illus- 
 tration of divine love towards the human soul. The 
 interval between the two allegories is indeed as great as 
 the difference between a state of nature and a state of 
 grace — reason unaided and revelation — the glimmerings 
 of fancy and the effulgence of the Holy Ghost; — they 
 both however point to the one end — the human soul as 
 the object of heavenly love. The pleasure and profit had 
 from poetical personification is allied with this, and has 
 its foundation in the nature of man. Many of the 
 brightest gems of poetry are abstract truths and things 
 personified; and when thus personified, are seen to 
 assume a garb kindred to that of allegory. 
 
 Since these principles are thus woven by nature into 
 our being, God acts according to those laAvs in revealing 
 to us his love through an allegorical guise. The love of 
 God to us and our love to him, lie at the foundation of 
 our eternal happiness. Whatever other knowledge may 
 be possessed, we can never be happy without a practical 
 acquaintance with these. There is, therefore, need that 
 they be unfolded to us in the plainest manner, and 
 according to the laws of our being. Those laws re- 
 quire this to be done by allegory, such as is found in the 
 Song. 
 
 10. As LeightoD says, "The experimental knowledge 
 of Christ's loveliness and the believer's love, is the best 
 
 * Analysis of Ancient Mythology, vol. ii. 98; Faber's Hovjb Mo- 
 saiccB, ii. 231. 
 
 f Apuleii Metfimorph. lib. iv. See also the remarks in Maurice's 
 l!i<li:ui Antiquities, vol. v. 655. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 45 
 
 commentary on the whole strain of this allegorical 
 Song."* The laying up in the sacred Scriptures, of 
 truths and books that can be comprehended only by 
 developments made in the after-course of the Christian 
 life, was intended to be one of the classes of cumulative 
 proofs of the divine origin of our faith. Different minds 
 require different kinds of proof; and the same mind, 
 passing through various states, as from unbelief to 
 mature holiness, may be more affected at various stages 
 by evidence which, though less satisfactory at a former 
 period, becomes more powerful than any of the pre- 
 ceding, when the heart has been attempered to its 
 nature. The external evidence is more adapted to the 
 unrenewed mind; the internal, requiring a spiritual dis- 
 cernment, is more convincing to the pious heart. There 
 are miracles for the irreligious; prophecies for ages as 
 they pass, and prophecies for the most remote ages; 
 truths revealed by the Holy Spirit, for different stages of 
 growth in grace; and there is this book for the later 
 periods of the Christian life. And when we find its pas- 
 sages opening their meaning in the light of our religious 
 experience, just as prophecies are seen fulfilling in the 
 operation of events in the world, we have another class of 
 proofs for the divinity of our faith and of the Scriptures. 
 Fairbairn lavs down the principle, "that in determining 
 the existence and import of particular types, we must be 
 guided, not so much by any knoicledge jiossessed, or sup- 
 posed to be possessed, by the ancient worsltippers concern- 
 inij their prospective fulfilment, as from the light furnished 
 by their realization in tin- great facts and revelations of 
 the gospel.""\ According to this, the design and meaning 
 of such passages of Scripture as this Song, is to be fully 
 
 * Sermon on Canticles i. 3. f Typology, vol. i., p. 118. 
 
46 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ascertained, not by the impenitent, nor by renewed 
 persons who have not reached the advancement in piety 
 for which they were intended; but by those who have 
 attained that stage of spiritual light and growth in grace 
 for which they were specially designed. The Redeemer 
 hes made provision for continually, as it were, feeding 
 our confidence in the divine origin of these words of 
 promise by which our spirits live. Fresh proofs, rich, 
 convincing, and varied, are found along the whole of our 
 way to heaven. Without forgetting those which are 
 behind, or ceasing to feel their force, we find our per- 
 suasion on this point unceasingly gathering strength from 
 new evidence coming into view by our advance, and by 
 the brightening dawn. Particular doctrines, which were 
 foolishness to us in our unrenewed condition, and stum- 
 bling-blocks on our first coming to Christ, do, as the day 
 breaks over our soul, not only lose their repulsiveness, 
 but, like the headlands rising afar in the ocean, from 
 which the shades of night and mists of morning are roll- 
 ing away, tower towards heaven with the beauty of 
 Carmel, and the majesty of mountains forming the found- 
 ation of the city of the living God. The same principle 
 is true concerning books of Scripture, no less than of 
 the truths contained in those books. 
 
 The cure for unbelief is not argument, but the action of 
 the Holy Spirit. To the same source must we look for 
 the removal of unbelieving prejudices, the remnants of 
 native corruption, that linger in the breast of the Chris- 
 tian, against certain truths and portions of the Scrip- 
 tures. Every objection to this book has been often 
 answered; but after conviction has been carried to the 
 understanding, the old repugnance will remain, till grace 
 has suitably illumined the heart. In the eyes of many 
 Avho are Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile, this Song 
 
INTRODUCTION. 47 
 
 is in as bad repute as was Nazareth of old ; and when 
 they say, Can any good thing come out of this book? 
 with the feelings of Philip, we reply, Come and see. 
 Here we have found Him of whom Moses in the law and 
 the prophets did write; and as that ancient saint saw in 
 Jesus of Nazareth more than the son of Joseph, even the 
 Messiah — so does the divine illumination cause us to see 
 in this portrait of the Beloved, a greater than Solomon, 
 even him in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily. 
 
 When, therefore, we are asked what proof we have 
 that this Song is to be interpreted allegorically, our an- 
 swer is, that among other proofs we have this, viz. There 
 are periods in the Christian life when the soul enlight- 
 ened by the Holy Spirit, sees a deep, instructive, and 
 glorious meaning in the Song; when the truth thus found 
 here, proves to be the very manna of the heart, the 
 quintessence of spiritual nourishment, with less of the 
 tang of earth and more of the flavour of heaven; 
 and the meaning thus got, and thus delightful, is an 
 allegorical meaning. The persons who see nothing but 
 beauty, instructiveness, and consolation in this book — a 
 class who have pressed into the foreground of holy 
 attainments on earth, and contemplate it from that point 
 of view — are of one mind, in giving it an allegorical 
 interpretation. They testify, that thus understood, the 
 Song has heavenly attractions, but that explained in any 
 other way, it has nothing spiritually beautiful or desi- 
 rable. In the treatment of persons under disease, there 
 are diiferent medicines, stimulants, and food required for 
 the various steps of their recovery; and it would be 
 preposterous for any invalid to assert that because a 
 particular thing might not be adapted to his infirmity or 
 stage of disease, it could not be useful to any other 
 
48 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 person, or even to himself at some future time. He must 
 be no less than a madman, who could go over the chest 
 that had been filled with restoratives by an able physi- 
 cian, and break every bottle which might not suit his own 
 fancy. The sick man is not capable of judging for 
 himself, much less for others. The Bible is a depository 
 of medicinal truths for our enfeebled souls and suffering 
 race, in all ages, and during the whole course of our life. 
 There is virtue in every book, and in every verse. They 
 have been filled by the hand of the heavenly Physician, 
 for meeting our spiritual wants in every possible variety 
 of circumstances. Let us beware how we call in question 
 his wisdom — how we throw away books filled with rich 
 infusion of spiritual doctrines for the maladies of man. 
 A healthy person could judge whether the medicine or 
 the chest had evidence of having come from the physician 
 said to have prepared it ; the invalid alone could find in 
 the medicine the virtue bespeaking its healing power 
 and fitness for his case. And while any Christian, or 
 even an irreligious man, may judge of the external 
 evidence for this book, the advanced believer only can 
 pronounce properly on the divine virtue herein contained. 
 When the recovering patient finds any medicine bene- 
 fiting him by its use at any particular stage of his 
 restoration, he has the best proof that it was intended 
 for his cure, and was placed there by wisdom. His sober 
 experience is Avorth all the conjectural theories of specu- 
 lative philosophers. 
 
 For the foregoing reasons, the Song must have an 
 allegorical interpretation. Hence we must not expect to 
 find here any statement of doctrine in a didactic form. 
 AVe must here search for truth, not in the form in which 
 it appears in the Epistle to the Romans, but in the guise 
 it assumes in the figures of the Jewish ritual. Beautiful 
 
INTRODUCTION. 49 
 
 and instructive though the services of the law are to our- 
 selves, how dim was the apprehension Israel had of their 
 significance; and how great is the flood of light poured 
 on them from the knowledge imparted by God manifest 
 in flesh. As mere poetry, this book has transcendent 
 beauty; but when viewed in the light of knowledge of 
 the glorious love of God, shed abroad in our hearts by 
 the Holy Ghost, it assumes a splendour and instructive- 
 ness unimagined and unsurpassed. 
 
 In the interpretation of this Song, there are therefore 
 two separate lines of investigation, bearing upon each 
 other and converging, though perfectly distinct. There 
 is the study of the language, and the study of the 
 allegorical meaning. After knowing all that can be 
 known of the literal import, and the customs here 
 referred to, there remains the more important task of 
 determining what arc the spiritual truths intended to be 
 conveyed to us in this figurative language. The mean- 
 ing wrapped up in the folds of the allegory is the main 
 object of search.* Speaking of the time and learning 
 thrown away on the inquiry, whether the bride was a 
 daughter of the king of Egypt or a native of Palestine, 
 Kitto says, "We formerly thought this question one 
 of much interest; but latterly this and other external 
 points connected with it, have appeared to us in greatly 
 reduced importance, in our search after the inner mean- 
 ing, which under this aspect the book presents, the 
 nutritive kernel which this outer husk contains, and 
 to which it is adapted. "f Hence the commentators who 
 have gone no further than an elucidation of the literal 
 
 * The instruction conveyed by the allegory or parable, demands the 
 expositor's ohief attention; and the circumstances, just so far as they 
 lead to the right interpretation, and no further." — Scott on Cant. i. -. 
 
 f Daily Bible Illustrations, on the Song, p. 382. 
 5* 
 
50 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 meaning, even by all the learning that may here be 
 brought to bear, cannot be considered as having ex- 
 pounded this scripture. The meaning of the allegory yet 
 remains untouched; and to the scholar -who has gono 
 thus far, this meaning may be as perfectly unknown as is 
 the narrative of the facts there contained, to him who 
 does not understand the language. Biblical learning 
 furnishes the key to a knowledge of the book as a poem ; 
 there is another element necessary for giving us a clew 
 to the spiritual meaning embodied in this mystical 
 poetry. In the words of the eminent scholar just men- 
 tioned, "It is only those who are greatly experienced in 
 the mysteries of man's inner life, and whose souls have 
 been tried by passing through many fires, that can truly 
 feel all that this book means, and, feeling, are enabled to 
 understand it."* The mere literal meaning of the 
 prophecy of Isaiah was intelligible to the Ethiopian 
 eunuch ; and yet he said, How can I understand, except 
 some man should guide me? Of whom speaketh the 
 prophet thus ? of himself, or of some other man ? Acts 
 viii. 31. In this Song particularly, a knowledge of the 
 letter gives nothing like the meaning of the book, with- 
 out a knowledge of the spirit. The words of Jesus are 
 equally applicable here — "It is the Spirit that quicken- 
 eth, the flesh profitcth nothing: the words that I speak 
 unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John vi. 63. 
 This is the key to the whole interpretation of the Song. 
 The meek will he teach his way, and he will show them 
 his covenant. The secret of the Lord is with them that 
 fear him ; and as without a parable spake our Lord not 
 unto the multitudes, but when they were alone he ex- 
 pounded all things to his disciples, Mark iv. 34; so must 
 
 * Kitto's Daily Bible Readings, on the Song, p. 390. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 51 
 
 we still, with meekness and godly fear, peek to be alone 
 with him in prayer, that we may ask of him the meaning 
 of the parables contained in the written word, and re- 
 ceive the Holy Ghost for teaching us all tilings, and 
 guiding us into all truth. A fundamental inquiry in the 
 Song is, Of whom speaketh Solomon this? of himself, or 
 of some other pei'son? And never can we understand 
 what we here read, until after diligent study and humble 
 meditation we have the Holy Spirit to begin at the same 
 scripture and preach unto us Jesus. He must open our 
 eyes before we can behold the wondrous things contained 
 in this portion of God's law. Whatever our knowledge 
 of the word of God, certain it is that our hearts will 
 never burn within us, till Jesus himself open to us the 
 Scriptures. None other can expound to us in all this 
 Son"; the things concernimz; himself. 
 
 The necessity of the influence of the Holy Spirit in 
 interpreting divine truth, is taught by Peter, who savs, 
 we must receive it as a first principle, "that no pro- 
 phecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation."* 
 Showing in this passage he had not followed cunningly 
 devised fables, in making known the power and coming 
 of our Lord ; he points out two distinct grounds of con- 
 firmation for the truth of the gospel. The first is exter- 
 nal, and depends on the testimony of the witnesses who 
 were with him in the holy mount of transfiguration, and 
 were there eye-witnesses of the magnificent glory, and 
 heard the voice of the Father from heaven in attestation 
 of the divinity of the Son. The second is internal — the 
 persuasion which every true believer has of the divine 
 origin of the Scriptures, from what he sees and feels of 
 the power of these truths, under the influence of the 
 Holy Spirit. This demonstration, this inward witness of 
 
 * 2 Tctcr i. 20. 
 
52 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Spirit, is a safer reliance than a voice from heaven; 
 is a more sure word of prophecy, of divine instruction re- 
 garding the truth of our faith, an interpretation or expres- 
 sion of the divine will on which we may more certainly 
 rely. Without at all undervaluing the external evidence, 
 the miracles wrought in confirmation of Christianity, the 
 believer finds, as he grows in grace, that his conviction 
 of the inexpressible excellence of his faith, is felt more 
 and more distinctly to rest, not on the testimony adduced 
 from men, so much as on the words which the Holy 
 Ghost speaketh, through the Scriptures, to his sanctified 
 heart. Divine truth kindled to a flame by the Spirit is 
 within his soul as a light shining in a dismal place. To 
 this word, a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his 
 path, he does well to take heed, until the shadows of 
 error and sin flee away, until the day dawn and the day- 
 star arise in our hearts. But in receiving the advantage 
 and pleasure had from the Scriptures, thus spiritually 
 discerned, we must start with this essential truth, must 
 know this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture, no 
 portion of divine instruction there revealed, is of any 
 private interpretation;* that is, of an interpretation that 
 may be reached by the exercise of any powers peculiar 
 to the unaided human mind by nature ; for as prophecy, 
 or the teachings contained in the Scriptures, were not 
 discovered and uttered by the unassisted intellect of man, 
 but were spoken by men borne along by the Holy Ghost, 
 
 * icf/if, quod animo acquitivimut et postidemut: That of which one is 
 himself the owner, possessor, and producer. Our exposition of this 
 passage agrees with that of the Romanists, in holding this word to 
 mean, that Scripture cannot be interpreted by man without aid of 
 some kind. According to the fundamental error of their system, in 
 putting the Church in the place of Christ, they hold that this needed 
 assistance must be got from the Church, we say that it can be furnished 
 only by the Holy Spirit. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 53 
 
 those truths cannot be understood and interpreted by us, 
 without the enlightening influences of the same Spirit. 
 
 The parable of the sower derives its great interest 
 from its instructiveness through the exposition of our 
 Lord. This application of those simple facts to the illus- 
 tration of spiritual things, invests them with great beauty. 
 Touching as is the parable of the prodigal son, how 
 greatly is the attractiveness of the narrative heightened, 
 when viewed as illustrating the joy there is in heaven 
 over one sinner that repenteth. The types, parables, and 
 allegories of Scripture, rich in literary materials, are like 
 the curiously wrought lanterns of oriental countries, 
 which do not reveal their beauty of transparency and 
 emblems till lighted up within: — these portions of truth, 
 though a light unto our feet and a lantern unto our path, 
 reveal their excellence, splendour, and power to guide, 
 only when, through their divine emblems, streams on us 
 the inner light of the Holy Ghost and the Lamb. An 
 exposition of the sower or of the prodigal son, that might 
 go no farther than an elucidation of the literal meaning, 
 without searching for the golden vein of spiritual instruc- 
 tion there concealed, might be of use as materials ready 
 to the hand of some other person, but would fail to give 
 an idea of the mind of the Spirit. In all our duties, 
 human agency must be blended with divine co-operation. 
 In raising the fruits of the earth, there is a duty for the 
 husbandman, and there is an influence that can be sup- 
 plied only by the Creator ; in spiritual things Paul may 
 plant and Apollos water, but God gives the increase; and 
 in interpreting the Scriptures, in this Song more espe- 
 cially than any other part of them, there is a work to be 
 done by the mind, in gathering all that can lie furnished 
 from the stores of biblical learning, and besides this, 
 there must be the aid of the Holy Ghost for rendering 
 
54 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 our efforts perfect and successful. Here, learning can 
 go no farther than the threshold; the key by -which the 
 mysteries within are reached, must be furnished by the 
 Spirit of God. To this subject, apply the words of one 
 of the poems of Gregory Nazianzen, when speaking of 
 the difference between rhetorical display and true spirit- 
 ual interpretation of the Scriptures : 
 
 " All our discourse is two-fold, 
 Words and meaning. Those are like the outward 
 Raiment; this, like the body within that is clothed. 
 But we take not much account of the external 
 How it fares, but very much of the inward. 
 For our salvation resides in the meaning, 
 So as it be declared, and made manifest." 
 
 Like the tabernacle, beautiful in the eyes of the spec- 
 tator, with its sides overlaid with gold, the Song, unsur- 
 passed in poetic excellence, may fix the admiration of 
 even an unrenewed mind; but when the soul is admitted 
 into the recesses of its interior meaning, and the hand of 
 the Holy Spirit lifts the mysterious veil, we gaze with 
 the trepidation of holy affection on something more 
 entrancing than the ark of the covenant, the cherubim, 
 and the human form seen amid the cloud of glory. 
 Fanaticism and ignorance may undervalue the indispen- 
 sable and fundamental assistance supplied by learning, 
 but the mind best instructed by the Holy Spirit will be 
 best able to use these aids aright, without unduly exalt- 
 ing them or treating them with neglect. 
 
 The error into which many pious commentators have 
 fallen, seems to have sprung mainly from the attempt to 
 make too much out of the allegory. In expounding the 
 types, some of the most learned and pious among the old 
 divines are •greatly at fault by the extreme to which they 
 have pushed their principle of interpretation. They 
 
INTRODUCTION. 55 
 
 appear almost to think, that everything must be a type, 
 in which there can be found even a remote comparison ; 
 and in those things which are unmistakenly types, seek 
 for numerous resemblances evidently not intended by 
 the Holy Spirit. As might be expected, this principle 
 has been carried beyond all reasonable bounds in their 
 efforts to expound this Song. A controlling impression 
 with them seems to be, that everything must be drawn 
 from this figurative language, that can be devised by a 
 lively fancy in alliance with a spiritual heart. The duty 
 of an interpreter of Scripture is to search for the mind 
 of the Spirit. The facts and personages, the services 
 and figures of the word of God, may receive applications 
 well nigh innumerable by way of accommodation and 
 illustration; but these uses of sacred truth, however 
 pleasing and instructive, should not be the leading aim 
 of a commentator. Much of what is intended for ex- 
 position of the types, viewed as such an exposition, is 
 perfectly worthless ; but viewed as an ingenious improve- 
 ment of Scripture, is edifying and attractive. The use 
 of a fact, or allusion, as a mere literary embellishment 
 or illustration, may be allowable and profitable, when 
 the same fact put forth, in the same way, authoritatively 
 as a type, would be a perversion of Scripture. And 
 when the analogies of the real types are carried too far, 
 we are perverting the Scriptures. In every parable and 
 allegory there is some leading principle running through 
 the illustration, and for this principle we must search, 
 without expecting to find similitudes in the minor inci- 
 dents introduced as necessary appendages to the narra- 
 tive. There can be no better models for us to follow 
 in interpreting allegorical scriptures, than the exposition 
 given by our Saviour of the parables of the sower and 
 of the tares of the field. 
 
56 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Perhaps nothing has done more to bring this book 
 into disrepute than the well-meant but ill-judged efforts 
 of pious men to draw some hidden meaning from almost 
 every word. They could hardly have been more minute 
 in dissecting and weighing the didactic portions of the 
 Epistles. Their expositions are often so overloaded 
 with ingenious appropriations of these figures, as to 
 crowd out of sight the one leading truth designed to be 
 taught by the Spirit. Even with the best trained ima- 
 gination this principle must draw the expositor into 
 offences against good taste. Every word of God is 
 pure — 
 
 "A critic on the sacred book should be 
 Candid and learn'd, dispassionate and free: 
 Whatever shocks, or gives the least offence 
 To virtue, delicacy, truth, or sense — 
 Try the criterion — 'tis a faithful guide, 
 Nor has, nor can have Scripture on its side."* 
 
 The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in 
 a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Nothing can 
 therefore be clearer than the truth, that any interpreta- 
 tion of this inspired allegory, which is in the least con- 
 trary to delicacy and correctness of taste, cannot be the 
 expression of its meaning. The inspiration of this book 
 is established beyond all cavil; as the word of God it 
 must therefore be very pure. The word of God must 
 be consistent with its author, and consistent with itself. 
 In consequence of the peculiar manner in which truth 
 is taught by allegory, any interpretation of this book 
 must be wrong, which does not harmonize with the rot 
 of the Scriptures. Here we must keep in mind the 
 direction, "Prophecy according to the proportion of 
 
 * Cowper's Progress of Error. 
 
INTRODUCTION. . r >7 
 
 faith," understanding it, as we do, to mean, Interpret 
 the language of revelation, the will of God, according 
 to the standard of things believed as gathered from the 
 general tenor of revelation. By adhering to this prin- 
 ciple, exercising good taste, and not trying to draw too 
 much from the figures, while seeking humbly the guid- 
 ance of the Holy Spirit, we shall find every anticipated 
 indelicacy to vanish. 
 
 The words of chap. i. ver. 13, may be taken as an 
 example. Unto those who believe, Jesus is precious, his 
 presence is delightful. We are asked the question, How 
 precious, how agreeable is the society of our Lord? 
 What are the sensations of pleasure like, that we have in 
 his presence? We reply, What are the sensations of 
 delight you experience from a cluster of camphire blooms, 
 or from the fragrance of a bundle of myrrh, so rich that 
 you love to have it dwelling in your bosom? Now the 
 delights shed abroad in our soul by the presence of Jesus 
 are more pleasant than the exquisite delights thus re- 
 ceived through the bodily senses. Such is the language 
 necessary from our present position in the flesh, that Ave 
 must use such comparisons, or say nothing concerning 
 the loveliness of the presence of Jesus. We imagine that 
 the passages describing the pleasure had by our Lord in 
 contemplating the redeemed soul, chap. iv. 1 — 5; vi. 
 4 — 7; vii. 1 — 5; and the illustration of the beauty and 
 loveliness of Christ, chap. v. 10 — 1G, were not intended 
 to be dissected so minutely as they have been by some 
 commentators. Like the description of the New Jeru- 
 salem, these are representations of spiritual things by 
 clusters of the richest emblems. The elegance and force 
 of such a passage is lost by taking it to pieces, and 
 turning the fragments in every imaginable direction, for 
 finding in them various shades and veins of allegory. It 
 6 
 
58 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 is as unreasonable as tearing a rose to pieces, and ex- 
 amining it leaf by leaf for getting at its beauty; or as 
 breaking portions from a piece of statuary, instead of 
 surveying it as constituting a finished whole. The use 
 to which the emblems in such a description may be 
 applied for illustrating truth by way of accommodation, 
 is one thing; the leading intention had by the Holy 
 Spirit in inditing the passage, is another. The latter is 
 what we must seek for in the interpretation of the book. 
 The appearance of our Lord to John at Patmos, was for 
 representing emblematically the offices now sustained by 
 him, as ascended, in behalf of his persecuted people. 
 Hence, the garment down to the foot, and the girdle 
 about the breast, show him to be still a merciful and 
 gracious High Priest; his head and hair, white like wool, 
 bespeak the eternity of the Son of God, manifest in the 
 human form of Jesus of Nazareth; his eyes as a flame 
 of fire, denote his omniscience. The exhibition of him 
 given in the Song, chap. v. 10 — 16, is confined to the 
 single idea of illustrating his loveliness. When a beautiful 
 object is contemplated, the sight raises within the mind 
 a train of pleasing sensations. The more these sensa- 
 tions are multiplied, the more intense must be our 
 pleasure. The sight of the Lord Jesus as contemplated 
 by faith, calls up within the soul clusters of ideas of the 
 greatest beauty, and sensations of the greatest pleasure. 
 No one thing will illustrate his loveliness ; and therefore 
 many objects of beauty are brought together for showing, 
 by their diversity, the variety of shades of beauty there 
 is in Christ. The white and ruddy colour; the must 
 fine gold and raven locks : the eyes of doves by rivers of 
 water; the bed of spices and sweet flowers; the gold 
 rings set with beryl; the white ivory overlaid with 
 sapphires; the pillars of marble set on sockets of fine 
 
INTRODUCTION. 59 
 
 gold; the majesty of Lebanon with the excellency of its 
 cedars; — cadi one of these objects separately pours into 
 the mind a rich stream of beautiful ideas; each reference 
 or emblem forms by itself a pleasing study; all these 
 objects combined and viewed at once, if this were pos- 
 sible, would flood and overpower the heart with beauty. 
 Now, when the inquiry is made, What is the beauty of 
 Christ, of which so much is heard? the Holy Spirit says. 
 View these different objects, each of which is so beauti- 
 ful; gather into your mind all the ideas of splendour 
 they shadow forth; contemplate them collectively; and 
 then, with your mind thus dazzled and drunk with 
 beauty, think that the single view of Christ alone raises 
 in the soul an overflowing flood of beautiful ideas, visions, 
 and conceptions, so deep, so rich, so captivating, that all 
 these things, with all their resplendent beauty, can only 
 serve unitedly, as one great and glorious, but compara- 
 tively dim, emblem for representing the beauty of Jesus. 
 The essential thing the mind must search for in this alle- 
 gorical description, is the loveliness of our Lord. 
 
 The blessed Saviour thinks of us far more constantly, 
 and far more fervently, than we, even in hours of deepest 
 emotion, think of him; he contemplates us with far more 
 steadiness and intense interest than we can contemplate 
 him. How could he illustrate to us the beauty he sees 
 in the saints, the work of his hands, as well as the pur- 
 chase of his blood? How tell the pleasure he has in 
 dwelling in our souls in process of sanctification? Only 
 by illustrations from the beauties seen around us in the 
 world. The eyes of doves; the flock of goats on Mount 
 Gilead; the flock of sheep coming up from the washing; 
 the thread of scarlet; the piece of pomegranate; the 
 majestic tower of David, whereon hung a thousand 
 shields; the twin roes feeding among the lilies; the city 
 
00 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Tirzah, situated beautifully on Judah's hills; Jerusalem 
 on Mount Zion, magnificent for situation ; the jewels 
 wrought by the hands of a cunning workman; the heap 
 of wheat set about with lilies; the tower of ivory; the 
 limpid fish-pools in Heshbon; the tower of Lebanon, which 
 looketh towards Damascus; Carmel crowned with verdure 
 and flowers; the stately palm-trees, with clusters of 
 grapes; the fairness of the moon; the clearness of the 
 sun; the grandeur of an army with streaming banners — 
 all these things are beautiful in themselves, and on any 
 one of them we can dwell long, with great pleasure; 
 what is the measure of the beauty pouring into our mind 
 from them all combined? Yet the Lord Jesus says, 
 by his Spirit, that all the pleasure we can have from 
 contemplating all these objects, is nothing more than a 
 shadow of the pleasure he has in dwelling on the char- 
 acter and ripening graces of his saints. It is no part of 
 our duty, to let the imagination so carry us away from 
 the direct line of interpretation as to inquire, what 
 there is in the renewed soul answering to the teeth in 
 the body, and why believers "have not such teeth as 
 lions and tigers, but such as sheep have; nor tusks like 
 dogs and ravenous beasts, but even shorn:"* — as to 
 inquire what is meant by the head of Jesus, and in what 
 respects that head resembles the most fine gold. In 
 these, and in all the other particulars of the descriptions 
 here given, the material point of the comparison lies in 
 the beauty of the impression made, and the pleasure 
 thereby excited. The spiritual beauty of Christ could not 
 be set forth intelligibly to our dull and carnal compre- 
 hension, otherwise than by reference to the beauty of the 
 human form; the same is true concerning the beauty of 
 the renovated soul of man. And it may assuredly encour- 
 
 * Durham, on chap. iv. 2. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 61 
 
 age and gratify us to know, that the soul of the believer 
 excites in the bosom of Jesus, and the loveliness of 
 Christ excites in the heart of the saint, deeper emotions 
 of beauty and delight than can spring from the contem- 
 plation of all the objects of splendour mentioned in these 
 descriptions, combined in one dazzling group.* 
 
 * The theory we have adopted in explaining these passages, does away 
 with tin.- necessity of resorting to the supposition adopted by Harmer, 
 Kitto, and others, that in these descriptions of the bride and the beloved, 
 the parts of the description which seem not in accordance with our ideas 
 of delicacy, are to be taken as portraying the dress on such parts of 
 the body. We are however obliged to think that the divine poet had 
 in his mind, in these sketches, the bride and bridegroom in their bridal 
 dress. 1. There can be no reason why some parts of the body should 
 be spoken of as ornamented and others not, especially as those thus 
 mentioned are not the parts which delicacy requires to be kept from 
 view. See chapter i. 10, and chapter vii. 1, the feet with sandals. 
 2. The mention of some, especially under such circumstances, war- 
 rants us in concluding that the intention of the poet was, the 
 
 others should be nndersl 1 as thus ornamented. 3. The situation in 
 
 which the parties are placed leads us to look for this, inasmuch as 
 there was no time when they were more carefully adorned, and wore 
 more costly ornaments than at the celebration of nuptials. 4. There 
 is no reason for believing that any parts of the body, beyond those 
 uncovered according to ordinary usage, ate intended here to be repre- 
 sented as unprotected by clothing; nor is anything gained by portray- 
 ing them as destitute of the usual drapery. 5. Other portions of the 
 Scriptures that speak of the redeemed and the Redeemer glorified, 
 portray them in costume correspondingly appropriate and beautiful. 
 Rev. i. 13; vii. 9; xix. 8. G. This idea is still further confirmed by 
 the fact that these descriptions of the bride and the beloved are in 
 public, and in circumstances where the remarks must refer to impres- 
 sions of beauty, heightened by the beauty of a bridal dress. In chap. 
 v. 9 — 16, the words of the spouse are addressed to the daughters of 
 Jerusalem in the street; and in chap. vi. and vii. the language is 
 evidently uttered in the garden among the virgins. See chap. vi. 2, in 
 connection with chap. v. 8, 9. 7. The idea that some parts of the body 
 are here represented as naked, has arisen entirely from misapprehen- 
 sion of the meaning of some passages, such as chap. v. 14. and vii. 2. 
 8. The end in view here, is to set forth the beauty of the two parties; 
 6* 
 
62 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Truth lies amid the beauties of allegory as the clusters 
 of grapes hang among the branches and leaves of the 
 vine; and as the good husbandman, instead of cutting 
 down the vine and manufacturing it into various shapes 
 according to his peculiar fancy, will gather the fruit and 
 leave the branches untouched — we are using allegories 
 aright, only when gathering carefully the clusters of 
 truth hid in their rich and luxuriant folds. This Song is 
 a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a Avell — a 
 choice vine brought out of heaven and planted by the 
 spiritual brook of Eshcol, the waters of life along which 
 are found those trees of life, the diversified books of the 
 Scriptures. He who gave us this spiritual vine, growing 
 so luxuriantly over the fountain of the waters of the 
 Holy Spirit, for our refreshment in this valley of Baca 
 on our w r eary pilgrimage to the heavenly Zion, intended 
 that we should gather the fruit, not that we should break 
 and destroy the branches; and that with leaf that never 
 withers, these fruits, however frequently gathered by 
 passing pilgrims, should still bud forth in fresh and 
 ripening clusters, beautiful and reviving to each suc- 
 cessive generation even to the cud of the world. Much 
 is said about the indelicacy of this poem ; but these 
 objections have arisen less from an examination of the 
 book on its own merits, than from looking at the fancies 
 of commentators. 
 
 Much of the learning gathered around this subject con- 
 elegance of dress, so far from interfering with this splendour of 
 appearance, was the direct means for increasing its effect; everything 
 offensive to our ideas of what is beautiful mast 1><> excluded ; and 
 when it is said such and such parts of the body are thus and thus 
 beautiful, there is no necessity for our stopping and inquiring whether 
 such beauty arises from this or the other ornaments adorning it, or 
 whether there be indeed any ornament, unless it be specifically men- 
 tioned. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 63 
 
 tributes little, if at all, to that spirital understanding of 
 the Song which is the ultimate end of its inspiration. 
 The history of the interpretation of the Scriptures gives 
 a pitiable exhibition of the workings of error in the 
 human mind. There is hardly a passage without a 
 variety of interpretations, opinions, and fancies engrafted 
 on it ; of these notions this book has received no ordinary 
 share. So far from being able to discover divine truth 
 by its unaided powers, how does the mind pervert these 
 truths when revealed, and weave from them the most 
 silly dreams. Ewald has truly remarked: "In connec- 
 tion with this little book we could make an instructive 
 history of interpretation and false expositions, as a re- 
 presentation of the erroneous methods of dark exposition 
 of the Scripture and the mistakes of human ingenuity ; 
 but also at the same time, as an encouraging proof how, 
 from the light of impartial criticism, errors must finally 
 vanish, which had fur an indefinite period prevailed." 
 It does not lie within the compass of the present intro- 
 duction, to give a history of the opinions on this book, or 
 even the names of its many commentators. Rosenmiiller 
 gives a catalogue of one hundred and twenty-five who 
 have written commentaries on it; and there are many 
 not not included in his list. The general opinion of the 
 Jewish Church may perhaps be gathered from the Chal- 
 dee paraphrase, though this is possibly not earlier than 
 the sixth century after Christ. It is accessible to 
 English readers in the early edition of Gill's Com- 
 mentary on the Song, and in the Commentary of Dr. 
 Adam Clark; and represents the Song as illustrating the 
 love of God towards his people in leading them through 
 the wilderness into Caanan. Some of the Jewish writers 
 advanced the opinion afterwards adopted by Rosen- 
 miiller, that the spouse is the wisdom which Solomon 
 
64 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 asked and received from heaven. This was the sentiment 
 of Abarbcnel in the sixteenth century. Origen, whose 
 love of allegory this book perfectly suited, wrote ten 
 books of commentaries on the Song, of which two homi- 
 lies translated from the Greek are found in Latin in the 
 works of Jerome; and four books of commentaries in the 
 version of Rufinus, the contemporary of Jerome, by whom 
 several of the works of Origen were translated. Jerome 
 says, "Origen having in his other writings exceeded all 
 others, has in his work on the Song of songs, exceeded 
 himself. In this work, extended to great length, he has 
 discoursed so grandly and lucidly, that he seems to have 
 fulfilled that which is written, ' The king has brought me 
 into his chambers.' " He gives it an allegorical interpre- 
 tation as showing the communion of the soul of the saint 
 or the church with the Redeemer. Epiphanius, Philo, 
 Theodoret, Cassiodorus, and most of the fathers, follow in 
 the track of Origen. Gregory of Nyssa wrote fifteen homi- 
 lies containing an allegorical exposition to the end of the 
 sixth chapter. Augustin says, " The Song of songs is a 
 spiritual delight of holy minds, in the nuptial union of 
 that king and queen of the heavenly kingdom, which is 
 Christ and the Church. But this pleasure is wrapped up 
 in folds of allegory that it may be more ardently desired 
 and may be unfolded with greater delight."* Theodoret 
 states that Cyprian, Eusebius, and others nearer the time 
 of the apostles, recognized this as a spiritual book, 
 though, a' at present, there were some who denied it. 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia opposed the allegorical inter- 
 pretation, and supposed this book written for gaining the 
 affection of an Ethiopian princess. He was condemned 
 by the council of Constantinople for disparaging the 
 Song as an impure book, though Lardner observes this 
 
 * De Civ. Dei, lib. 17, 20. 
 
INTRODUCTION. G5 
 
 .accusation was probably untrue and had been made by 
 his enemies. In a fragment of his that has come down 
 to us, he says that this book should not be looked on as 
 immoral, nor yet commended as fit for the spiritual edi- 
 fication of the Church, but is, like the Banquet of Plato, 
 a nuptial song of Solomon. Theodoret and Theodore 
 were the leading expositors of their age; and to the 
 latter, the former seems to refer when speaking of some 
 who calumniate the Song of songs and do not believe it a 
 spiritual book. Theodore was possibly led to disparage 
 the book by his opposition to the allegorical mode of 
 exposition carried to such extent by Origen, against 
 ■whom and concerning allegories he wrote a treatise. It 
 is worthy of consideration, that while Theodore of Mop- 
 suestia was a man of learning, a great expositor of the 
 Scriptures, of celebrated piety, and died in the com- 
 munion of the Church, he was considered to have given a 
 start to the Pelagian and Ncstorian heresies. His view 
 of the Song seems to have been in accordance with the 
 views taken of it at the present day by some pious and 
 eminent interpreters holding sentiments verging towards 
 Pelagianism. 
 
 As in other domains of theology, the various opinions 
 concerning this book in modern times are to some extent 
 the resurrection and reproduction of the notions of the 
 early ages. That the Song is a continuous and coherent 
 whole, was never doubted till the time of Richard Simon, 
 who supposed that this book was made up of the produc- 
 tions of different authors, who cannot however be now 
 known, as they have left no distinguishing marks for 
 recognizing them. With him agreed Le Clerc ; and the 
 opinion has since been maintained by Eiehhorn, Jalni, 
 Pareau, and others. Kleuker, Hufnagel, and others, 
 hold that the book consists of separate erotic Songs which 
 
66 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 were gathered into one collection by some person, like 
 the Psalms and Proverbs. Bossuet, followed by Bishop 
 Percy, Calmet, Taylor, and Williams, supposes it a kind 
 of drama consisting of seven acts, each act occupying a 
 day, and answering to the number of days during which 
 wedding services were celebrated. Lowth adopts this 
 with some reservation, viewing it as a nuptial dialogue or 
 song of loves, as Psalm xlv., and in the chorus of virgins, 
 bearing some resemblance to the Greek drama. Milton 
 calls it "a divine pastoral drama, consisting of two 
 persons and a double chorus, as Origen rightly judges." 
 Delitzsch makes it a drama of six acts, and divides each 
 act into two scenes. From the likeness here discovered 
 to the cassides or idyls of the Arabian poets, Sir "William 
 Jones thinks this book consists of a collection of Hebrew 
 idyls. In this he is followed by Bauer, Jahn Avho makes 
 it consist of eight idyls, Melesegenio an Italian translator 
 of this poem, John Mason Good, and after him Fry, who 
 make it consist of twelve idyls. In his work, the 
 " Eclogcc regis Sulomonis, Leipzig, 1777," Lessing views 
 them as pastorals like the eclogues of Virgil and Theo- 
 critus. 
 
 From the age of Theodore of Mopsuestia, the alle- 
 gorical interpretation of the Song prevailed till the time 
 of Erasmus, who is said to be the first among the 
 moderns who took ground against it. The modern 
 Romish interpreters have generally followed Origen and 
 Jerome in their expositions ; some of them make Christ 
 the beloved and Mary the bride. St. Bernard wrote 
 eighty-six sermons on the first two chapters, which are 
 highly commended by Erasmus. Grenebrand, a Benedic- 
 tine, in the latter part of the sixteenth century wrote a 
 larger and a smaller commentary, in which great use is 
 made of copious quotations from the Rabbins. Cocceius 
 
INTRODUCTION. G7 
 
 holds it to be a prophetical representation of the destiny 
 of the Christian Church. This notion has been enter- 
 tained by others, as Brightman and Cotton. Some have 
 even gone so far as to point out the several periods to 
 which the different parts of the Song may be referred, 
 answering to the states of the seven churches of Asia, 
 in the book of Revelation, and making these last also 
 prophetical. Robinson of Cambridge supposes it a 
 topographical essay, descriptive of some beautiful places 
 in the estates of Solomon; and particularly that the 
 description of the beloved, in chap, v., means nothing 
 but a mountain ornamented with copses, and enriched 
 with quarries of marble, and a mine of gold. John 
 Gerhard, who is commended by Glassius* in the high- 
 est terms for the line of interpretation adopted in his 
 Postilla Salomonea, teaches that it sets forth the recip- 
 rocal love of Christ and his Church. Luther, in his 
 commentary on the Song, following somewhat the track 
 of Augustin, views it as a kind of encomium on the gov- 
 ernment of Solomon, making God the beloved and the 
 Jewish Church the bride; though in another treatise 
 he takes the bride to mean the Christian Church. I lug 
 understands by the bride the ten tribes of Israel, of 
 ■whom a meagre remnant being left in their country after 
 the destruction of the kingdom of Samaria, wished to 
 unite with the kingdom of Judah; but the citizens of 
 Judah, who are represented by the brothers of Shula- 
 mith, oppose this, because the citizens of Israel were not 
 suitable for such union. This notion has been opposed 
 and refuted by Bertholdt. Kaiser takes it as historico- 
 allegorical, and celebrating the restoration of the Mosaic 
 worship by Zerubbabel, Ezra, ami Nehemiah. In 1764 
 appeared an anonymous translation, with notes, since 
 
 * Tbilologii S.cra, 19G9. 
 
G8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 known to have been made by Bishop Percy, which, 
 though professing to go no farther than an explanation 
 of the literal meaning, and seeming really to appreciate 
 some of its beauties, does nevertheless make many sug- 
 gestions untrue, unnecessary, and degrading to the Scrip- 
 tures. In 1768, Harmer published his "Outlines of a 
 New Commentary on the Song of Solomon." Viewing 
 the Song not as a pastoral, nor as an epithalamium, he 
 considered it as describing a royal marriage, that of 
 Solomon with an Egyptian princess, yet an allegory 
 illustrating the love of God, in admitting the Gentiles to 
 equal privileges with the Jews. lie divides his work 
 into three parts: — 1. Remarks on the general nature of 
 the Song; 2. Observations on detached places of it; 
 3. Queries concerning the rest of this poem. The work 
 of Jacobi in 1771, found many followers; still more that 
 of Herder, in 1778, who, treating the Song as different 
 erotic idyls, carried through his design with such judg- 
 ment and taste as to find general acceptance. While 
 confining his exposition entirely to the verbal meaning, 
 Rosenmiillcr views the Song as an allegory ; and though, 
 in a treatise published in 1813, he explained it after the 
 Chaldee paraphrase and Sol. Jarchi, as representing the 
 mutual love of Christ and his Church, he afterwards 
 changed his opinion, and supposed it to set forth the 
 mutual loves of Solomon and wisdom. Making it a drama 
 in four acts, Ewald supposes that when abroad in his 
 chariot, Solomon fell in with a beautiful country girl 
 near Engedi, and having had her forcibly carried off, 
 tries to gain her love by this poetry. Michaelis thinks 
 it is for recommending conjugal love; he has been 
 opposed by Eichhorn, Jahn, and Rosenmiiller, who sup- 
 pose the love of two young unmarried persons is here 
 represented. Umbreit, Lindeman, Velthusen, and Am- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 69 
 
 mon, think it consists of love epistles addressed by Solo- 
 mon to a shepherdess, who nevertheless remains faithful 
 to her husband. The gross views of Grotius need not be 
 repeated, of whom Doderlein said: Grotii turpem etc 
 obsccnam interpret ationem ex eo genere existimo quod 
 turpitudinis occasionem rapit. Nor need we mention 
 those of Whiston, who held it to be a dissolute love song. 
 Hence, Semler, without any reason, but on the mere 
 strength of his fancy, refuses to take any notice of this 
 book, as a production beyond all question spurious. 
 Adam Clark treats this Song with disrespect, while 
 making it an occasion for showing some oriental learn- 
 ing, and thinks it impossible to bring any reasons for an 
 allegorical meaning. Professor Stuart has not written 
 a commentary on this book, but in his work on the 
 Old Testament, when giving " Conscientious scruples to a 
 part of the Old Testament," utters sentiments which 
 could excite no surprise in one not receiving this book as 
 canonical, but which, in a man of his position, piety and 
 influence, cannot do otherwise than cause deep regret. 
 Some men, like Good and Rosenmuller, who have gone 
 no further than the illustration of the literal meaning, 
 have yet held to an allegorical sense. 
 
 Amid this chaos of notions and fantasies, there has 
 alwaj^s been among orthodox Christians as much general 
 unanimity concerning the meaning of this book, as that 
 of any other book of the Bible; amply sufficient to 
 justify the language of Munster, the eminent follower of 
 Luther: "The general Church of Christ hold that in this 
 divine Song are contained the mysteries of the love of 
 Christ and the Church." This is the scope of the 
 exposition of John Gerhard; of the homilies of Beza on 
 the first three chapters; of the excellent discourses on 
 some passages of this book by Romaine; and of the com- 
 7 
 
70 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mentary on the Song by Lady Guyon. With these 
 President Edwards agrees, who views it as "representing 
 the high and glorious relation, and union, and love, that 
 arc between Christ and his redeemed Church." The 
 same view is taken by Henry and Scott, in their Com- 
 mentaries; and by Owen, in his treatise "On Communion 
 with God," and in other parts of his writings, where 
 many passages of this book are incidentally expounded. 
 To Gill's volume may be applied what Robert Hall said 
 unjustly of Owen's works, "a continent of mud." We 
 may well wonder that, with apparently the best inten- 
 tions, and a regard for the Scriptures, many good men, 
 instead of trying to soften down and accommodate to 
 present views some peculiar oriental expressions in the 
 Song, seem to have exerted their ingenuity for getting 
 from it as many amatory ideas as possible. "What Ave 
 mean may be seen by referring to Bishop Percy's anno- 
 tations and introduction. We are free to say, that after 
 reading, studying, and meditating on the Song for years, 
 w r e had never entertained the faintest suspicion that some 
 passages are to be understood in their literal sense, ac- 
 cording to his gross and offensive explanations. Let any 
 person who is disposed to find fault with this portion of 
 Scripture, take it and read it as it appears to an unpre- 
 judiced mind, unoccupied with any theories; and then let 
 him read what has been made out of it by some commen- 
 tators; and we are confident he will feel that the Holy 
 Spirit has woven the allegory of a beautiful and delicate 
 texture, and that the offensiveness imputed to it arises 
 from the perversion of man. Wc are unable to under- 
 stand what good can possibly arise from such representa- 
 tions as those of Bishop Percy and others. But they do 
 positive injury. They degrade the Scriptures in the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 71 
 
 estimation of the irreligious; and they infest tlie pious 
 mind with associations of which it can be with difficulty 
 divested, and which might never have arisen without this 
 foreign aid. Even in the commentaries of such men as 
 Gill and Durham, amid so much that is spiritual and 
 edifying, there are interpretations offensive to everything 
 like good taste, and the more to be regretted, because 
 irrelevant, unnecessary, and incorrect. Like the mira- 
 cles of the fabulous gospels, in contrast with the narra- 
 tive of the Evangelists, many of the efforts of the human 
 mind on this Song, in comparison with the simplicity of 
 the language, not in the English version, but in the 
 original Hebrew, show T with what superiority the Holy 
 Spirit manages so delicate a subject. 
 
 We have spent no time on the inquiry, whether the 
 Song has any of the characteristics of the Greek drama; 
 whether it contains, according to regular divisions, the 
 actions of the seven distinct days allotted to the celebration 
 of the Jewish nuptials; or whether, according to Dr. Good, 
 it consists of tw T elve sacred idyls. The fact that so many 
 commentators have tried to divide this book, whether into 
 seven parts answering to the seven days necessary for 
 celebrating a Jewish marriage, or into separate idyls, or 
 into a drama, shows there must be ground for a division 
 of some kind. Taking the Song as designed to illustrate 
 the operations of holy love, under various circumstances, 
 we feel that the grouping together of the incidents to elu- 
 cidate the different periods of growth in grace, must make 
 changes in the thread of the story, and those changes 
 often abrupt. The summary and analysis we have 
 attempted, will show the reason there is for those 
 changes of scene, and account for them fully, without 
 any resort to the attempt at finding out idyls, or the dif- 
 
72 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fercnt scenes of a drama.* Nor is it necessary to spend 
 time in determining the truth or falsity of the opinions, 
 that it was written to celebrate the marriage of Solo- 
 mon — that the bride was the daughter of Pharaoh — or 
 even that the circumstances here recorded are undoubted 
 facts. Were these points settled beyond all cavil, they 
 could not throw a single ray of light on the spiritual 
 meaning of the allegory. The truths intended to be 
 taught remain the same, whether the incidents had exist- 
 ence in reality or in imagination. What benefit could be 
 derived from our knowing there was a specific individual 
 designated in the parable of the sower, who he was, what 
 was his name? The truths and duties inculcated by our 
 Lord, in Luke xix. 12 — 27, receive no additional force 
 from knowing that the nobleman mentioned was the son 
 of Herod, and the far country to which he went was the 
 city of Rome. The beauty and instructiveness of the 
 allegory in Spenser's Faery Queen, are no more delight- 
 
 * The following arc 
 
 some 
 
 of the divisions 
 
 adopted by different corn- 
 
 mentators : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DdiUsch. 
 
 
 
 Act I. 
 
 chap. i. 2 — ii. 17. 
 
 Scene 1, chap. i. 2 — 17. 
 
 Scene 2, 
 
 chap. ii. 1 — 7. 
 
 II. 
 
 ii. 8 — iii. 5. 
 
 
 ii. 8— ii. 17. 
 
 
 iii. 1 — iii. 5. 
 
 III. 
 
 iii. 6— v. 1. 
 
 
 iii. 6— iii. 11. 
 
 
 iv. 1 — v. 1. 
 
 IV. 
 
 v 2— vi. 9. 
 
 
 v. 2— vi. 2. 
 
 
 vi. 3— vi. 9. 
 
 V. 
 
 vi. 10 — viii. 4. 
 
 
 vi. 10 — vii. 5. 
 
 
 vii. G — viii. 4. 
 
 VI. 
 
 viii. 5 — 14. 
 
 
 viii. 5 — 7. 
 
 
 viii. 8—14. 
 
 
 Bnssuct. 
 
 
 Good. 
 
 
 Jahn. 
 
 Day 1, 
 
 chap. i. ii.l — 6. 
 
 Idyl 1, 
 
 chap. i. 1 — 8. 
 
 Song 1, 
 
 chap. i. to ii. 7. 
 
 2, 
 
 ii. 7—17. 
 
 2 
 
 i. 9 to ii. 7. 
 
 2, 
 
 ii. S to iii. 5. 
 
 3, 
 
 iii. iv. v. 1. 
 
 3. 
 
 ii. 8—17. 
 
 3, 
 
 iii. 6 to v. 1. 
 
 4, 
 
 v. 2 to vi. 9. 
 
 4, 
 
 iii. 1—5. 
 
 4, 
 
 v. 2 to vi. 9. 
 
 5, 
 
 vi. 10 to vii 11. 
 
 5, 
 
 iii. 6 to iv. 7. 
 
 5, 
 
 vi. 10 to viii. 3. 
 
 G, 
 
 vii. 12 to > iii. 3. 
 
 6, 
 
 iv. S to v. 1. 
 
 6, 
 
 viii. -1 — 7. 
 
 Sab. 7 
 
 , viii. 4 — 14. 
 
 7, 
 
 v. 2 to vi. in. 
 
 7, 
 
 viii. 8—12. 
 
 
 
 8, 
 
 vi. 11— 13. 
 
 8, 
 
 viii. 13—14. 
 
 
 
 9, 
 
 vii. 1—9. 
 
 
 
 
 
 10, 
 
 a ii. 10 to viii. 
 
 4. 
 
 
 
 
 11, 
 
 viii. 5 — 7. 
 
 
 
 
 
 12, 
 
 viii. 8—11. 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. 73 
 
 ful and profitable to him who sees in the different 
 
 sketches portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Philip Sidney, 
 and others, than it is to him who may happily read 
 the same poetry, ignorant of any historical allusions. 
 The very nature of an allegory renders it perfectly 
 unimportant whether the incidents be real or imaginary. 
 
 Taking, therefore, this Song as an allegory, whose 
 imagery has been drawn from the court of Solomon, for 
 illustrating the mutual love of Christ and the Church, we 
 cannot understand it fully, without viewing that love 
 as exercised in the case of individual believers. Taking 
 the Church as a whole, its love becomes a generality of 
 the vaguest kind, intangible and unsatisfactory. But 
 when we take the exercises of an individual heart, all is 
 intelligible and interesting. Jesus loves the Church, by 
 loving every single member of the Church ; and manifests 
 his love to the Church, by a special manifestation made 
 to every member of the Church. 
 
 "Sees all, as if that all were one, 
 Loves one, as if that one were all." 
 
 The Song was given to illustrate that love; and hence 
 it must be interpreted by looking at the manifestations of 
 the love of Jesus towards every believer, and at the 
 corresponding exercises of every believer towards Jesus. 
 
 In the glorious temple of revelation, a place which the 
 Lord our God has chosen to cause his name to dwell 
 there, even in brighter glory than in the temple of the 
 material world, does this book stand, like one of the 
 apartments in the temple on Mount Zion, small indeed, 
 but exquisitely finished, the walls and ceiling of some- 
 thing richer than cedar, richer than bright ivory overlaid 
 with sapphires, and filled with specimens of truth brought 
 
 down from heaven by the Holy Spirit, and here deposited 
 
 7* 
 
74 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for the comfort and delight of those who love the habita- 
 tion of God's house, and the place where his glory dwell- 
 eth. As the man skilled in geology will take a bone of 
 fossil remains from a bygone world, and from this alone 
 restore the whole fabric of the creature to which it 
 belonged, with a knowledge of its nature and instincts; 
 so may we take the germs of truth, the heavenly fossils 
 laid up for us with such care in the spiritual treasury of 
 this Song, and, taught by the Holy Spirit, our souls may 
 develope the system of heavenly love, the mutual affec- 
 tion of Jesus and his saints — a love not native to our 
 earth in its present fallen state, but existing in all the 
 vigour and fulness of an immortal life, in yonder hea- 
 venly world. In the Banquet, Plato puts into the mouth 
 of Alcibiades sentiments which show that the principles 
 contended for in the Song are recognized in other great 
 productions of antiquity. " Should any one be willing to 
 hear the discourses of Socrates, they will appear to be 
 very ridiculous at first; so that every man who has 
 neither skill nor sense, will laugh at his words. But he 
 who beholds his discourses Avhen opened, and gets within 
 them, will in the first place find that they alone of all 
 other discourses possess an internal meaning; and in the 
 next place, that they are most divine, and hold the most 
 numerous images of virtue, and extend to the farthest 
 point, or rather to everything which is fitting for him to 
 consider who intends to become a man, both morally 
 beautiful and good."* 
 
 * Banquet, p. 247. 
 
SUMMARY OF THE SONG. 
 
 This Book consists of three parts: The first includes 
 chapter i. verse 1; chapter ii. verse 7. The second 
 extends from chapter ii. verse 8, to chapter vii. verse 9. 
 The third includes the remainder of the book, chapter vii. 
 verse 10, to chapter viii. verse 14. 
 
 I. The way in which the soul longing for the mani- 
 festation of the love of Christ is led along in the gratifi- 
 cation of that desire, from one degree to another of pious 
 enjoyment, until attaining the greatest delight possible 
 for the saint in the present world. Chap. i. 1; chap, 
 ii. 7. 
 
 These periods of enjoyment are separated by vicissi- 
 tudes of fortune and diversity of feeling, through which 
 the believer is brought to those more cheering scenes in 
 his progress to heaven. These seasons may be repeated 
 in our experience, some of them more than once, before 
 we attain those which succeed. 1. We enjoy the love of 
 Jesus, as manifested in private communion, in "his 
 chambers." Chap. i. 4. 2. In the way of duty and self- 
 denial. Chap. i. 7—11. 3. In sitting with the King in 
 
76 SUMMARY. 
 
 the circle of his friends, and enjoying, as one of them, 
 the delights of social communion with him. Chap. i. 
 12 — 14. 4. In delightful repose with him amid enlarged 
 prospects of spiritual beauty. Chap. i. 15 — 17. 5. In 
 the protection and delights set forth in chap. ii. 1 — 3. 
 6. And in enjoying, at last, the pleasures mentioned in 
 chap. ii. 4 — 7, the greatest possible on earth. 
 
 II. An exhibition of motives by which the Lord Jesus 
 would allure such soul away from the present world, for 
 being with him in glory. Chap. ii. 8 ; chap. vii. 9. 
 
 As we arc treated throughout our redemptiom and 
 discipline here, like beings possessing a will, the spiritual 
 decays and sluggishness into which we are liable to fall 
 must be counteracted by the presentation of powerful 
 motives to the mind; and our faith can be best matured 
 by strengthening the soul, as is done in these periods of 
 great enjoyment, and then leaving us in that strength, 
 without such sensible pleasures, to manifest our steadfast- 
 ness by struggling against difficulty and the absence of 
 Jesus, by dependence on his word and promises and love. 
 Hence our Lord allures us — 
 
 1. By the beauty of heaven, as a place he has prepared 
 for us, and where he is awaiting us. Chap. ii. 8 — 17. 
 
 2. By the splendour of the reception awaiting us there, 
 no less than by the security and grandeur of our convey- 
 ance towards glory. Chap. iii. 1 — 11. 
 
 3. By his great love for us — an affection so intense as 
 to be incapable of being fully expressed by the strongest 
 illustrations, and so strong as to remain constant even 
 amid our neglect. Chap. iv. 1 ; chap. vii. 9. 
 
 III. The effect produced on the heart of the saint by 
 these manifestations of love, and by these motives. Chap. 
 
SUMMARY. 77 
 
 vii. 10; chap. viii. 14. 1. Assurance of hope. Chap. 
 vii. 10. 2. Desire to be much alone in communion with 
 Christ. Chap. vii. 11. 3. "Willingness to engage in 
 labours of holiness and love. Verse 12. 4. Consecration 
 to him of our best and most valued gifts and possessions. 
 Verse 13. 5. Desire that everything hindering the full 
 interchange of affection between Jesus and our soul may 
 be removed. Chap. viii. 1 — 2. G. The desire to guard 
 against every sin and every act at all likely to cause the 
 ■withdrawal of Jesus' love. Verses 3, 4. 7. The pleasing 
 consciousness of leaning on Jesus, and of being upheld by 
 his everlasting arms. Verse 5. 8. Desire to lie con- 
 tinually near the heart of Jesus, and to be sustained by 
 his power. Verse 6. 9. Willingness to sacrifice every 
 thing coming between us and Christ. Verse 6. 10. A 
 conviction of the meanness of everything the world 
 could offer for bribing us to renounce Christ. Verse 7. 
 11. An interest for the salvation of the impenitent. 
 Verses 8 — 10. 12. A sense of our accountability as 
 stewards of God, holding our property and our all in 
 trust. Verse 12. 13. The privilege of access continually 
 to the throne of grace, with full encouragement from our 
 Lord for addressing to him our voices in prayer and 
 praise. Verse 13. 14. The desire for the completion of 
 our redemption, and for the perfecting of his love to us 
 and of our love to him, by the second coming of our 
 Lord. Verse 14. 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Ver. 1. The Song of song3 which is Solomon's. 
 
 Spouse. 
 2. that he would give me kisses of his love: 
 
 For thy love is more delicious than wine. 
 8. Thy perfumes are rich in fragrance; 
 
 Thy name is perfume poured forth; 
 
 Therefore the virgins love thee. 
 
 4. Draw me; we will run after thee: 
 
 The king hath brought me into his apartments: 
 
 We will be glad and rejoice in thee; 
 
 "We will cherish a more pleasing remembrance of thy love 
 
 than wine; 
 They love thee sincerely. 
 
 5. Dark am I but lovely, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 As the tents of Kedar, as the pavilions of Solomon. 
 
 G. Look not on me, I am dark, 
 
 Because the sun hath browned me; 
 My mother's children were ill-disposed towards me; 
 They made me the keeper of the vineyards; 
 My own vineyard have I not kept. 
 
 7. Tell me, thou whom my soul lovcth, 
 
 Where thou feedest? where thou makest thy flock to rest at 
 
 noon ? 
 For why should I be as one veiled,* 
 Among the flocks of thy companions ? 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 8. If thou know not, thou fairest among women, 
 Go forth in the footsteps of the flock, 
 
 And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. 
 
 * Regarded as a harlot. 
 
CHAPTER II. 79 
 
 9. I compare thee, my love, 
 
 To my chariot-steed from Pharaoh. 
 
 10. Thy cheeks are beautiful with rows of jewels: 
 Thy neck with strings of pearls, 
 
 11. Gold chains will we make for thee, 
 Adorned with studs of silver. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 12. While the king sitteth in the circle of his friends, 
 My spikenard diffuses its fragrance. 
 
 13. An amulet of myrrh is my heloved to me, 
 Which shall continually abide in my bosom. 
 
 14. A boquet of cypress flowers is my beloved to me, 
 From the garden fields of Engedi. 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 15. Behold, thou art beautiful, my love, 
 
 Behold, thou art beautiful; thine eyes are doves'. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 16. Behold, thou art beautiful, my beloved, yea attractive; 
 And the green flowery turf is our place of repose. 
 
 IT. The roof of our summer-house is cedars, 
 Our carved ceiling firs. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. I am the rose of Sharon, 
 A lily of the valleys. 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 2. As a lily among the thorns, 
 
 So is my love among the daughters. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 3. As a citron tree among trees of the forest, 
 So is my beloved among the sons. 
 
 In his shade I delight to sit, 
 And his fruit is sweet to my taste. 
 
80 TRANSLATION. 
 
 4. He brings me into the banqueting-house, 
 
 And his banner over me is love. 
 
 5. Revive me with cordials, 
 Refresh me with citrons, 
 For I am sick of love. 
 
 6. His left hand is under my head, 
 And his right hand doth embrace me: 
 
 7. 1 charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 By the gazelles and by the hinds of the field, 
 That ye rouse not and disturb not 
 My love, till he please. 
 
 8. Hark! my beloved: behold, there he comes 
 Leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. 
 
 9. My beloved is like a gazelle, or a beauteous fawn. 
 See! he is standing behind our wall; 
 
 He is looking in through the window; 
 
 He is throwing sparkling dances from behind the lattice. 
 
 10. My beloved begins to speak, and says to me; 
 
 Arise, my companion, my beautiful one, and come away. 
 
 11. For, lo, the the winter is past, 
 The rain is over and gone. 
 
 12. The flowers appear on the earth, 
 
 The time of singing of birds has come, 
 
 And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. 
 
 13. The fig-tree is distilling aromatic juice into its green figs; 
 And the vines in blossom arc sending forth fragrance: 
 Arise, come, my companion, my beautiful one, come away. 
 
 14. my dove, in refuges of the rock, 
 In a hiding-place of the precipice, 
 Let me see thy countenance, 
 
 Let me hear thy voice; 
 For sweet is thy voice, 
 And thy countenance lovely. 
 
 15. Take for us the foxes, 
 
 The little foxes which destroy the vines; 
 
 For our vineyard is in bloom. 
 1G. My beloved is mine, and 1 am his; 
 
 He feeds aiming the lilies. 
 17. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, 
 
 Return my beloved, 
 
 Like a gazelle, or a beauteous fawn, 
 
 Over the craggy mountains. 
 
CHAPTER I IT. 81 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. On my couch, in the night, 
 
 I seek him whom my soul loveth, 
 I seek him but find him not. 
 
 2. I will arise now, and I will go about in the city; 
 In the streets ami in the public squares, 
 
 I will seek him whom my soul loveth : 
 I seek him ami 1 find him not. 
 
 3. The watchmen who go around in the city found me; 
 "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" 
 
 4. Hardly hail I passed them, 
 
 When 1 found him whom my soul loveth. 
 I laid hold on him and would not let him go, 
 Till 1 had brought him to the house of my mother, 
 Into the apartment of her that bore me. 
 5. 1 charge you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 By the gazelles and by the hinds of the field, 
 That ye rouse not and disturb not 
 My love, till he please. 
 
 lUrciiTERS of Jerusalem. 
 
 G. TVho is this coming up from the wilderness, 
 
 Like pillars of smoke, 
 
 Surrounded with the perfume of myrrh, and frankincense, 
 
 And all kinds of aromatic dust from the perfumer? 
 7. Lo, it is the palanquin of Solomon: 
 
 Around it are threescore valiant men, 
 
 'flic most valiant of Israel; 
 
 5. All of them with sword in hand, experienced in war, 
 Each with his sword girded on, against peril in the night. 
 
 9. A palanquin Solomon the king made for himself 
 Of the wood of Lebanon: 
 
 10. Its pillars he made of silver, 
 
 Its railing of gold, its seat purple, 
 
 The midst of it being tessellated with love, 
 
 For the daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 11. Go forth, ye daughters of /ion, 
 And behold king Solomon, 
 
 AYith the crown with which his mother crowned him 
 
 On the day of his espousals. 
 
 On the day ofgladness of his heart. 
 
82 TRANSLATION. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 1. Behold thou art beautiful, my companion, thou art beautiful : 
 Doves are thine eyes within thy locks; 
 
 Thy hair is as a flock of goats 
 
 "Which lie along downwards from mount Gilead. 
 
 2. Thy teeth as a flock of the same size, 
 "Which come up from the washing-pool, 
 All of them bearing twins, 
 
 And none of them without its young. 
 
 3. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet; 
 And thy mouth beautiful. 
 
 Like a piece of pomegranate, 
 Are thy cheeks within thy tresses. 
 
 4. Thy neck is like the tower of David 
 Built for an armory; 
 
 A thousand shields arc hanging on it, 
 All bucklers of the mighty. 
 
 5. Thy two breasts are like two fawns, 
 Twins of a gazelle, feeding among the lilies. 
 
 6. Until the day break and the shadows flee away, 
 
 I will betake me to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill 
 of frank incense. 
 
 7. Thou art all beautiful, my companion; 
 And no spot is there in thee. 
 
 8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, 
 With me from Lebanon; 
 
 Look from the top of Antana, 
 
 From the top of Shenir and Sermon, 
 
 From the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. 
 
 9. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister-spouse. 
 
 Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, . 
 
 With one fold of thy necklace. 
 
 10. How beautifully delightful is thy love, my sister-spouse; 
 How much more delicious is thy love than wine. 
 
 And the fragrance of thy perfumes than all spices. 
 
 11. Thy lips drop as the honey-comb, mj Bpouse: 
 lloncv and milk are under thy tongue; 
 
 And the fragrance of thy garmants is as the fragrance of 
 
 Lebanon. 
 
CHAPTER V. 83 
 
 12. A garden enclosed is my Bister-spouse; 
 A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 
 
 13. Thy productions arc a paradise of pomegranates, 
 With delicious fruits, cypresses with spikenards, 
 
 14. Spikenard and crocus, calamus and cinnamon, 
 With all trees of frankincense; 
 
 Myrrh and aloes with all chief spices; 
 
 15. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, 
 And streams from Lebanon. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 16. Arise, () north wind; and come thou south; 
 
 Blow upon my garden that its perfumes may flow forth. 
 Let my beloved come into his garden, 
 And enjoy its delicious fruits. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 1. 1 have come into my garden, my sister-spouse; 
 I am gathering my myrrh with my spice; 
 
 I am eating my honey-comb with my honey; 
 I am drinking my wine with my milk: 
 Eat, ( ) friends, drink, 
 Yea, beloved companions, drink abundantly. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 2. T was sleeping, but my heart was awake: 
 Hark! the voice of my beloved ! he is knocking: 
 "Open to me, my sister, my companion, 
 
 My dove, my perfect one ;' i; 
 Lor my head is filled with dew, — 
 My locks with drops of the night." 
 :!. I have put oil' my dress, 
 How shall I put it on? 
 I have washed my feet. 
 
 Bow shall I soil them? 
 
 * Equivalent to our expression, "My angel." 
 
8 4 T 11 A N S L A T I N 
 
 4. My beloved withdrew his hand from the aperture in the door; 
 And my heart was moved towards him. 
 
 5. I anise for opening to my beloved, 
 And my hands dropped myrrh, 
 And my fingers liquid myrrh, 
 
 On the handles of the bolt. 
 G. I opened to my beloved; 
 
 But my beloved had turned and gone away. 
 
 My heart sunk in consequence of what he had said; 
 
 I sought him, and found him not: 
 
 I called him, and he answered me not. 
 7. The watchmen who go around in the city found me, 
 
 They smote me, they wounded me; 
 
 The guards of the walls stripped my veil from me. 
 8. 1 charge you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 
 If ye shall find my beloved — 
 
 What shall ye tell him? 
 
 That I am sick of love. 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 9. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 
 Thou most beautiful of women? 
 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 
 That thou dost thus charge us ? 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 10. My beloved is white and ruddy, 
 Conspicuous among a host. 
 
 11. His head is finest choice gold; 
 
 His locks young waving palm branches, black as the raven: 
 
 12. His eyes as doves by valley rills of water, 
 Washed in milk, reposing by the full water springs: 
 
 13. His cheeks as banks of fragrant flowers, 
 
 As towering trellises covered with aromatic blooms; 
 His lips lilies distilling liquid myrrh: 
 
 14. His hands rollers of gold, set with the beryl; 
 His body wrought ivory overlaid with sapphires. 
 
 15. His legs pillars id' white marble 
 Fixed on pedestals of tine gold; 
 
 His appearance is as Lebanon, 
 Pre-eminently noble as the cedars: 
 1C. His voice is exquisitely sweet ; 
 
 His whole being is constituted of delightful attractions: 
 
 This is my beloved, and this is my friend, 
 daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
C II A P T E R V I. 85 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 1. Whither has thy beloved gone, thou most beautiful of women ? 
 Whither has thy beloved turned away? 
 
 Tell, that we may seek him with thee. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 2. My beloved lias gone down to his garden, 
 To the banks of fragrant flowers, 
 
 To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 
 
 3. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, 
 Who feeds among the lilies. 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 4. Beautiful as Tirzah art thou, my companion; 
 Elegant as Jerusalem ; 
 
 Imposing as a military host with banners. 
 
 5. Turn away thine eyes from me, 
 For they are taking me by storm. 
 Thy hair is as a flock of goats 
 
 Which lie along downwards from mount Gilcad. 
 
 6. Thy teeth as a flock of sheep, 
 Which come up from the washing-pool, 
 All of them bearing twins, 
 
 And none of them without its young. 
 
 7. As a piece of pomegranate, 
 
 Are thy cheeks within th} r tresses. 
 
 8. There are threescore queens, 
 And fourscore concubines, 
 And virgins without number: 
 
 9. My dove, my perfect one, she is the favourite; 
 The darling is she of her mother, 
 
 The delight of her who bore her. 
 
 The virgins beheld her, and called her blessed; 
 
 The queens and concubines also praised her. 
 
 10. Who is this that looks forth as the dawn, 
 Beautiful as the moon, 
 
 Of purest brightness as the sun, 
 Imposing as bannered hosts? 
 
 11. I went down to the fruit garden, 
 
 To behold the green growths of the valley, 
 8* 
 
86 TRANSLATION. 
 
 To see whether the vine was putting forth buds, 
 Whether the pomegranates were in bloom: 
 
 12. E'er I was aware, my soul made me 
 As the chariots of Amminadib. 
 
 L3. Return, return, O Shulamith; 
 
 Return, return, that we may behold in thee, — 
 What shall you behold in the Shulamith? 
 As it were a festive choir of rejoicing hosts. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1. How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, 
 O noble woman. 
 
 The contour of thy person 
 
 Is like the rounding of a necklace 
 
 Wrought by the hands of a finished artist: 
 
 2. Thy waist is a round goblet 
 Full of the rich spiced wine : 
 Thy body is a heap of wheat 
 Enclosed with lilies: 
 
 3. Thy two breasts as two fawns, 
 Twins of a gazelle. 
 
 4. Thy neck as a tower of ivory; 
 Thine eyes pools in Heshbon, 
 By the gate of Bath-rabbim ; 
 Thy nose as a tower on Lebanon, 
 Looking towards Damascus. 
 
 5. Thy head crowning thee is as Carmel, 
 
 And the full flowing hair of thy head rich as purple: 
 The king is captivated by the tresses. 
 
 6. How beautiful and how charming, 
 
 my love, art thou in fascinating graces 
 
 7. Thy stature is like a palm-tree: 
 And thy breasts to its clusters. 
 
 8. I said I will go to the palm-tree: 
 
 1 will clasp its waving branches; 
 
 And thy bosom shall now be as clusters of the vine; 
 And thy breath sweet as citrons; 
 
 9. And thy voice as the delicious wine 
 Which flows pure to my best loved friend, 
 
 Which makes the lips of the slumbering move gently. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 87 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 10. I am my beloved's, 
 
 And his ardent affection is towards me. 
 
 11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the country; 
 Let us abide in the villages; 
 
 12. Let us be early in the morning in the vineyards; 
 
 Let us see whether the vine is budding, its blossom unfolding; 
 Whether tbe pomegranates are in bloom: 
 Tbere will I give thee my loves. 
 
 13. The choicest flowers are giving forth their fragrance, 
 
 And at the entrance of our summer-houses are all kinds of 
 
 delicious fruits, 
 Both new and old, which I have treasured up, my beloved, 
 
 for thee. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1. that thou wert as a brother to me, 
 Nourished in the bosom of my mother! 
 
 Should 1 find thee abroad, then would I kiss thee, 
 Nor should it be imputed to me as an impropriety. 
 
 2. I would lead thee, I would bring thee to the house of my 
 
 mother; 
 Thou shalt teach me how to gratify thy wishes; 
 I will make thee drink of the spiced wine, 
 Of my fresh juice of the pomegranate. 
 
 3. His left hand shall be under my head, 
 And his right hand shall embrace me. 
 
 4. I charge you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 That ye rouse not and disturb not 
 
 My love, till he please. 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 5. Who is this coming up from the wilderness, 
 Leaning on the beloved? 
 
 Beloved. 
 Under the citron tree I gained thine affection; 
 There thy mother pledged thee; 
 There she that bore thee betrothed thee. 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 G. Set me as a seal on thine heart; 
 As a seal on thine arm : 
 For love is strong as death; 
 
 Devoted affection is unrelaxing as the realms of the dead : 
 Its flames have the energy of lightning, 
 Which have the fiercest blaze. 
 
 7. Many waters cannot quench love, 
 And floods cannot overwhelm it: 
 
 Should a man give all the wealth of his house for this love, 
 It would be utterly despised. 
 
 8. We have a young sister, 
 
 And she has not yet reached womanhood: 
 What shall we do for our sister, 
 
 With reference to the day when she shall be spoken for in 
 marriage ? 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 9. If she be a wall, we will build on it a turret of silver; 
 And if she be a door, we will enclose it with boards of cedar. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 10. 1 am a wall and my breasts as towers; 
 
 Then am I in his eyes as one finding favour. 
 11. A vineyard lias Solomon in Baal-hamon; 
 
 He has let out the vineyard to keepers; 
 
 Each shall yield him for its fruit 
 
 A thousand pieces of silver. 
 1.!. My vineyard which belongs to me is under my own super- 
 vision ; 
 
 Thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand pieces of silver 
 from it; 
 
 And the keepers of its fruit two hundred. 
 
 Beloved. 
 
 13. thou who dwellcst in the gardens, 
 The companions hearken to thy voice; 
 Cause me to hear it. 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 14. Make haste, my beloved, 
 
 And be thou like a gazelle, or a beauteous fawn, 
 Over the mountains of spices. 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE SONG. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The desire which in the heart of the saint absorbs every 
 other, is for the manifestation of the love of the Lord 
 Jesus, through the influences of the Holy Spirit; and 
 this love is thus ardently desired, because its effect is 
 more reviving and exhilarating than any of the pleasures 
 of sense, even of wine, the most refreshing of them all. 
 Verse 2. 
 
 This desire is not a blind instinct or a fanatical im- 
 pulse, but springs from an intelligent apprehension of the 
 excellency of the nature of Christ, as transcending every- 
 thing known to man, more than the holy anointing oil 
 of the sanctuary surpassed any other perfume ; — an ex- 
 cellence so rich, that the pure in heart, and they only, 
 love him, and they cannot do otherwise than love him. 
 Vcr. 3. 
 
 The thought of the excellency of the character of 
 Christ, and of the influences of the Holy Spirit shedding 
 abroad his love in the heart, creates the desire of coming 
 as near to him as possible, without any delay — of running 
 to him; and as our own insufficiency and weakness are 
 felt sensibly at such times, we pray for the attracting 
 power of his grace and for the strength of his Spirit. 
 This desire is never expressed in vain; with kingly ma- 
 jesty and condescension, he brings us into confidential 
 
90 ANALYSIS. 
 
 communion with him apart from the world; this commu- 
 nion is attended with fulness of joy and a holy exultation 
 in his superior grace; and these manifestations of his 
 love thus made, only to the upright or pure, and by such 
 sincerely appreciated, are followed by remembrances, not 
 painful, like the pleasures of sense, but always refreshing 
 and delightful. Ver. 4. 
 
 This love is a perfect regulator of the powers of the 
 soul ; and carrying with it true wisdom, gives us a cor- 
 rect knowledge of ourselves, as the offspring of the 
 humility to which this divine love leads, and which con- 
 sists in thinking of ourselves according to the whole 
 truth, nothing more, nothing less, realizing that while, 
 black like the tents of Kcdar, we are darkened by native 
 depravity, grace is working in us virtues more beautiful 
 than the curtains of Solomon. Ver. 5. 
 
 The humility inseparable from this love makes us 
 modest and retiring, and prompts us to shrink from 
 courting admiration; because we are conscious of un- 
 worthiness ; have been stripped of our spiritual beauty by 
 sin; have suffered many evils and afflictions; have re- 
 ceived ill treatment, not only from the ungodly world, 
 but from brethren of the same household of faith; and 
 have failed in many duties. Ver. 6. 
 
 This love so captivates the heart with the Lord Jesus, 
 while keeping it thus humble, that we are anxious not 
 only to enjoy his society in the blessedness of private 
 communion, his chambers, ver. 4; but to follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever he goeth, Rev. xiv. 4; to be with him in 
 labours, fatigues, and dangers, no less than in the 
 delights of his service — in the weariness of toil in the 
 wilderness, no less than in the pleasures of the palace. 
 It prompts us to inquire and seek, without waiting for 
 commands, where we may labour with this gracious king 
 
CHAPTER I. 91 
 
 as a shepherd, and enjoy his society; — where, in the 
 discharge of duty, find his guidance and defence during 
 the noontide heat of temptation, affliction, and sorrow; 
 and makes us unwilling to be satisfied with any inferior 
 love, or the company and teaching of any but Christ — 
 unwilling to have any person or thing coming between us 
 and Jesus. Ver. 7. 
 
 Such inquiries he answers, by assuring the soul thus 
 humble in its own esteem, that while conscious of un- 
 worthiness, and misused by men, wc are held by him in 
 the highest admiration — "fairest among women;" — and 
 that he may be always found by our following in the foot- 
 steps of those who through faith and patience have in- 
 herited the promises; and by activity in his service, by min- 
 istering to the saints, and by labouring to train up the 
 young of the flock, "feed the kids," in co-operation with 
 the ministers of the gospel — "beside the shepherds' tents." 
 Ver. 8. 
 
 Having received these instructions, and going forth to 
 carry them into practice, our soul is viewed with great 
 interest by the Saviour, in our approaches to him. See- 
 ing us, as it were, afar, he sets forth, by comparison to 
 the horse, his impression of that character which is so 
 despised by the world. In reference to its inherent vital 
 energy, or principle imparted by the Holy Spirit, it is a 
 character noble, adapted to impress us with respect and 
 command admiration — possesses great energy and vigour, 
 and inexhaustible powers of endurance — running without 
 growing weary. Isa. xl. 31. Ver. 9. 
 
 Moreover, Jesus looks on those virtues which are super- 
 added as ornaments to our character by grace, with 
 a pleasure akin to what we feel in contemplating cheeks 
 comely with rows of jewels, &c, viz. that golden chain 
 
92 ANALYSIS. 
 
 with the pearls "love, joy, peace, meekness, &c.," Gal. 
 v. 22. Ver. 10. 
 
 The principle is, "to him that hath shall be given," 
 Matt. xxv. 29 ; and though so beautiful are these orna- 
 mental graces now overlaying the soul by the Holy 
 Ghost, Christ will add unto these, others wrought by his 
 own hands, too exquisite to be made even by angels, 
 a spiritual body, &c. He will adorn us to the utmost 
 possible that such wisdom and power as his can confer. 
 Ver. 11. 
 
 Thus, following Jesus in the way of duty, under the 
 impulse of this love, we are received by him with kingly 
 majesty, and, as beloved friends, are entertained with 
 princely magnificence at his table, spread with delicacies 
 for the soul. This near approach to him, combined with 
 his affectionate tenderness and great goodness, kindles 
 the affections into a fervid glow, and draws from us the 
 fragrance of the odoriferous graces — the spiritual spike- 
 nard — poured by the Holy Ghost into the alabaster of 
 the pure heart. Ver. 12. 
 
 At such times, in near communion with Jesus, and with 
 the affections in vigorous exercise, we feel our Lord 
 amazingly precious. If asked, How precious is your 
 Saviour? Tell me the impression thus made on your 
 spiritual apprehensions ? We can do no better than 
 reply, Can you tell what is the sweet and refreshing 
 influence of a bundle of myrrh, in the bosom, or of 
 a cluster of camphire in bloom, such as is in the vineyards 
 of Engcdi ? Ver. 14. The presence of Jesus produces an 
 impression on my spiritual faculties, far more delightful 
 than the effect of these perfumes on the bodily senses. 
 Ver. 13. 
 
 Thus received by this friend and king, our beloved, 
 and entertained by him, at the table of his confidential 
 
CHAPTER II. 93 
 
 companions, with the marrow and fatness of his grace — 
 while, under these manifestations of love, our heart is 
 burning with affection, what is the nature of the language 
 interchanged between him and us? — "We love him be- 
 cause he first loved us;" we presume to address to him 
 the language of affection, because he first addresses us. 
 He speaks to us in terms of the strongest and most 
 tender affection — assures us that whatever may be thought 
 of us by the world, we are beautiful in his eyes, and that 
 love is the expression of soul which draws his admiration. 
 Ver. 15. 
 
 The heart is glad to reciprocate this feeling; and 
 calling him our beloved, the dearest object of our affec- 
 tion, we rejoice to give utterance to our sense of the 
 beauty of his character, and the pleasantness of his 
 society — together with the delightfulness of the repose he 
 grants to those whom he so loves as thus to address — a 
 peace sweet as repose on a bed of full-blown flowers of 
 spring amid green pastures beside still waters, and at the 
 same time, while open to all the fresh airs and balmy 
 influences of the season, protected from the sun by day, 
 the chill dews by night, and from the rain, by a richly 
 wrought ceiling of cedar and cypress, shadowing forth the 
 permanency and excellence of the defence from evil 
 afforded by the divine righteousness of Christ, in a man- 
 ner stronger, if possible, than the shadow of a rock, or 
 than the pillar of cloud and of fire over the camp of 
 Israel. Ver. 16. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 In verses 1 — 3, the spouse sets forth by beautiful com- 
 parisons, the character of herself and of the beloved, for 
 putting before us the contrast between her humility and 
 9 
 
94 ANALYSIS. 
 
 loveliness, and his majesty and beauty. The believer is 
 as the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys ; — Jesus 
 is as the citron-tree among all other trees. The rose and 
 the lily illustrate the Christian character, as possessing 
 purity, beauty, loveliness; as being like the lily among 
 thorns, in contrast with the general tone of character 
 and feeling in the world. The words, " As the lily 
 among thorns, &c," ver. 2, are with propriety put into 
 the mouth of Jesus, as a suggestion made immediately on 
 mention of the features represented in ver. 1st, for 
 reminding us that, as his people, our character must be 
 the opposite of what it was by nature, and of what yet 
 prevails among the ungodly, — as he also teaches in 
 John xvi. 33; 2 Tim. iii. 12. He says that between 
 earthly loveliness and the loveliness of the saint, there is 
 as much contrast as between the lily and the surround- 
 ing thorns. 
 
 While, like the rose and the lily, the believer — the 
 same who was seen in the foregoing chapter admitted to 
 such delightful communion with the king at his table — 
 is thus meek and lowly, beautiful in the modesty of 
 humility; — Jesus towers on high in majesty and grand- 
 eur ; the citron-tree is his emblem, and illustrates his 
 character as combining majesty with beauty, as affording 
 shelter and protection to his people, as capable of satisfy- 
 ing the wants of the soul. Ver. 3. 
 
 Such being the characteristics of Jesus and of the 
 redeemed soul, the coming of such soul into fellowship 
 with him must yield it great pleasure. Hence, when we 
 come under the shadow of Christ, we have great delight, 
 and find food for the hungering heart ; his ways are ways 
 of pleasantness and all his paths are peace. Though 
 addressed by him in language of Buch endearment ami 
 equality, and permitted to tell him our love, we arc not 
 
CHAPTER II. 95 
 
 the less sensible that lie towers above us in tlie majesty 
 of his divinity, far more than the citron-tree above the 
 humble rose; that this majesty is our protection; and 
 that the surpassing greatness of our joy springs from the 
 union in his character of such gracious condescension 
 and such divine grandeur. 
 
 The Lord Jesus leads his people along to greater dis- 
 plays of the riches of his grace and of holy joy — as 
 pleasures were found in the banqueting-house, richer and 
 more varied than under the apple-tree. In chap. i. 
 ver. 4, he is represented as bringing us into "his cham- 
 bers," the place of his intimate friends; — in chap. i. 
 ver. 12, as feasting us at his table, with a repast of holy 
 joys; here, he is set forth as bringing us into the midst 
 of means for securing the most abundant exhilaration and 
 gladness of heart, where, like a person in the king's house 
 of wine, we may be abundantly satisfied with the fatness 
 of his house and may drink of the river of his pleasures. 
 The foregoing passages show different stages of spiritual 
 enjoyment, increasing in degree till they are the greatest 
 possible. Ver. 4. 
 
 In all these manifestations to us, his banner over us is 
 love. As the banner rallies for the defence of even the 
 weakest citizen all the strength of the state — is his pro- 
 tection — so, the divine love is our defence against all 
 evils, and secures for us all the aid that may be drawn 
 from all the other attributes of God. As the banner 
 shows the country of the soldier, it is by possessing 
 love that we are seen to be citizens of heaven. As the 
 soldier exults in the flag of his country, the saint glories 
 in the consciousness of the divine love, and in having love 
 shed abroad in the heart. 
 
 In the three following verses, viz. 5, 6, 7, is a repre- 
 sentation of the state of the believer, when, thus over- 
 
96 ANALYSIS. 
 
 shadowed by divine love, he is in the banqueting-house, 
 in the full enjoyment of these overflowing riches of 
 heavenly grace, to the greatest degree possible for man. 
 1. The state of the soul at times of the greatest spiritual 
 enjoyment, "sick of love," ver. 5 — filled with communi- 
 cations of love almost beyond its power to bear. 2. The 
 feelings had at such seasons, ver. 6; great contrition 
 and humility — the head was sinking ; the consciousness of 
 being sweetly and powerfully sustained by the Lord Jesus, 
 through his imputed righteousness and by his inward 
 grace, "His left hand is under my head;" we feel our- 
 selves drawn very near to Jesus, "His right hand doth 
 embrace me." 3. The desires then had, are — to be 
 stayed or sustained by the fruits of the tree, the doctrines 
 and promises of the gospel, "Stay me with flagons, 
 comfort me with apples," ver. 5, and — to guard against 
 anything likely to make our beloved withdraw, "I charge 
 you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, &c." ver. 7. 
 
 As these overpowering manifestations of love cannot 
 be expected to continue without interruption, and Jesus 
 will for wise purposes withdraw from the soul, in verses 
 8 and 9 is set forth the way in which he returns and 
 manifests himself after such withdrawal. In his ap- 
 proach, he makes us hear his voice, even when afar off, 
 ver. 8, " The voice of my beloved, &c." He comes with 
 perfect ease, over all obstacles intervening in consequence 
 of sin, ver. 8 ; he comes unexpectedly, often surprising 
 us by his grace, when we are looking not for it. Having 
 thus returned, he cannot be enjoyed by us without much 
 to hinder the full manifestations of his excellence and 
 glory. Walls yet intervene between us and him ; he is 
 very near to us, but the vision of his glory is obscured, 
 and the sound of his voice deadened by the barriers 
 behind which he stands, the walls of the dungeon in 
 
CHAPTER II. 07 
 
 which we arc now confined, the walls of our earthly house 
 of this tabernacle, of our present mortal state, ver. 8. 
 At the utmost, we can now get nothing more than very 
 partial glimpses of the glory of Christ, such as may be 
 had of a person showing himself through the obscurity of 
 a lattice. Ver. 9. 
 
 While in our present state, we arc thus in the condition 
 of persons in a dungeon with the doors thrown open, like 
 Peter's, Acts xii. 7, and Jesus is standing without, in the 
 invisible world, looking on us kindly through the lattice, 
 and addressing us through the bars; he tries to allure us 
 away from our darkness, loathsomeness, and chains, 
 abroad into that bright and glorious world where he has 
 gone to prepare a place for us — saying, "Rise up, my 
 love, my fair one, and come away, &c." He addresses 
 us in language of the tenderest love — "My love, my fair 
 one." Loving us so strongly, he is even more desirous 
 to have us with him where he is in glory, than we can be 
 be to depart and be with him. As motives for alluring us 
 away from earth to heaven, he says that in the "world to 
 which he would draw us — "the winter is past;" there 
 the curse, which has fallen so heavily even on the ground 
 as to cause the desolations of winter, is for ever done 
 away — all is fresh and uninterrupted spring. "The rain 
 is over and gone;" afflictions and sorrows, all the former 
 things are passed away. "The flowers appear on the 
 earth;" everything is there budding and bursting "with 
 beauty. "The time of the singing of birds is come;" 
 there, all is vocal with enchanting melody, and even the 
 inanimate creation are joining in the chorus. "And 
 the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;" the 
 burden of that music is love. "The fig-tree pntteth forth 
 her green figs;" there, everything is found that can 
 gratify our capabilities of enjoyment. Hence, he says, 
 9* 
 
98 ANALYSIS. 
 
 "Come away" from the sin and sorrows, &c. &c. of earth, 
 come away to the skies, &c. Ver. 10 — 13. 
 
 The saint who is thus loved and allured by the Lord 
 Jesus, is often found in the rough, afflictive scenes of 
 this life, and in seclusion from the world, "in the clefts 
 of the rock;" but he encourages us not to be dis- 
 heartened by a sense of unworthiness, or cast down by 
 sorrow, for the voice of such persons, however broken by 
 contrition, is sweet to him, and their countenance, though 
 marked with tears of penitence, is pleasant in his sight. 
 Ver. 14. 
 
 Those who would be pleasant to Jesus, and enjoy fre- 
 quent visits, such as mentioned in the foregoing verses, 
 viz. 8 — 13, must be careful to guard against sin, and 
 especially little sins; "the little foxes" will spoil the 
 vines with tender grapes. Ver. 15. 
 
 Those who thus watch, and act, and love — who enjoy 
 these manifestations of the beloved— may use the lan- 
 guage of full assurance, and feel the amazing richness of 
 the inheritance they have in Jesus. 1 Cor. iii. 22 — 23 ; 
 John xvii. 10. The friendship and union existing be- 
 tween Jesus and his people, is of the most intimate and 
 confidential kind ; and as the feeding-place of the young 
 hart is the place of the strongest desire, and though he 
 may withdraw for a time from his pasture grounds, to 
 them he must return; so, Jesus loves the dwelling-place 
 among his saints, Ps. lxxvii. 2; lxxviii. 68; and though 
 he seems to withdraw at' seasons, he will not forsake us 
 utterly, but will come back in his own good time, and 
 make his abode with us. Ver. 16. 
 
 As these delightful visits of the beloved, the times when 
 he comes over the hills and feeds among the lilies, must 
 be interrupted, the saint here prays that he would repeat 
 
CHAPTER III. 99 
 
 them as often as possible, until the day of eternal blessed- 
 ness break, and the shadows now closing around us, 
 for ever flee away. Ver. 17. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 This chapter consists of two parts, verses 1 — 5, showing 
 the earnestness with which the believing soul seeks its 
 absent Lord; and verses 6 — 11, illustrating the magnifi- 
 cence of the mode in which the saint is carried onward to 
 glory. 
 
 The first verse, together with those following to the 
 fifth, is connected with the last verse of the foregoing 
 chapter. The prayer there offered for the repetition, as 
 often as possible, of those precious interviews with Jesus, 
 during the dark and lonely scenes of this life, is a prayer 
 which prompts to activity in seeking him. This ac- 
 tivity springs from a vehement desire kindled in the 
 heart by our experience of the excellence of our Lord. 
 Having been overpowered with his loveliness, and feeling, 
 by his withdrawal, how precious his presence and how 
 great the loss sustained by his absence, we have longings 
 so intense for him as to be unsatisfied with earnest 
 prayers ; as to rise above and keep down the strongest 
 cravings of our bodily nature. Nothing is more impor- 
 tunate and necessary than sleep ; but the hungering and 
 thirsting for righteousness, felt when the manifestations 
 of Jesiis are withheld, are stronger than the claims of 
 even sleep, and cause us to seek him on our bed, during 
 hours belonging to repose. 
 
 But it does not stop in desires, however intense. It 
 incites to exertion for coming to him, though by great 
 efforts and self-denial, making us even leave our bed and 
 
100 ANALYSIS. 
 
 go out amid the chill dews and dangers of the night. 
 Ver 2. 
 
 Animated by the fervent emotion which makes us feel 
 Jesus to he him whom our soul loveth, we avail ourselves 
 of every aid in finding our Lord, and inquire especially 
 of those appointed as watchmen in Zion, the ministers of 
 the word, concerning our spiritual state and the means of 
 being restored to the joy of his salvation. Ver. 3. 
 
 Under these circumstances the promise is fulfilled, 
 "They that seek shall find;" and efforts showing such 
 earnestness and sincerity of purpose, are rewarded by the 
 return of Jesus to our longing hearts. Ver. 4. 
 
 Having found him, we are anxious to enjoy the bless- 
 edness of his society, where there can be no restraint, 
 and Ave may commune with him in secret, of all that is in 
 our heart; wc desire to be alone with Jesus, and the 
 influences of his Spirit are laid hold of with the greatest 
 eagerness. 
 
 The desire before expressed, is again felt, to avoid 
 evcrvthing at all likely to make him withdraw from us. 
 Ver. 5. 
 
 These manifestations of the loveliness of Christ on 
 earth, lead to the glorious displays of his love in heaven; 
 and our finding him, as just noticed, is the preparatory 
 step to finding him in the splendour of his throne at the 
 right hand of God. She who was allured by the motives 
 in chap. ii. 10 — 13, to arise and come away, having 
 embraced the invitation, finds on coming out fro'm the 
 walls of her dungeon, the royal palanquin waiting for 
 her, under escort of a powerful guard: and the angels 
 who desire to look into these things, view with admiration 
 this imposing procession, as coming up from the wilderness 
 lying between this world and heaven, the cortege is over- 
 shadowed by the reality represented in the pillar of cloud 
 
CHAPTER III. 101 
 
 and of fire, by the cloud and smoke by day, and the 
 shining of a flaming fire by night; -while around is 
 ascending the perfume of those odoriferous graces which 
 are fed by the oil of gladness, and kindled by the flame 
 of the Holy Ghost. In this manner, is the soul of him 
 who is so humble in his own eyes, and neglected by the 
 world, carried by the angels to Jesus' bosom. Luke 
 xvi. 22. 
 
 In this progress to glory, the soul is overshadowed by 
 the glorious covering or protection of the divine nature 
 of Christ, our righteousness, like pillars of smoke or 
 cloud, breaking the force of the rays of divine justice, 
 and surrounded by the incense of prayer and all other 
 graces, more pleasing than the perfumes burned in golden 
 censers around the eastern bride. Ver. 6. 
 
 The soul is resting in a palanquin guarded by the 
 angels who minister to the heirs of salvation; and who, 
 in consequence of the dangers besetting us, are fully 
 armed, and competent for every emergency. Ps. xxxiv. 7. 
 Ver. 7, 8. 
 
 This conveyance is one of royal magnificence, belong- 
 ing to Jesus, and made by the hands of him who did by 
 himself purge our sins. Heb. i. 3. Ver. 9. 
 
 It has been built of the most precious and costly mate- 
 rials imaginable ; materials so costly as to be obtainable 
 not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with 
 the precious blood of Christ. The conveyance in which 
 we are borne onward to heaven, is so rich and precious, 
 that the lining of it is love; and however heavy the 
 storms and rough the scenes around us, we are in a litter, 
 or portable pavilion, where the soul is o'ercanopied with 
 love, where it is reclining on love, where the head is pil- 
 lowed on love, and where everything its eyes rest on, is 
 curiously wrought with the emblems of love. Ver. 10. 
 
102 ANALYSIS. 
 
 The meeting of Jesus with a redeemed soul clothed 
 upon with a spiritual body, in the last day, at our en- 
 trance into heaven, is represented as the day of our 
 espousals with him. He is waiting to receive us, in his 
 kingly robes and crowned with many crowns ; and those 
 who have been on earth "a spectacle unto the world, and 
 to angels, and to men," 1 Cor. iv. 9, shall then be 
 viewed with admiration by all the holy angels and hea- 
 venly host. Ver. 11. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 In this chapter, with ver. 1 of chap, v., we have, 
 1. The estimation of the beauty of holiness in the saint, 
 as it appears in the eyes of Jesus. Ver. 1 — 5. 2. His 
 gracious designation of a place where he Avishes such 
 souls to meet with him even now, until the day of glory 
 in heaven cause our shades to flee away. Ver. 6. 
 3. The reasons given by him for alluring us to meet with 
 .him where he has appointed. Ver. 7 — 15. 4. The effect 
 of these truths and reasons on the heart, to make us seek 
 in prayer those influences of the Holy Spirit, which alone 
 can prepare the soul for these meetings with our Lord. 
 Ver. 16. 5. The consequence of thus hearkening to his 
 voice and seeking the Holy Spirit, is that Jesus comes 
 into our souls, and, by his presence sensibly felt, mani- 
 fests his acceptance of us, and with the light of his 
 smiles, fosters our pious virtues, chap. v. 1 ; — while the 
 angels who rejoice over the soul first repenting, gather 
 around it witli no less joy, when our Lord comes again to 
 visit and revive his garden. 
 
 The soul thus on the road to this glorious destiny, 
 is humbled with the growing sense of its unworthiness, 
 
CHAPTER IV. 103 
 
 and feels more deeply that in our flesh dwells no good 
 tiling — sees nothing in us that Ave can suppose Jesus 
 will love. The growing conviction of our sinfulness, 
 attending growth in grace, would create despondency, 
 did not our Lord give us assurances of his esteem; and 
 those who are thus humble may be safely entrusted with 
 these assurances, without danger of being exalted above 
 measure. A Ye must observe how much of this book, 
 especially henceforward, is occupied with these expres- 
 sions of Jesus' love to the saint, and how small, in com- 
 parison, the space given, viz. chap. v. 9 — 16, to our 
 expressions of the beauty of Christ. 
 
 The proper meaning of the words in verses 1 — 5, and 
 indeed of the subsequent addresses of the same kind, 
 must be got by gathering together all the different im- 
 pressions of beauty felt when we gaze on the eyes of 
 doves, the flock of goats feeding on mount Gilead, the 
 flock of sheep coming up from the washing, the thread of 
 scarlet, the tower of David, covered with its thousand 
 shields, the two young roes feeding among the lilies; 
 each one of these separately, is viewed with great plea- 
 sure, but when we sum up the feelings of satisfaction had 
 in contemplating them all unitedly, then may we have a 
 representation of the delight with which Jesus dwells on 
 the soul of the believer in process of sanctification. 
 
 While in this world, and in preparation for the day of 
 our espousals, we arc not cut oft" from communication 
 with Jesus. His love makes him wish to have us with 
 him even now, though it must be in a different way from 
 that in which we shall be with him hereafter. In this 
 world, he comes and manifests himself to us. John xiv 
 21, 2-]. 
 
 lie has appointed a place for such interviews, where 
 he may always be found, lie appointed the mountain 
 
104 ANALYSIS. 
 
 of the Lord's house of old, where the Shechlnah dwelt, 
 as the place where he would meet with his people, and 
 dwell among them, and commune with them, obscurely 
 indeed, but really ; — the place where he has now recorded 
 his name to dwell there, is the mountain of myrrh and 
 the hill of frankincense; the hill where the mercy-seat 
 is established; where the cloud of the Holy Spirit's 
 influences abides in dews richer and more refreshing 
 than the dews on the mountains of spices. Ver. 6. 
 
 That we may have no hesitation in coming to meet 
 him on the hill of frankincense, till the day break and 
 the shadows flee away, he gives us eight reasons for our 
 encouragement : 
 
 1. Thou art to me all beautiful, without spot or any 
 such blemish. Eph. v. 27. Ver. 7. 
 
 2. Here only canst thou be safe; the choicest spots 
 of this world, though beautiful as the top of Amana, or 
 Shenir, or Hermon, or that goodly mountain, even Leba- 
 non, are full of peril — lions' dens and leopards; there- 
 fore come away with me from all these, however inviting ; 
 come away to the mount where I meet with my loved 
 ones, under the bright cloud of the Holy Ghost, drop- 
 ping on their souls the myrrh and frankincense of the 
 heavenly world. Ver. 8. 
 
 3. Come away with me to this mount; because my 
 heart is enraptured — is taken away — with only the par- 
 tial development of thy loveliness that as yet appears ; 
 with one of thine eyes unveiled to me, with one chain of 
 thy neck: thy graces are not yet perfected, sanctifica- 
 tion is not yet completed, nor thy spiritual body pre- 
 pared ; but even the little now seen in thee of the glory 
 that shall be revealed, enraptures my heart. Ver. 9. 
 
 4. He wishes us with him there, because our love, 
 wrought by the Spirit, is beautiful in his eyes ; this is 
 
CHAPTER IV. 105 
 
 what is especially delightful to him, and in the absence of 
 any other excellence, commends us; and this love is 
 more pleasing to him than wine to our taste. Not 
 only is the affection of love thus grateful to him, 
 but equally so are all those graces of the heart which are 
 the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22—23, Eph. v. 9, and 
 are the perfume of the soul — better even than the holy 
 oil shed over the head of Aaron. Ver. 10. 
 
 5. The language of the heart thus filled with love as 
 the consequence of being anointed with our glorious Head, 
 with the oil of gladness — distils in accents as pleasant to 
 him as drops of the honey-comb to our tongues. He 
 sees within the heart a fountain of this loveliness, not 
 soon exhausted, because springing from a source no 
 deeper than the lips, but springing up into everlasting 
 life — "honey and milk are under thy tongue." Ver. 11. 
 
 6. The presence of the saint is altogether pleasant to 
 our Lord, as much so as the fragrance of Lebanon to us. 
 Ver. 11. 
 
 7. For showing why he wishes us to come away with 
 him, he states that his delight in the soul of the believer 
 is as great and pleasing as what is felt by us in enjoying 
 the most beautiful garden. Verses 12 — 15. 
 
 This garden is enclosed, abounds in all pleasant fruits, 
 is full of trees of frankincense and all the chief spices, 
 and is watered, not only from an unfailing spring in its 
 midst, but also with cool, refreshing streams from the 
 snowy tops of Lebanon. Thus precious in the eyes of 
 our Lord is the soul which Jehovah has set apart for 
 himself, Ps. iv. 3; which yields the peaceable fruit of 
 righteousness; which sends up its desires as incense; 
 which enjoys those copious streams issuing from the 
 fountain of the Holy Spirit within the heart, and coming 
 10 
 
106 ANALYSIS. 
 
 with the refreshing influence of waters from a more 
 glorious than Lebanon in the skies. 
 
 The effect of such impressions of Jesus' love, creates the 
 desire that he may come into our hearts and make his 
 abode with us; that he may sup with us, and we with 
 him. Rev. iii. 20. We wish, however, to prepare the 
 way of the Lord, and therefore address ourselves to 
 prayer for the influences of the Holy Spirit to revive our 
 graces; "Awake, north wind! and come, thou south," 
 &c. Then, when the soul has been thus prepared by the 
 Holy Ghost, we rejoice in finding Jesus coming into our 
 hearts and enjoying the pleasant fruits of our sanctified 
 graces. Ver. 16. 
 
 8. And if we thus come to him with preparation of 
 heart, he will come down into our souls by his Spirit, and 
 spread around us a host of angels rejoicing to be our 
 guard. Chap. v. 1. Prayers thus offered under the 
 intercession of the Spirit, are answered, without delay, 
 by Jesus coming and dwelling in our hearts, Eph. iii. 17, 
 ii. 22, and manifesting his acceptance of our services and 
 graces; the great acceptableness of which to him is 
 illustrated by the combination of gratifications had in a 
 pleasant garden, where we are regaled with pleasant 
 odours, beautiful scenes and flowers, and delightful fruits. 
 Nor does Jesus enjoy these by himself. He who is 
 anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, desires 
 those associates — anxious as they are to look into the 
 mysteries of redemption — to come and enjoy with him 
 the beauties and delights of this new creation, over which, 
 while he rejoices as a bridegroom over his bride, they, 
 the sons of God, may sing together and shout for joy. 
 
CHAPTER V. 107 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 In chapters v. vi. and vii. we have, 1. The effect of 
 sluggishness and indifference when the Lord Jesus draws 
 near to the soul; viz. the loss of his presence and favour: 
 ver. 2 — 6. 2. The anxiety, labour, and trouble to 
 which this neglect gives rise, in our efforts for seeking 
 him: ver. 7, 8. 3. The answers given to the questions 
 put by those who witness our anxiety and sorrow at such 
 times — viz. What is the character of him who is so 
 anxiously sought? ver. 9, and, Where has he gone, 
 where may he be found? chap. vi. 1. 4. The willingness 
 of Jesus, even when he has been forced from us by our 
 own sins, to receive his people who seek him in sincerity 
 and truth, as shown by the address of the beloved to the 
 spouse, chap. vi. 4; vii. 9. 5. The feelings towards our 
 Lord by the soul thus kindly received into his love, 
 expressed in the wish to enjoy retirement with him, and 
 to offer him our best gifts, chap. vii. 10 — 13, and to the 
 end of chap. viii. 
 
 After the most glorious displays to us of the love of 
 Jesus, we may soon sink into indifference, entangled and 
 overcome through weakness of the flesh, Matt. xxvi. 41, 
 by the necessary duties of life running out into tempta- 
 tions; our perceptions being allowed to close against 
 these manifestations of grace, through our own apathy 
 and sluggishness. But while at such time, the flesh may 
 be weak, the spirit remains willing — we sleep, but our 
 heart waketh; though there is a law in our members, 
 warring against the law of our mind and bringing us into 
 captivity to the law of sin, we do yet delight in the law 
 of God, after the inward man, Rom. vii. 22 : though the 
 outward evidences of love to Christ have very much 
 
108 ANALYSIS. 
 
 disappeared under the pressure of spiritual sloth and 
 decay, grace is still in the heart with its glimmerings ; 
 the heart is awake, but not in sufficient strength to coun- 
 teract the pressure of carnality and control the doings of 
 the body. So far from fulfilling his wishes and coming 
 away from Lebanon, &c, chap. iv. 8, to the mountain of 
 myrrh, there to meet with him, we prefer the indulgence 
 of our fleshly, carnal inclinations — sleep — to all the 
 attractions of his loveliness and society. Ver. 2. 
 
 But so strong is his love, that when he does not find 
 us meeting him at the appointed place, he graciously 
 comes to seek us, even in our sloth, and tries to allure us 
 away, by considerations the most endearing and affect- 
 ing: "Open to me, &c," Rev. iii. 20. Unmoved by 
 these, we content ourselves in our apathy, by excuses 
 the most frivolous. The love of our Lord does then 
 prompt him to go further than entreaty, to use exertions, 
 for finding his way into our heart: "My beloved, &c." 
 Ver. 4. 
 
 At length, moved by his tender addresses to us, and 
 by the measures of mercy used by him for reviving our 
 love, the affections begin to move, and we arise to meet 
 him. Instead however, of running at once to meet him, 
 and opening our soul to him, just as it is, we delay in 
 order to prepare ourselves to see him; and the con- 
 sequence of this delay is, that although we bring with us 
 the best of our acts and endeavours, our hands dropping 
 with myrrh, &c, he is gone. Nothing of our own, how- 
 ever costly, as duty and self-denial, and mortification, can 
 excuse us for hesitating to rush into his arms ; and as 
 many a repenting sinner loses all interest in him, and 
 also the soul, by delaying in order to make himself fit to 
 come, so does many a saint often lose precious interviews 
 with the Lord. Ver. 5 — 6. 
 
CHAPTER V. 109 
 
 Her soul has been deeply moved under the language 
 of the beloved standing at the door; and thus moved, 
 does now impel her to seek him. While the withdrawals 
 of Jesus are a just recompense for our sluggishness, they 
 give occasion for calling into exercise our love, and for 
 showing its strength. What was lost by indifference, can 
 now be got only by great exertion ; we seek him ; we call 
 on him without receiving an answer; we have to suffer 
 reproach and ill-treatment from the watchmen of Zion, 
 who, instead of helping us in our zeal, view our love and 
 devotion as fanaticism, and both misuse and expose us to 
 shame; "Took away my vail, &c." The sympathy that 
 is often denied to the devoted heart by those high in 
 office in the Church, may be found among our pious 
 equals; and seeking an interest in their prayers, Eph. 
 vi. 19; 2 Thess. iii. 1, we entreat their aid, serving, 
 seeking, and following our Lord. Ver. 7 — 8. 
 
 This earnestness and zeal is not without its effect on 
 others before whom the light of the believer is thus made 
 to shine. Seeing the manifestations in various ways, of 
 such intense love to Christ, a love that will be satisfied 
 with nothing short of himself, and which is willing, for 
 the enjoyment of his presence, to incur any self-denial 
 and any humiliation, they naturally inquire, What there 
 is in Christ above others, that so strongly affects us? 
 The illustration that follows in verses 10 — 16, is un- 
 equalled for beauty and richness. It is the Holy Spirit, 
 by the mouth of an inspired saint, illustrating the beauty 
 of Christ by language, through the same means used in 
 creation, drawn from the beauties of the world. The 
 most fine gold, the raven's blackness, the eyes of doves, 
 the beds of spices, the lilies dropping sweet-smelling 
 myrrh, &c. ; all these, as works of Christ, show his excel- 
 lence. But when we would understand the loveliness of 
 10* 
 
HO ANALYSIS. 
 
 that human person through which the Son of God, the 
 eternal Creator, manifests himself as our Redeemer, 
 these separate clusters, radiant with his glory, and 
 scattered at large in his works, must be gathered into a 
 form of the man Christ Jesus ; and we are told that, just 
 as beautiful as a person must be, whose appearance 
 would impress us with all the ideas of loveliness got from 
 the most fine gold, the beds of spices, the majesty of 
 Lebanon, &c. &c, so beautiful is Christ. Yes, though 
 even in a case like this, there would still be something 
 wanting; in Jesus there is everything that can be de- 
 sired ; he is altogether lovely. This person, combining 
 beauties beyond what man may possess, or the mind of 
 man, in the farthest stretch of his imagination, unaided 
 by the Spirit of God, could conceive — "this is my 
 beloved, and this is my friend." Yer. 9 — 16. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Such a representation of the excellence of our Lord, 
 creates in those hearing it a desire to see him for them- 
 selves; and they inquire where he may be found, 
 "Whither has thy beloved gone? that we may seek him 
 with thee?" Ver. 1. 
 
 The reply is, that he may always be found and seen in 
 "his garden," in his church, which is in the midst of this 
 world, a sacred enclosure, beloved by him, Ps. lxxx. 12; 
 Isa. v. 1 — where is his strongest desire, Matt, xxviii. 20; 
 there does he dwell among his people, to enjoy the frag- 
 rance of the beds of spices, the grateful incense of desires 
 arising from sanctified hearts, and "to gather lilies," — to 
 take to his bosom, transfer to heaven those ripe for 
 change. Though Jesus may be withdrawn from the 
 heart of one and another of his saints, he is never absent 
 
CHAPTER VI. HI 
 
 from his Church ; he is always in some part or another 
 of it, among the beds of spices; and those who have 
 estranged him from them by neglect, must seek for him 
 there. Ver. 2. 
 
 The bright manifestations of Jesus' love may be with- 
 drawn from us, without unsettling our hope; the absence 
 of joy, and of such views as represented in chap. ii. 5, 
 iv. 1 — 15, &c, does by no means imply the absence of 
 piety or faith. Faith reposes on Jesus when the light of 
 his countenance is withheld; and, as we follow him, 
 though amid gloom and trial, makes us still feel and say, 
 in the absence of all spiritual comforts — even in the 
 deadly gloom of the greatest spiritual darkness — "I am 
 my beloved's, and my beloved is mine;" though his pre- 
 sence is not manifested now to my soul, I know that "he 
 fecdeth among the lilies," that his nature constrains him 
 to dwell among his saints; and there, by keeping within 
 his garden, under the influence of the means of grace, I 
 shall again soon find the joy of his salvation, in the 
 fulness of his presence. Ps. xlii. 1, 5, 11. Ver. 3. 
 
 A faith thus steadfast is never disappointed. The 
 soul, thus following hard after Christ, and seeking him, 
 perhaps with tears, finds him. The gracious Friend who 
 had been so misused, chap. v. 2 — 6, though he had 
 forsaken the soul for a season, rejoices to receive us when 
 we show our sorrow by seeking him, Ps. ciii. 9; Isa. lx. 
 10; lxiv. 5. He comes to meet us as he sees and hears 
 us following him through the paths of his garden ; and 
 he assures us his love is unchanged; he encourages us to 
 come to him, by such language as is used in verses 
 4 — 13, &c. This passage, down to chap. vii. 9, is the 
 language of Jesus to the believing soul when restored 
 from the estrangement caused by neglect of his love, as 
 stated in chap. v. 2 — 6. At such times, humbled by our 
 
112 ANALYSIS. 
 
 unworthy conduct towards such a friend, we hesitate until 
 reassured of his unabated love. As Tirzah, situated on 
 Judea's beautiful hills, and Jerusalem, "beautiful for 
 situation," and a bannered host, were objects impressing 
 the mind with sensations of beauty, and of commanding 
 dignity and majesty; so appears the soul of the saint 
 advancing towards Jesus awaiting us amid the beauties 
 and fragrance of his garden. Ver. 4. 
 
 In accommodation to human modes of speaking, he 
 says the impression is the greatest possible, is overpower- 
 ing. Ver. 5. 
 
 Then, as though to reassure us that, after our unwor- 
 thy conduct, his love is still the same, he uses the same 
 language previously addressed to us, chap. iv. 1 — 3. 
 Ver. 7. 
 
 Around the Lord Jesus, God the Son, there are innu- 
 merable lovely and glorious beings, " queens, and virgins 
 without number," on whom he might bestow his love; 
 but among these the soul of the believer stands pre- 
 eminent; this is the one amid that host, whom he loves 
 above all others, and loves as devotedly as though 
 there were no other to love. Moreover, that soul thus 
 sanctified, thus beautified with the beauty of holiness, 
 is the object of universal admiration; all that saw her 
 praised her; the redeemed, fully perfected, are the admi- 
 ration of the heavenly host. Ver. 8, 9. 
 
 And as he sees the estranged soul of his saint hasten- 
 ing towards him, impressed with her beauty and dignity 
 of bearing, he exclaims, Who is this approaching, covered 
 with the blush of beauty and glow of health, more pleas- 
 ing than the dawn of the morning; beautiful as the moon 
 in her silvery brightness ; pure and impressive in loveli- 
 ness as the brilliancy of the sun ; grand and imposing in 
 her demeanour as hosts with streaming banners? Numb. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 113 
 
 xxiii. 21. This is even my ransomed one, new created 
 through the Holy Spirit. Ver. 10. 
 
 Receiving the returning saint with this cordiality and 
 love, our Lord proceeds to tell his feelings during his 
 withdrawal. He withdraws not in anger, but in love; 
 he feels, without ceasing, the strongest desire to return 
 to us; he earnestly invites us to return; he continues 
 still to view us with unabated love, with even greater 
 pleasure than he views the angels, the hosts seen by 
 Jacob at Mahanaim. Though leaving the individual 
 soul, he went into other portions of his garden, God's 
 husbandry, 1 Cor. iii. 9, the Church, for exercising over 
 it his care. But the strength of his love towards us, 
 unkind though we had been to him, would not allow him 
 to forget us; his mind, his heart, was on us, even though 
 he was withdrawn, and his countenance hid; and spon- 
 taneously, almost before he was aware, his nature being 
 love, he found himself inclined to us with tender com- 
 passion, and returning to meet us, with the rapidity of 
 the chariots of Amminadib. Though we grieve Jesus by 
 our neglect, and compel him to leave us, he departs in 
 sorrow and in love, drawn towards us still by the 
 strongest affection, and not only willing to receive us if 
 we seek him again, but coming with the greatest rapidity 
 to meet us, Song ii. 8; Luke xv. 20. Ver. 11, 12. 
 
 With tenderness and emphasis, he encourages us not 
 to hesitate, but to come on, "Return, return, &c," 
 assuring us that his heart had been with us, and that he 
 is not only willing, but desirous, to look upon us. And 
 does any one ask, what he sees in this sanctified soul, 
 that so captivates? He replies by summing up the 
 whole in one expression — the festive chorus of two hosts. 
 He has as much pleasure in contemplating this redeemed 
 spirit, as we could have, were we permitted to gaze on 
 
114 ANALYSIS. 
 
 hosts mingling in the festal dances and rejoicing of a day 
 of triumph — such hosts as were seen by Jacob at Ma- 
 hanaim, and exulting in such rejoicings as were seen 
 when, over the first creation, "the morning stars sang 
 together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." 
 Job xxxviii. 7. Ver. 13. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The commendation of the beauty of the pious soul, for 
 the purpose of encouraging it to trust in Jesus, notwith- 
 standing past neglect r,nd estrangement, is continued 
 without interruption to verse 9. The same principles of 
 interpretation apply here that have been used for inter- 
 preting the other similer passages, chap. iv. 1 — 5 ; 
 v. 10 — 16. Having set forth this beauty, he is repre- 
 sented as held enchained by it, ver. 5, "the king is 
 captivated by those locks;" and expresses that his most 
 delicate and pleasing delight is had in the company and 
 contemplation of the new creation going forward in the 
 soul of the saint. Ver. 1 — 6. 
 
 As a consequence, he wishes to gather us in his arms, 
 and carry us in his bosom, Isa. xl. 11, and to hearken to 
 our voices engaged in thankfulness and praise; the agree- 
 ableness of which to our Lord is as great as to ourselves 
 would be such wine as mentioned in verse 9. Ver. 8, 9. 
 
 With the 10th verse, begins the third part of the book, 
 which contains a statement of the effects produced on the 
 heart by the manifestations of love, and by the motives 
 before mentioned. 
 
 1. The effect is the full assurance of hope, "I am my 
 beloved's, and his desire is towards me." Ver. 10. 
 
 2. We wish to be much alone with Jesus in retirement, 
 "Let us go forth into the field, &c." Ver. 11. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 115 
 
 3. We engage spontaneously in labours of holiness 
 and love, such as enjoined by our Lord, "Let us get up 
 early to the vineyards, let us see if the vine flourish, &c," 
 ver. 12. In such ways and duties as these do we give 
 Jesus our love. 
 
 4. For him do wc lay up, and to him do we consecrate 
 our best gifts, as well as our diligent services, under the 
 influence, of this love: "All manner of pleasant fruits, 
 which I have laid up for thee, my beloved." Ver. 13. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The next effect mentioned, is a desire that everything 
 hindering the full and perfect interchange of affection 
 between Jesus and our soul, might be removed, and that 
 it were possible to enjoy his love to us, and express 
 our love to him, as we shall be able to do in heaven. 
 Much as we may now long for stronger displays of his 
 love, and to give stronger evidence of our love to him, Ave 
 acquiesce in the present state of things, because we feel 
 there would be an impropriety, no less than impossi- 
 bility, in those overpowering exhibitions of love that 
 belong to heaven. But this does not preclude us from 
 feeling that, were it seen best by him, we would rejoice, 
 even now, in those raptures which belong to heaven, 
 where we shall be able to speak of his love in the strong- 
 est language, and give expression to it in the most 
 exalted praise, without danger of exposing ourselves to 
 the contempt of the ungodly. Ver. 1. There shall our 
 fellowship and communion with him be far more intimate 
 and endearing than ever on earth. Ver. 2. 
 
 6. Yet though this desire, of ver. 1 and 2, cannot be 
 grunted, we wish to have as much as can now be enjoyed 
 of Jesus, even such seasons as are here mentioned, and 
 
116 ANALYSIS. 
 
 had been enjoyed in chap. ii. 6, 7, and with it, the desire, 
 as there expressed, that nothing be done to interrupt it. 
 This seems mentioned as though it was viewed by the 
 soul as a blessed and satisfying foretaste of what may be 
 expected hereafter, and as much as is best or possible for 
 us in this world. Ver. 3, 4. 
 
 7. But though we cannot now enjoy what we could 
 desire, and what shall be enjoyed in heaven; though the 
 delightful scenes now had must be interrupted, yet we are 
 permitted to go up from this wilderness, leaning on the 
 beloved; we feel that underneath us are the everlasting 
 arms; in all circumstances he sustains us; and through- 
 out our pilgrimage we are thus upheld by him who first 
 found us, raised us up, and took us into covenant relation 
 "under the apple-tree," as in chap. ii. 3, under the 
 shadow of Christ. Ver. 5. 
 
 8. Another result of this love is the desire to be con- 
 tinually near to the heart of Jesus, to be perpetually in 
 his remembrance, and sustained by his Almighty power; 
 that like the stones engraved with the names of Israel on 
 Aaron's breastplate, and like the stones on the shoulder 
 of the high priest, we may be set as a seal on his heart, 
 as a seal on his arm. Ver. 6. 
 
 9. This love sacrifices everything that would come 
 between us and Christ. Death cannot arrest us — we love 
 Jesus better than life, "for love is strong as death." 
 Matt. xvi. 24, 25. The delights of it being such as 
 have been represented in the foregoing verses, 1 — 4, and 
 other parts of this book, we desire to abide on the heart 
 of Jesus, and run to embrace even death, if necessary, 
 sooner than loose his love. As there is nothing which 
 jealousy will not sacrifice, so there is nothing which this 
 love will not sacrifice for the full enjoyment of Christ. 
 
 10. Everything that the world can ofi'er for bribing or 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 117 
 
 enticing us away from our Lord, is rejected; as this love 
 cannot be got from Jesus with silver and gold, neither 
 can the heart which feels it in the fulness here described, 
 be induced to part with it for the world. Ver. 7. It is 
 felt to be more precious than rubies, and all the things 
 thou canst desire are not to be compared unto it. Ps. iii. 
 15; Phil. iii. 8. 
 
 11. While thus enjoying the love of Christ in such 
 fulness and power, we are not unmindful of the impeni- 
 tent among our friends, &c, feeling them a kindred to 
 us by the flesh, Luke x. 29, Rom. ix. 3, and anxious 
 for them to obtain like precious faith. As a younger 
 sister not yet of marriageable age was thought of by her 
 who was exalted to be the queen of even Solomon in all 
 his glory, and had a care exercised over her for raising 
 her in due time to an eligible position of dignity, wealth, 
 and splendour — so the impenitent are not forgotten by 
 those who are already enjoying the pledges of the love of 
 Christ ; these watch for souls as those who must give 
 account, that we may present them with us in the day of 
 the Lord. Ver. 8. 
 
 The change that will then be wrought in the condition 
 of souls thus brought forth from their estrangement, nigh 
 unto Christ, is illustrated in ver. 9. Though in their 
 natural condition they are like an ordinary wall without 
 ornamental work, they shall be made beautiful as a palace 
 of silver built on such a foundation, or as a door of 
 ordinary materials encased in cedar, the most polished, 
 and costly, and beautiful, of all wood. The Holy Spirit 
 takes our nature, dark and unseemly as a wall, and is 
 raising thereon, and from the midst of these dilapidated 
 and ruined materials, that which shall be more beautiful 
 than a palace of silver, a spiritual temple, an habitation 
 11 
 
118 ANALYSIS. 
 
 of God through the Spirit. Eph. ii. 12. In this world 
 we are to glorify God, by seeking our own holiness, 
 and the salvation of others; to show forth his praise by 
 being a wall on which shall be built the silver palace of 
 our holiness, and by being a door, which, encased in the 
 most precious materials of its kind, shall stand in beauty 
 worthy of admiration while opening to others the way of 
 life. 
 
 Though, like the spouse's sister then unfitted for her 
 exalted destiny, the impenitent are in a state giving no 
 promise whatever of the glory just stated, and attainable 
 only by the workmanship of the same Spirit who is the 
 builder and maker of the heavenly Jerusalem, Heb. 
 ix. 10, the saint feels that by nature such were we, 
 1 Cor. vi. 11 — "I am a wall" — and that the grace which 
 so changed us, made us fit, gave us power, John i. 12, to 
 become the sons of God, to find favour in his eyes — can, 
 will change them from sin to holiness, so that though 
 they have lien among the pots, they shall be as the wings 
 of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with 
 yellow gold. Ps. lxviii. 13. Ver. 10. 
 
 12. This love makes us feel and labour for the souls 
 of the impenitent, by making us sensible of our account- 
 ability as the stewards of God, 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; Luke xii. 
 42; Matt. xxi. 33; xxv. 15; Luke xix. 13. All our 
 property, gifts of intellect, influence, &c, are entrusted 
 to us by God, are things held in trust from the Lord, 
 who will require of us an account of our stewardship. 
 Ver. 11. 
 
 This responsibility is felt by him whose heart is alive 
 with love to Christ, while others refuse to acknowledge 
 it; and in view of his obligations, the saint cheerfully 
 consecrates to his Lord the due portion of his services, 
 his income, his all. Ver. 12. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 119 
 
 13. Thus constrained by the love of Christ in the way 
 of duty, the soul enjoys the privilege continually of 
 audience with the King of kings through Christ the 
 Saviour, and is encouraged in the exercise of prayer 
 and praise, not only by a sense of our need and by the 
 delights of holy worship, but by the assurance that our 
 voice thus heard is pleasant to Jesus, chap. ii. 14; — that 
 those expressions of holy emotions so agreeable to our 
 companions in the kingdom and patience of Jesus, Rev. 
 i. 9, abiding with us here in the gardens of his grace, 
 are heard with still greater pleasure by him who now 
 dwells in these gardens by the Shechinah of the Holy 
 Spirit, chap. v. 1, as he shall hereafter dwell among us 
 in the paradise of God, its light and glory, llev. vii. 
 15—17; xxi. 23. Vcr. 13. 
 
 14. Thus encouraged to dwell at the mercy-scat in 
 confidential and constant communion with our Lord on 
 earth, we are becoming fitted for being with him in 
 heaven; and this fitness, combined with the displays of 
 his love before mentioned, carries with it a stronger and 
 stronger desire for the enjoyment of his glory as it shall 
 be revealed when the Lord perfects that which concern- 
 eth us — at his second coming when the day breaks and 
 the shadows flee away. To this, as the ultimate, absorb- 
 ing desire of the soul, do all these assurances of the love 
 of Jesus lead. As the book begins with a burst of 
 desire for the love of Christ as that love can be enjoyed 
 only by his intimate friends, chap. i. 2, it ends with a 
 prayer for the hastening of the time when we shall no 
 longer see him through a glass darkly, but face to face — 
 when there shall be nothing to interfere with the mani- 
 festation of his love to us, and the expression of our 
 love to him : this desire is expressed, and its intcnseness 
 
120 ANALYSIS. 
 
 shown by the prayer, that he would hasten that happy 
 day, and come with the celerity of a roe or a young hart 
 bounding over the mountains of spices, and at every step 
 shaking fragrance from the dewy boughs. Rev. xxii. 7, 
 12, 20. Ver. 14. 
 
COMMENTARY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Verse 1. The Song of songs, -which is Solomon's. 
 
 These words are as unraistakenly given by inspiration 
 as any succeeding portion of this book, and show the 
 estimation in which the Song is held by the Holy Spirit. 
 It is called the Song of songs, or the most excellent 
 Song. For the purpose of meeting the numerous objec- 
 tions brought against this portion of Scripture, the 
 divine wisdom writes on the front of it an attestation of 
 its superior excellence, not only to the thousand and five 
 songs by Solomon, but to all the songs ever produced by 
 all other poets. He who cannot err, tells us, in language 
 of no doubtful meaning, that this Song is unrivalled. 
 
 Poetry is the expression of the best and most beautiful 
 thoughts, of exalted emotions, in the best and most beau 
 tiful language. The language of poetry is the language 
 of excited feeling. The best poetry must have the noblest 
 theme, deal with the purest emotions, and be adorned 
 with the richest ideas. God has garnished his works of 
 every kind with beauty, and formed us with a capability 
 of receiving pleasure from that beauty. Hence, in con- 
 veying to us important truth, he does throughout the 
 11* 
 
122 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Scriptures make it attractive, by adapting it to this love 
 within us of the beautiful. Now, love is the very excel- 
 lence of God; for God is love. Love is the purest, 
 deepest, and most powerful emotion known to man. 
 Nothing can, therefore, be better or more beautiful than 
 the subject of this Song; and being a song, a poetical 
 composition, it must be in the best and most beautiful 
 language. A translation gives no idea of the excellence 
 of Homer; and beautiful as is this Song, in our English 
 version, we must remember that it is the poetry of an 
 age more remote than the earliest Greek poets, in a 
 modern language of very different structure and idiom. 
 
 The fact that this Song is so much rejected, is a proof 
 of its excellence. How many persons can see no excel- 
 lence in the best productions of genius, even when there 
 is about them no allegory, as is here the case, to be 
 interpreted by the Holy Spirit. "A work of genius, 
 designed in a lofty spirit, and executed with a fine sense 
 of the noblest functions of poetry, is assuredly not 
 worthily appreciated, unless by those who have in some 
 measure apprehended that world of suggestive thought 
 which the poet aims at embodying in his imaginative 
 scenes and figures ; and, if a series of poetic images sug- 
 gest, to diverse minds, diversified trains of reflection and 
 emotion, this is perhaps the clearest evidence of their 
 poetical intensity and truth."* The better the poetry, 
 the more profound the ideas embodied in it, the farther 
 is it above the range of the common mind, and the more 
 likely to be appreciated only by the cultivated few whose 
 taste has been carefully refined. This being the Song of 
 songs, the same thing must be expected here, and to a 
 much greater degree, because there is need of a taste 
 
 * Ed. Review, No. 181, Art. 7. 
 
CHAPTER 1.1. 123 
 
 which cannot be attained without the supernatural aid of 
 divine grace. Even when the highest beauty and excel- 
 lence was personified in Jesus Christ, how perfectly was 
 all this above the comprehension of man. They saw in 
 him no beauty that they should desire him. Isa. liii. 2. 
 His beauty cannot be seen and understood without a taste 
 imparted by the Holy Spirit. ; 'No man can say that 
 Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. xii. 3. 
 Much is said about the Beautiful, the Good, and the 
 True. Jesus was the personification of them all. In 
 him did God represent unto us these abstract, spiritual 
 excellences, in a sensible, bodily form. In its loftiest 
 flights, the imagination of man never had so glorious a 
 conception as that which is given in the union of the 
 divine and human natures in the person of Jesus Christ. 
 The object of this Song is the celebration of the love 
 which led to that union — its beauty, its attractiveness, 
 and its glorious results. Others of the divine songs of 
 Scripture celebrate some particular consequences flowing 
 from this love; the song of Moses at the Red Sea, speaks 
 the praise of Jehovah for their deliverance; the Psalms 
 are utterances of pious feeling, for various mercies : this 
 Song goes to the spring of all that is beautiful, good, and 
 true, and celebrates the love which is the fountain of all 
 blessedness. Homer, generally received as the prince 
 of poets, sings of the malignant passions, the wrath of his 
 hero, the cause of woes unnumbered; this book sings of 
 the wondrous love of God, which is the spring, not of 
 desolation, misery, and tears, but of the new creation, the 
 deliverance from guilt, the consolation, the heavenly 
 anticipations that are abroad in our world of woe. It 
 sings of the same love which is the burden of the new 
 song in heaven. How glorious was the chorus when, at 
 the completion of creation, "the morning stars sang 
 
124 COMMENTARY. 
 
 together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." "Will 
 not that be the Song of songs which shall be heard amid 
 the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness, when the innumerable company of the 
 redeemed and the angels join to celebrate the love of the 
 Lamb that was slain. The theme of this Song is the 
 same redeeming love; and those whose hearts are here 
 brought by grace to feel the excellence of this portion of 
 Scripture, are already learning that Song which no man 
 could learn but those redeemed from the earth. 
 
 God can express to us inward spiritual beauty, only 
 through the means of outward sensible beauty; and in 
 this Song he makes use of this outward beauty for im- 
 pressing on us that which is inwardly beautiful, true, and 
 good. What beauty is comparable to the beauty of holi- 
 ness? This is the source of all other beauty. All the 
 deformity, ugliness, and filthiness in this world, are owing 
 to the want of holiness. In the sky or heavens, where no 
 stain of sin has fallen, there is nothing but beauty. This 
 beauty of holiness is that which the Psalmist so earnestly 
 desired to behold. Ps. xxvii. 4. And the celebration of 
 that beauty in this divine poetry, renders it the Song of 
 songs. A few years ago, on a clear winter's night, there 
 burst forth a northern light that suffused the whole 
 heavens with a rosy tinge, and threw over the snow and 
 landscape the same unearthly hues, different from any- 
 thing previously seen, and causing emotions of inexpres- 
 sible pleasure in those who beheld this transient burst 
 of heavenly splendour: this Song, is, as it were, a rosy 
 burst of the divine love, which, through the Lamb, is the 
 Shechinah of heaven; and those Avhose souls have the 
 spiritual perception for seeing the divine light here beam- 
 ing, feel their hearts thrill with the beauty of the tinge 
 
CHAPTER I. 2. 125 
 
 it throws over our blighted and wintry world. Elsewhere 
 there can be seen nothing of equal or like beauty. 
 
 It was proper that such a Song should be written by 
 Solomon. Aaron having prefigured Christ as a priest, 
 and Moses foreshadoAving him as a prophet, Solomon 
 prefigured him as a king. And while David represents 
 Jesus as suffering persecution and subduing the enemies 
 of his people, Solomon represents him as the triumphant 
 Prince of peace. Under Solomon, the kingdom of Israel 
 was perfectly established by the conquest of all their 
 enemies, and by the building of the temple in Jerusalem ; 
 and as the camp in the wilderness may represent the 
 Church in this world, the reign of Solomon may be a 
 representation of the Church in heaven. "While, there- 
 fore, David sung, in the Psalms, of the various conflicts 
 of the Christian life, Solomon here sings of that which is 
 the end of all our conflicts, the consummation of the love 
 of Christ and his Church. His mental endowments were 
 as glorious as his position. Not only did he surpass all 
 others in wealth and splendour, the most kingly of kings; 
 before him there was none like him for wisdom, neither 
 after him shall any arise like unto him, 1 Kings iii. 12; 
 and he possessed noble poetic powers. A man combining 
 these rare qualifications, was very properly selected by 
 the Holy Spirit as the means for conveying to the saints 
 this divine allegory, this unequalled Song of love. 
 
 Ver. 2. — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for thy love is 
 better than wine. 
 
 In the opening scene of this poem, as in this verse, the 
 king had probably gone forth, according to oriental 
 customs, to meet the bride, and was awaiting her. with 
 his princely retinue, in an encampment where his rich 
 pavilion stood pre-eminent. The spouse, looking forward 
 
126 COMMENTARY. 
 
 with great interest to this meeting, on coming in sight of 
 those kingly tents, almost involuntarily, as it were, gives 
 utterance to the strong emotions of her heart, in these 
 words.* Kitto remarks: "There are few acts hearing 
 more diversified and contrasted significations than the 
 kiss. It denotes as well the tenderest affection, as the 
 most profound and even adoring reverence." The words 
 "kisses of his mouth," are not merely a redundant ex- 
 pression, like "words of my mouth," Ps. xix. 14, and 
 "with their mouth they speak," Ps. xvii. 10; but a mode 
 of distinguishing the kiss which was evidence of the ten- 
 derest affection, from the kiss which was the expression of 
 submission, reverence, and obedience. In the East the 
 kiss was impressed on the mouth, the hands, the feet, the 
 garments, and even the ground where the feet had trod- 
 den — the difference being caused by the greater or less 
 intimacy between the individuals. Permission to kiss 
 the hand of a sovereign is considered an honour; but for 
 that sovereign to give another the kisses of his mouth, is 
 evidence of the tenderest affection, and is the highest 
 possible honour. This metaphor is common to all orien- 
 tal poets: "0 suffer me to quaff the liquid bliss of those 
 lips! Restore thy slave with their water of life." Thus 
 again: "Thou who sippest nectar from the radiant lips 
 of Pedma, as the flattering Chacora drinks the moon- 
 beams !"f 
 
 The language of the spouse is, therefore, a desire that 
 
 * Reiske, as quoted by Dopke, says: "It is a fundamental principle 
 of the Arabic language, without which we caunot understand their 
 best writers, and by ignorance or neglect of which we get into inex- 
 tricable perplexity, that very frequently poets do not name that which 
 they designate, because the reader or hearer may easily gather the 
 sense from the thread of the discourse and character of the epithets 
 used." 
 
 •j- From the Gitagovinda. 
 
CHAPTER I. 2. 127 
 
 the beloved would give her those evidences of affection 
 which none but the most cherished friends can have right 
 to receive. They express the desire of the pious heart, 
 that the Lord Jesus would give us manifestations of the 
 love which none but his dearest friends can receive, or 
 have reason to expect. Jesus says to his people, "I 
 have called you friends," John xv. 15; "He that loveth 
 me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and 
 will manifest myself to him." John xiv. 21. The persons 
 to whom these words were spoken, understood them as 
 referring to manifestations very different from anything 
 the world could receive: "Lord, how is it that thou wilt 
 manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" 
 
 What are those manifestations of Jesus' love which 
 none but his friends can receive? He explains them to 
 consist in the influences of the Holy Spirit. As the 
 burst of feeling which in the bosom of the spouse swal- 
 lowed up all others, was for these expressions of affec- 
 tion; so the predominating, absorbing desire of the 
 believer, is for the full communications of the Holy 
 Ghost. It is a point of the greatest importance for a 
 man to know, what is the one thing which should be the 
 leading principle of his life, to be pursued with oneness of 
 view and indivisibility of purpose. Every person has 
 some such aim; and if the object thus selected be a wrong 
 one, here is a radical error which must throw everything 
 else astray. The influences of the Holy Spirit are that 
 primary, essential object. It is much for the impenitent 
 to know that his nature can be renewed only by God's 
 Spirit; and much has been done towards making us 
 Christians of more than ordinary growth, when we feel 
 more than ordinarily the necessity of being filled with the 
 Spirit according to the full capacity of our souls. Great 
 advances in holiness must be made by seeking eminent 
 
128 COMMENTARY. 
 
 measures of the Spirit. Those will be most holy, will 
 feel most deeply the love of Jesus, who seek the greatest 
 degrees of the communications of the Spirit. Preparation 
 for heaven does not consist in rising to any imaginary 
 standard of piety, in being as holy as we may consider 
 some illustrious saints, in rising to certain frames of 
 which we have heard and which we have desired; but in 
 being filled as full of the Holy Spirit as our capacities 
 can bear. Do you ask, How can I attain eminent holi- 
 ness? Seek with undeviating and self-sacrificing purpose, 
 eminent measures of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 There are various ways in which God may show his 
 love, even to the saints. The multiplied comforts of life, 
 home, family, friends; the continuance of health, reason, 
 eyesight; the exercise of our faculties of body; exemption 
 from calamity; prosperity in ordinary duties; enjoyment 
 of spiritual privileges ; all these are ways in which G od 
 may manifest love to his people. But while thankful for 
 these, as tokens of divine love, the saint fixes his eye far 
 above and beyond them — on the influences of the Holy 
 Spirit. In his view of life, the principal thing is held to 
 be not wealth, not honour, not popularity, not power, 
 but the riches of this heavenly grace. His ruling passion 
 is to amass the durable riches and righteousness of the 
 Holy Ghost. He views the Spirit as the strongest pledge 
 of the love of Jesus — a gift so important that God can 
 now confer on us no other gift of equal value. Jesus did 
 not promise his disciples crowns, or riches, or honour, or 
 ease in this world ; but he did promise them affliction, 
 with the Holy Ghost. John xvi. 33; xiv. 16. And as 
 the Spirit touches our soul in the communication of his 
 grace, how delightful the sensations. When they told 
 Jacob "all the words of Joseph which he had said unto 
 them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent 
 
CHAPTER I. 2. 129 
 
 to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived, 
 Gen. xlv. 27 : how much richer the feelings of the patri- 
 arch, when that long lost son presented himself unto him, 
 and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good 
 while. Gen. xlvi. 29. The gift of the best robe and 
 the costly ring was not to the prodigal so precious a 
 proof of his father's love, as that given when the father 
 fell on his neck and kissed him. Luke xv. 20. While the 
 common gifts of Providence are received with thankful- 
 ness, as evidences of God's love, and our spirit may 
 revive in meeting with the conveyances loaded with 
 blessings, that have been sent to encourage and refresh 
 us, by Jesus our brother, exalted to more than a second 
 place in the heavenly kingdom ; no proof of his affection 
 is so much coveted, is so delightful, as when, coming 
 through the person of the Holy Spirit, he gathers us, the 
 lambs of his fold, with his arms, and carries us in his 
 bosom, Isa. xl. 11, — manifests himself unto us not as unto 
 the world. Refreshing as are good news from a far 
 country; more pleasing is the letter written by the well 
 known hand ; more so the sight of the absent friend ; best 
 of all the return, when we press him again to the bosom : 
 and refreshing as are the words of Jesus, written to us in 
 the Scriptures; blessed as is the ministry of his angels, 
 who, like Jacob's sons with the wagons from Egypt, 
 come to us laden with mercies ministered to the heirs of 
 salvation; pleasing as are the daily gifts of his provi- 
 dence; our greatest happiness is enjoyed, when he im* 
 presses on our hearts his love through the Holy Spirit. 
 
 In the latter clause of this verse, the reason is given 
 wh} r those influences of the Spirit are so ardently desired: 
 "Thy love is better than wine;" that is, thy love is more 
 reviving and exhilarating than the effects of wine, the 
 most delightful of the pleasures of sense. In Eden, the 
 12 
 
130 COMMENTARY. 
 
 most precious of the trees, even where "was everything 
 that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, was the 
 tree of life which stood in the midst of the garden. 
 Jesus, the true wisdom, is the tree of life to them that lay 
 hold on him, Ps. iii. 18; his love shed abroad in our 
 hearts by the Holy Spirit, is the fruit of this tree of life ; 
 and who will tell how much better was the fruit of the 
 tree of life in Paradise, than the fruit of Canaan's richest 
 vines ? 
 
 The love of Christ is reviving, and counteracts the 
 debilitating effects of sin, felt so painfully through body 
 and soul. 
 
 " The stream that feeds the well-spring of the heart, 
 Not more invigorates life's noblest part, 
 Than virtue quickens with a warmth divine 
 The powers that sin has brought to a decline!"* 
 
 A more powerful stimulant than the love of kindred, the 
 love of money, or the love of fame, it so revolutionizes 
 the heart as to make the ambitious man sacrifice his 
 vanity, the proud man his reputation, the vindictive man 
 his vengeance, the drunkard his drunkenness, the sensual- 
 ist his lust, the miser his gold, for the name of Jesus 
 Christ. It changes the parched ground of the selfish soul 
 into a limpid pool of beneficence, and the thirsty land 
 of the sensual heart into water-springs of holy affections. 
 Unlike the pleasures of sense, this love is more than a 
 temporary stimulant. As satisfying as it is pure, this is 
 the antidote of spiritual death, the principle of eternal 
 life; and when age enfeebles the body, palsies the hand, 
 and makes cold the heart, this love, so powerful, so revi- 
 ving, keeps the spirit vigorous, the mind active, the 
 affections warm; renews our youth like the eagle's; until 
 
 * Cowpcr's Table Talk. 
 
CHAPTER Li 131 
 
 at last, from tlic very ashes of this bodily frame, it makes 
 the spirit emerge, like the angels from the tomb of Jesus, 
 with the vigour of youth and immortality in its wings.* 
 
 This love is exhilarating, raises the spirits, gives cheer- 
 fulness to the soul. "Wine maketh glad the heart of 
 man." Ps. civ. 15. "Give wine unto those that be of 
 heavy hearts." Prov. xxxi. 6. And religion maketh glad 
 the heart of man; give the love of Jesus unto those that 
 be of heavy hearts. Religion is not the gloomy thing so 
 frequently supposed by the votaries of worldly pleasure. 
 Purifying the heart for seeing God, it clarifies our enjoy- 
 ments. The amusements of the irreligious world are 
 inventions for recruiting the tone of the spirits, which 
 impiety depresses and corrodes. The glitter and revelry 
 of the ball-room, the excitement of the theatre, the ten 
 thousand little trickeries of dress and artifices of manners 
 for drawing applause, the empty novel, the table of 
 hazard, all are efforts by man for doing what religion 
 would do for him in a noble and effective mode; not by 
 convulsions, but by opening in the heart a well of water 
 
 * "There is this difference between my poetship and the generality 
 of them — they have been ignorant how much they stood indebted to an 
 Almighty power, for the exercise of those talents they have supposed 
 their own ; whereas I know, and know most perfectly, and am perhaps 
 to be taught it to the last, that my power to think, whatever it be, and 
 consequently my power to compose, is, as much as my outward form, 
 afforded to me by the same hand that makes me in any respect to differ 
 from a brute." — Cowper to the Rev. John Newton. — Southey'a Edition 
 of Cou-j" r's Works, vol. iv. 18G. 
 
 Such was the experience of Madame Guyon: "When God gave bacfe 
 to me that love which I had supposed to be lost, he restored the powers 
 of perception and thought also. That intellect, which 1 once thought f 
 had lost in a strange stupidity, was restored to me with inconceivable 
 avdantages. I was astonished at myself. The understanding, as well 
 as the heart, seemed to have received an increased capacity from God; 
 so much so, that others noticed it, and spoke of its greatly increased 
 power." — Life by Upham, i. 258. 
 
132 COMMENTARY. 
 
 springing up into everlasting life. Those who have never 
 known the elation of soul springing from the love of 
 Christ, have yet to learn what is meant by exhilaration 
 of spirits. How much better than wine is the love of 
 country ? the love of family ? the love of friends ? How 
 much better than all these is the love of Jesus? The 
 joys of sight and sound, combine them all, and yet there 
 is no comparison. 
 
 ''Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, 
 Exhilarate the spirits and restore 
 The tone of languid nature." 
 
 If these utterances, speaking of the divine wisdom and 
 goodness through the heavy medium of material things, 
 do, as we well know, thus enliven and recruit the soul, 
 how delightful and life-giving must be those spiritual 
 visions unfolded to our minds by grace, and those sounds 
 conveyed directly to our heart by the Holy Spirit — 
 expressions of power and goodness, but expressions of 
 power and goodness as the means of filling our souls with 
 emanations of mercy and love. 
 
 Ver. 3. — Because of the savour of thy good ointments, thy name is as 
 ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 
 
 This verse would be better translated, Thy perfumes 
 are rich in fragrance; thy name is perfume poured forth, 
 therefore the virgins love thee. The universal use of rich 
 and costly oils and perfumes among the orientals, for 
 health and beauty, and at public entertainments, espe- 
 cially on nuptial occasions, as well as in common domestic 
 life,* renders this language appropriate, and made such a 
 
 * "The custom of anointing the body i.-' usual in hot climates, and 
 contributes greatly to comfort. Even the Greeks, Romans, and others, » 
 whose limbs were mostly protected by clothes from the dryness of the 
 a'n-, found the advantage of its use. In going to entertainments, it is 
 probable, that like the Greeks, the Egyptians anointed themselves 
 
CHAPTER I. 3. 133 
 
 comparison not unusual ; as in Eccl. vii. 1, "A good 
 uame is better than precious ointment." 
 
 "The name of God is used as a compendious formula 
 to denote his whole moral greatness, the sum of his whole 
 attributes and character. And it is in Jesus that we 
 have the full exhibition of this moral and spiritual excel- 
 lency."* The nature of Christ is here illustrated by the 
 richness and pleasantness of the best perfume ; and as 
 the very best known to men was not good enough to 
 represent the character of him who was fairer than the 
 
 before they left home; but still it was customary for a servant to 
 attend every guest, as he seated himself, and to anoint his head; and 
 this was one of the principal tokens of welcome. The ointment was 
 contained sometimes in an alabaster, sometimes in an elegant porcelain 
 vase; and so strong was the odour, and so perfectly were the different 
 component substances amalgamated, that some of this ancient ointment 
 in one of the alabaster vases in the museum at Alnwick Castle, yet 
 
 retains its scent, though between two and three thousand years old." 
 
 Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. 379. "To what extent the 
 luxury of using fragrant oils and the like was carried on, may bo 
 inferred from Seneca, Epist. m, who says, that people anointed them- 
 selves twice or even three times a day, in order that the delicious 
 fragrance might never diminish. The wealthy Greeks and Romans 
 carried their ointments and perfumes with them, in small boxes of 
 costly materials and beautiful workmanship."— Smith's Diet. Anti- 
 quities. 
 
 * Russell on the Covenants, p. 310. " The name of the Lord is the 
 Lord in the richness of his deeds." Hengstenberg on Ps. exxiv. 8. 
 "One name would serve as well as ten thousand, if we had but one 
 relation to, or one idea of God. For instance, could we, being perfect 
 creatures as angels, only depend on him as our great Creator, that 
 name would have been sufficient for us to declare him: but being sinful 
 creatures, yet creatures to be redeemed, our Creator stood immediately 
 in many relations to us, according to our several conditions of sinful- 
 ness, recovery, redemption, and salvation, which it was necessary for 
 us to know, that we might apply to him under these relatioDs, and 
 receive every benefit and blessing we need, lie hath, therefore, suited 
 himself, as it were, to us, in the revelation of his names."— JSerle'a 
 
 II r. Sol 441. 
 
 12* 
 
134 COMMENTARY. 
 
 sons of men, God had a perfume compounded for the 
 express purpose of showing the divine riches of our great 
 High Priest, the holy anointing oil of the Jewish sanc- 
 tuary. The whole nature of Christ is as this fragrant oil, 
 so pure, so delightful, and so excellently divine. The 
 loveliness of Jesus consists in this divinity, this fountain 
 of liquid perfume which is continually pouring forth in 
 deeds of kindness to his creatures ; and these acts of 
 goodness are the means of showing forth his glory, and 
 developing his excellence. The comparison in the second 
 verse sets forth the pleasantness of the love of Christ in 
 its effects on our hearts, as there shed abroad by the Holy 
 Ghost; the third verse exhibits the richness of that love 
 in its own inherent nature, as it exists in the divine excel- 
 lences of the man Christ Jesus. 
 
 The three chief means of purification under the law 
 were blood, water, and oil : the last was the type of the 
 Holy Spirit, as the source of healing and of life. Nothing 
 capable of notice by the senses, could be more precious 
 and fragrant than the holy oil ; hence the Holy Spirit* is 
 called "the oil of gladness," Heb. i. 9; and in the pass- 
 ages where mention is made of pouring out the Spirit, 
 reference is had to this emblem. The pouring of the 
 precious oil upon Aaron's head in such profusion that it 
 ran down even to the skirts of his garments, had its fulfil- 
 ment, when at his baptism Jesus was anointed with the 
 oil of gladness above his fellows, by the Shechinah set- 
 tling on him, even the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the 
 dove. Hence, the Redeemer never received any public 
 olTieial unction of this priestly oil from the hand of man. 
 "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the 
 Lord hath anointed me." Isa. lxi. 1. When Jesus is said 
 
 * See Serle's Essay on the Oil of Gladness, in his Horse Solitaries; 
 
 Leighton's Sermons on this verse, and on 1 Pet. ii. 9. 
 
CHAPTER I. 3. 135 
 
 to be anointed, more is meant than merely setting him 
 apart to oilicc; the idea is that of his receiving the Holy 
 Ghost without measure, John iii. 84, as Aaron received 
 the holy oil without measure — a divine nature into union 
 with the human nature. The shedding of the Spirit on 
 our Lord constitutes his designation to office, and his 
 fitness for that office. A body Avas prepared for him, 
 Heb. x. 5, that it might be the dwelling place of the 
 Spirit, and the means of pouring this oil of gladness forth 
 among men for healing the soul from the corruption of 
 sin, and adorning it with the beauty of holiness. In him 
 dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, or really, 
 and not merely symbolically, as it dwelt in the cloud over 
 the mercy-seat, Col. ii. 9. This holy perfume of the 
 divine nature, as exuberant and infinite as it is excellent, 
 fills the precious alabaster of his human nature full, and 
 running over on every side, like a golden vessel of the 
 sanctuary overflowing with the fulness of the sea. In this 
 immeasurable fulness of the Spirit of holiness, is the dif- 
 ference between Jesus and his fellows. They are anointed 
 as the leper, when a drop of oil was put on his ear, and 
 his hand, &c, Lev. xiv. 17: Jesus was anointed with the 
 Holy Spirit as with an illimitable sea of liquid perfume. 
 His superior excellency to his fellows, the angels, the 
 prophets, and the saints, associated with him in the work 
 of redemption, consists in his having all the infinite riches 
 of the Godhead. 
 
 He has by inheritance, by partaking of the nature of 
 God as a son partakes of the nature of a father, and by 
 possessing a right to all things, not through donation or 
 conquest, but through his right as a son, a more excellent 
 name or cluster of perfections than the angels, thereby 
 being made so much better than they. Heb. i. 4. The 
 unfolding of these excellences to us, is as the pouring 
 
136 COMMENTARY. 
 
 forth of the precious oil of the sanctuary. The precious 
 oil of the heavenly sanctuary is the divine nature of 
 Jesus Christ. All his garments smell of myrrh, aloes, 
 and cassia, as he came out of the ivory palaces of the 
 heavenly glory, Ps. xlv. 8; and this is because God has 
 anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows. 
 The object in filling his human nature to so overflowing a 
 degree with the precious perfume of the Holy Spirit, was 
 that this oil of gladness might be poured forth among 
 men. There was no way of sending it down to us, but 
 through this human nature of the Lord Jesus. Before 
 this, the emblem of God towards us sinners was a con- 
 suming fire, such as was placed at the east of Eden, and 
 was seen on the top of Sinai. How great the contrast 
 between the fire which on the mountain burned into the 
 midst of heaven, Deut. iv. 11, and the holy oil poured 
 forth in rich perfume under the shadow of the peaceful 
 cloud over the mercy-seat: the former consuming with 
 terrible vigour, and shooting forth lightning and death, 
 if even a beast, much less a sinful man, touch the moun- 
 tain, represents God as he must ever be towards the 
 guilty; the latter, delicious in its fragrance, soft in its 
 richness, and healing in its efficacy, shows the loveliness 
 and grace of God as reconciled through Christ. As the 
 woman broke the alabaster box, and poured the pure 
 spikenard, very precious, on the head of Jesus, and the 
 house was filled with the odour of the perfume; so, 
 through his broken body, are those excellences of the 
 divine nature, mercy, love, grace, truth, forgiveness, and 
 sanctification, unsealed to ruined man. And though his 
 name was poured forth in so many ways, under the Old 
 Testament, by prophecy, by providence, and by types; 
 all these were through his broken body, and in connection 
 with the shedding of his blood. His crucifixion was the 
 
CHAPTER I. 3. 137 
 
 breaking of the alabaster containing tbe precious oil; 
 and then did the fragrance of his name begin to spread 
 abroad for filling the world. Even as in the operations 
 of nature, using means for sending the knowledge of his 
 excellence into all the earth by the gospel preached to 
 every creature, he who brought from heaven this sacred 
 treasure of healing truth, deposited it not in vessels of 
 gold, found in the palaces of Herod and Caesar, but in 
 men of humbler mould, in earthen vessels gathered at 
 random on the shores of Galilee, that the excellency of 
 the power might be of God. 
 
 Ilis name is poured forth by the shedding abroad of 
 the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The truth, the sacra- 
 ments, the ordinances, are means subserving the end of 
 the Spirit; and ministers of the gospel "are unto God a 
 sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in 
 them that perish," because they are vessels through 
 which the Spirit pours out the holy oil on the perishing. 
 2 Cor. ii. 15. From Jesus as the head, the Holy Ghost 
 is shed down on all the members of his spiritual body. 
 As thus poured forth, how precious is his name, in the 
 hour of repentance, in trouble, in affliction, in temptation, 
 in sickness, in death ! As the Holy Spirit pours the 
 healing oil of grace into the heart, how can these truths 
 be felt sinking down through the soul ! There is some- 
 thing peculiar and inexplicable in the sweetness and 
 attractiveness of the name of Jesus to the saint, soothing, 
 delightful, refreshing, life-giving; and when we begin to 
 open up any one of his perfections, there seems to rise 
 around the soul something richer than "a steam of rich- 
 distilled perfumes." 
 
 The persons that love him whose name is thus precious, 
 are "the virgins," the pure in heart. As the purity of 
 
138 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Jesus, or his holiness, is his great attractiveness, and as 
 in love there must be an adaptation of our affections to 
 the virtues of the loved one, those only can love Jesus, 
 who purify themselves even as he is pure. 1 John iii. 3. 
 Those by whom he is despised and rejected, are they to 
 whose spiritual leprosy the oil of gladness has never been 
 applied, and whose constitution is filled with all un- 
 righteousness, as sadly pointed out in Rom. i. 29 — 31, 
 and in Gal. v. 19 — 21. Those whose souls have been 
 made pure by the fruit of the Spirit, as in Gal. v. 22, 
 whose hearts have been fed by heavenly grace, like the 
 candlestick all of gold, with the two olive trees by its 
 side, which through the two golden pipes emptied the 
 golden oil out of themselves, Zech. iv. 2, are continually 
 ascending to Jesus in the purity of flames of love, 
 nourished by the Holy Ghost. Their love is rendered 
 thus ardent, not so much because he is the means of their 
 escape from hell and suffering, as by their perception of 
 his inherent purity, excellence, and loveliness. 
 
 While, therefore, the first desire of the saint, as here 
 expressed, is for the influences of the Holy Spirit, we are 
 led, in the next place, to the infinite excellence of Christ. 
 These two grand truths are the proper introduction to 
 such a book as the Song ; like the two pillars at the 
 entrance of the temple, Jachin and Boaz, firmness or 
 foundation and strength, the doctrines of the righteous- 
 ness of Christ as our corner-stone, and of the grace of the 
 Spirit as our strength, are never lost sight of by the 
 believer, and become more precious to us as we grow in 
 holiness. We cannot behold the beauty of the Lord, and 
 inquire in his temple for the utterances of his love, 
 without having on our right hand and left, these grand 
 and sustaining truths. 
 
CHAPTER I. 4. 139 
 
 Vkr. 1. — Draw me, we will run after tliee. 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. 
 
 The imagery of the allegory in this verse, and indeed 
 in the greater part of the first chapter, seems hased on 
 the supposition that Solomon had, according to oriental 
 custom, gone forth in kingly state to meet his bride on 
 the road. Hence the tents of the king and of his attend- 
 ing nobles would be set up with royal magnificence, at 
 the place where he was to meet the spouse. It is now 
 customary in the East for persons of distinction to lodge 
 in their own costly tents on a journey. Van Egmont and 
 Heyman state that the festivities attending an occasion 
 of great public rejoicing, when they were at Constan- 
 tinople, were held in a camp pitched for that purpose in 
 the neighbourhood of the city.* In this place, we may 
 suppose that the bride, in her progress towards the royal 
 city, comes in sight of these tents of the kingly party 
 awaiting her, and gives expression to her feeling in the 
 
 * "It must be owned, that the Turks spare for nothing in rendering 
 their tents convenient and magnificent. Those belonging to the Grand 
 Sigoior were exceeding splendid, and covered entirely with silk; and 
 one of them lined with a rich silk stuff, the right side of which was the 
 apartment for the eunuchs. But even this was exceeded by another, 
 which I was informed cost twenty-five thousand piastres. It was made 
 in Persia, and intended as a present to the Grand Signior, and was not 
 finished in less than three or four years. The inside of this tent was 
 lined with a single piece made of camel's hair, and beautifully decora- 
 ted with festoons and sentences in the Turkish language." — Van Eg- 
 mont and Heyman, vol. i. 212. 
 
 "Maillet states that the Beys of Egypt are wont to be attended by 
 large bodies of servants, magnificently dressed; that one of them did, 
 on days of ceremony, appear with a train of three hundred horsemen, 
 all his slaves, mounted on horses of value, whose harness was of silver 
 gilt, and with saddle-cloths embroidered with gold and silver, hanging 
 down to the ground. The sight of the different Beys, with their attend- 
 ants, riding in troops in the neighbourhood of Cairo, had a very mag- 
 nificent and imposing etfect." — JJarmer, 200. 
 
140 C M MENTAR Y. 
 
 language of these verses. The conveyance seems hardly 
 swift enough for the ardour of her love, and she gives 
 utterance to her deep emotion in the words, " Draw 
 me," &c. 
 
 The perfections of Christ are transcendent in excel- 
 lence, and infinite in variety and extent, for they are 
 nothing less than the excellences of the Godhead. The 
 glories and delights centring in Jehovah as the fountain 
 of life and beauty, are an illimitable treasury, an ocean 
 of light, resplendent with greater riches than gold and 
 gems, into which we are permitted to gaze, through the 
 person of the man Christ Jesus; he is the door, John 
 x. 7, Eph. ii. 18, the central aperture of light, through 
 which, during eternity, we shall be seeing and hearing 
 things impossible for man to utter — so glorious as to 
 have merely a foreshadowing in w T hat was beheld by the 
 apostle when a door was opened in heaven, Rev. iv. 1, 
 and he saw the wonders and heard the chorus of the 
 heavenly host. Every glimpse of the beauty of Christ 
 increases our desire to know more of his loveliness, and 
 strengthens the ardour of our affections. Expanding 
 and growing more intense, through ages of ages, with 
 the enlargement of our view of the perfections of God 
 unfolded to us through Christ, our love towards him will 
 increase with a progression, and to a degree, now in- 
 comprehensible, and will draw us to him with a gentle 
 power and wondrous pleasantness, of which the mind 
 cannot now even remotely conceive. 
 
 As those precious perfumes or excellences of character 
 were the cause of attraction or love, the first words of 
 this verse are a prayer that he would unfold his loveliness, 
 and thereby draw the soul to himself. The character of 
 Christ, as opened to the heart by the Holy Spirit, is the 
 corrective of our natural sluggishness, and kindles within 
 
CHAPTER I. 4. 141 
 
 us the desire of following him with all our energy, of 
 running after him; but as our weakness is more sensibly 
 felt as this desire strengthens, we pray that his strength 
 may be made perfect in our weakness, and we may be 
 constrained by the influence of his grace. "The love 
 of Christ constraineth us." 2 Cor. v. 14. "All my 
 springs are in thee." Ps. lxxxvii. 7. Nothing is more 
 attractive than a lovely character, to those capable of 
 relishing its beauties. The Creator has made us suscep- 
 tible of this attraction, as naturally as matter is suscep- 
 tible of attraction by gravitation. When the Holy 
 Spirit unfolds the loveliness of Christ, and restores the 
 perceptive powers of the heart, we are spontaneously 
 drawn towards Jesus. 
 
 "When we are inclined towards our Lord with animated 
 affections — running after him — he receives us, and brings 
 us into his apartments, the place into which none are 
 admitted but his confidential friends. There was the 
 court of the garden of the king's palace, where the king 
 made a feast unto all the people, Esther i. 5; and there 
 was the inner court of the king's house, where none were 
 permitted to enter but invited guests, Esther iv. 11, v. 2, 
 and there were the apartments here called chambers, 
 where he saw only those whom he intimately cherished 
 and loved. These apartments are what is meant by the 
 words, "In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide 
 me," Ps. xxvii. 5; "He that dwcllcth in the secret 
 place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow 
 of the Almighty." Ps. xci. 1. How beautiful was the 
 holy of holies with its sides overlaid with gold, its veil 
 of blue and purple and scarlet, and the mercy-scat of 
 pure gold, overshadowed by the two cherubim of gold 
 bra ten mit of one piece, while the cloud of glory was its 
 only light; this was the representation of the spiritual 
 13 
 
142 COMMENTARY. 
 
 chambers in which the king who chvelleth between the 
 cherubim receives his faithful friends, and of those man- 
 sions prepared in heaven, where, when he comes again, 
 he will receive us unto himself. The Psalmist says of 
 one thus favoured, "his soul shall dwell at ease," or 
 lodge in goodness, the divine goodness forming the walls 
 of the dwelling in which he passes the night of his 
 sojourn on earth. The secret of the Lord is with such, 
 Ps. xxv. 14 ; he treats them as confidential friends. 
 And as he revealed to Noah the secret of the flood, and 
 to Abraham the secret of the destruction of Sodom, 
 Gen. xviii. 17, and to Daniel the secret of the king's 
 dream, Dan. ii. 19, so does he show unto us his covenant, 
 speaking to our hearts in the still small voice of his 
 Spirit; and, while giving unto us the white stone, in 
 which is a new name written that no man knoweth 
 saving he that receiveth it, feeding us on better than 
 angel's food, even the hidden manna of the riches of his 
 grace. How can we utter the blessedness of having such 
 an intimate friend? Do we need wisdom? Our confi- 
 dential friend is Christ, the wisdom of God. Do we 
 need protection? Our dearest friend is Christ, the power 
 of God, able to save to the uttermost, even from the 
 grave, and from hell. His is a friendship that no change 
 of circumstances can alienate. Unlike the heartless 
 friends of the world, he does not forsake us when riches 
 flee away; he gathers us more closely to him in the hour 
 of sorrow. Touched with the feeling of our infirmities, 
 he binds up the broken-hearted, and pouring the oil of 
 gladness and the wine of grace into the bruised spirit, 
 from which even the priest and Levite had turned away, 
 he says, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." In 
 him arc hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; 
 with him are durable riches and righteousness ; he holds 
 
CHAPTER I. 4. 143 
 
 for us, in his right hand, a crown of glory that fadcth 
 not away. No friendship is so intimate, reliable, hon- 
 ourable, and confidential, as that existing between Jesus 
 and the soul of the saint. No secret entrusted to him 
 will ever be dishonourably divulged. When father and 
 mother forsake, he remains faithful still. To him may 
 we go with our secret griefs ; to him may we unburden 
 our heaviest sorrows, with the confidence of being never 
 received with coldness, of being welcomed with the ten- 
 derest sympathy and most compassionate love. Though 
 we have forsaken him like Peter, he remembers our 
 iniquities no more, and receives us with no heavier 
 rebuke than the look he turned upon that weeping dis- 
 ciple. Happy are they who know how to value such a 
 friend. 
 
 The words, "We would be glad and rejoice in thee," 
 show the results of this communion with Christ, great 
 joy and exultation. The Psalmist sings, "How good 
 and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in 
 unity;" much greater is the pleasure had in dwelling 
 with Jesus as our confidential friend. In his presence 
 is fulness of joy. With him is the fountain of life; and 
 as our joy must increase in purity and intensity with 
 every step of approach towards him, when we rest with 
 him at the throne of grace, our joy must be full. Unlike 
 the pleasures of the world, these gratifications are at- 
 tended with no painful remembrances: "We will remem- 
 ber thy love more than wine." Here, with Jesus, Ave 
 have great peace in present possession, glorious hopes 
 for the future, sweet recollections of the past. What 
 are the remembrances continually gathering around an 
 irreligious life? Hopes blasted, expectations disap- 
 pointed, a sense of having never realized what was 
 anticipated from any source, the enfeebling effects of 
 
144 COMMENTARY. 
 
 dissipation, apprehensiveness of detection and exposure 
 in unrighteous gratifications, and forebodings uttered by 
 conscience of judgment to come; these are the best 
 fruits that memory can gather from the past, -wherein 
 there have been no visions of Jesus. How empty is the 
 recollection of even the temperate and allowable enjoy- 
 ments of the irreligious ! But how sweet is the remem- 
 brance of God's grace ! These memories are as a 
 luminous stream of living waters, — unlike the seas whose 
 waves follow the track of the ship with light at mid- 
 night, — winding amid the deepening gloom and ruins of 
 the past. How tender the recollection of the times and 
 places where first this precious Friend met us with the 
 assurance of forgiveness, where his Sprit melted down 
 the soul in deep contrition, where we had brightening 
 views of heaven, where Jesus showed us his glory and 
 gave us his love ! Could any pleasures of wine, of sense, 
 of the world, be remembered as fondly as the disciples 
 cherished the recollection of the farewell words of their 
 Lord, of the discourse on the road to Emmaus, of the 
 scene at the transfiguration? And as the tide of time 
 will not allow us to make tabernacles and dwell where 
 thus our Lord met us, memory delights to build her 
 shrines there, and linger fondly on those consecrated 
 hills. 
 
 The last clause, we would read, They love thee sin- 
 cerly, rather than, "The upright love thee."* In verse 
 3, it is said, the virgins, or the pure in heart, love him 
 for the excellences of his character. Here, the same 
 
 * Following the Latin Vulgate, the English translators have thus 
 rendered this clause. The version here given is more correct. Some- 
 thing must be supplied in the Hebrew, in order to make out the sense 
 in the English version. In Ps. lxxv. 3, the same word here translated 
 "the upright," is rendered "uprightly." There is no reason why it 
 
CHAPTER I. 5. 145 
 
 persons are 'said to love him with sincerity, with a love 
 they have good reason to indulge — a love pure, deep, 
 and intense, separated from all interested motives, and 
 stronger for being thus pure. These words are the nat- 
 ural expression of a heart occupied with such love. And 
 when our precious Lord has drawn us by his grace, so 
 that the soul rises towards him with the energy of eagles' 
 wings; when he has taken us apart into chambers filled 
 with visions more glorious than those had by Moses in 
 the mount, where he saw the God of Israel, and under 
 his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and 
 aa it were the body of heaven in its clearness; then, 
 how deep, how reasonable, how sincere is felt our love ! 
 As Satan accused Job of serving God from selfish 
 motives, and as a bad man will not admit that others can 
 be actuated by pure, disinterested principle; w r e feel, 
 on the other hand, that, like ourselves, our brethren are 
 controlled by simplicity and godly sincerity in their 
 devotion and love to Jesus. 
 
 Ver. 5. — T am black, but comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the 
 teuts of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 
 
 Received in these tents with royal magnificence, and 
 seeing around her a company of female attendants on the 
 king, here called the daughters of Jerusalem, the spouse 
 notices the contrast between the freshness of their com- 
 plexion, always shielded at home from exposure, and her 
 own dusky hue, contracted from being abroad under the 
 
 should not be thus rendered here. With the Hebrew word used adver- 
 bially, rather than as a substantive, the connection of the clause with 
 the foregoing part of the verse is obvious; and the meaning is, They, 
 that is, the virgins, love thee sincerely. The import of the words then 
 is, that they who love Jesus, love him sincerely, with an affection 
 lawful, deep, and pure. 
 
146 COMMENTARY. 
 
 scorching sun; she accordingly expresses her feelings by 
 saying that though dark, she was beautiful, and illus- 
 trates her meaning by a comparison drawn naturally 
 from the surrounding encampment. Even now the Arabs 
 generally make use of tents covered with black hair- 
 cloth ; those of Kedar especially are thus covered, and 
 being generally low and of flat appearance, cause a camp 
 of such tents at a distance, to look like a number of black 
 spots. The curtains of Solomon are here most probably 
 put for a splendid state-tent of that monarch, something 
 like those even yet known among oriental monarchs. 
 " History has recorded, that at the famous marriage feast 
 held by Tamerlane at Ranighul, the royal tents were 
 gilded, and adorned with precious stones. Each tent had 
 twelve columns of silver, inlaid with gold; the outside 
 was scarlet and seven other colours, and the inside was 
 lined with satin of all colours. The curtains were of 
 velvet and the ropes of silk. At the encampment of the 
 same conqueror in the plain of Ourtaupa, the pavilions 
 were richly ornamented, and hung with curtains of bro- 
 cade covered with golden flowers. At other times, Ave 
 read of tents 'covered with tartaries full nobly:' and ;it 
 the great encampment at Minecgheul the tent of Timor 
 himself was under a canopy supported by forty pillars, 
 and was as spacious as a palace. In the middle of it was 
 a throne, so ornamented with precious stones that it 
 resembled a sun. The contrast between such glorious 
 pavilions as these, and the sombre tents of the pastoral 
 tribes, is great indeed."* 
 
 Love and communion with Jesus is the means of im- 
 parting to us a more correct knowledge of ourselves — "I 
 am black, but comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem." 
 
 * Kitto's Daily Bible Readings, on the Song. See notes on ver. 4. 
 
CHAPTER I. 5. 147 
 
 The daughters of Jerusalem mentioned in Luke xxiii. 28, 
 were the native women of Jerusalem ; and by these words 
 are here meant those companions of the spouse, the saint, 
 in the spiritual Jerusalem, with whom we, though strangers 
 and foreigners, are brought into association by conver- 
 sion. To these pious brethren are these words addressed, 
 as those who love the Lord speak often to one another, 
 and the Lord hearkens and hears. Mai. iii. 16. The 
 spouse was aware of her deficiency in point of beauty, 
 and was yet conscious of an excellence that had been 
 imparted to her. There is no correct knowledge of our 
 nature, without the prior knowledge of Christ. The 
 maxim of the ancient sage, "Know thyself," was an 
 impossibility without the gospel and the Holy Spirit. 
 Man may feel the want of things, without being able to 
 attain the knowledge for relieving such want. The un- 
 pretending disclosures in the Scriptures give a deeper 
 view into the nature of man, than all the philosophy of 
 all ages. They give us all the knowledge of our nature 
 now necessary, and lead to the Holy Spirit as the means 
 of enlightening the mind. Our condition by nature is 
 one of atheism, Eph. ii. 12, without God as well as with- 
 out Christ. Atheism is well defined, " an invincible 
 ingnorance, fancying itself the highest knowledge;"* 
 it might be added, an ignorance of self, originating in 
 ignorance of God. The spring of our being is in God; 
 in him is the source of our knowledge no less than our 
 pleasures. In the study of every science or subject, 
 there arc elementary truths which cannot be disregarded 
 without affecting all our subsequent investigations with 
 more or less error. The first principles of the knowledge 
 of ourselves, for which metaphysics is but another name, 
 
 * Plato against the Atheists. The Laws, book x. 1. 
 
148 COMMENTARY. 
 
 are found in the Scriptures, must be studied at the feet 
 of Jesus, and can be read only in the light diffused by the 
 Holy Spirit. Such branches as mathematics and physics 
 may be pursued without any material tendency to error, 
 arising from want of religious knowledge; the meta- 
 physician must, however, begin by being a pious man. 
 The fine theories woven by the most acute minds and 
 dignified as transcendentalism, show the importance of 
 building all such structures on the foundation of the 
 apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the corner- 
 stone. 
 
 The Holy Spirit does not give us distorted views of 
 our nature, but shows that nature as it is; its deficiencies 
 and its virtues. Like the dark tents of Kedar, a wander- 
 ing tribe of the desert descended from the second son of 
 Ishmael, the spouse was of a swarthy colour; the original 
 beauty of the human soul has been thus clouded and 
 blackened by sin, yet through grace, there is gathering 
 around it a drapery of holy virtues, beautiful as the cur- 
 tains adorning the pavilion of Solomon. 1 Kings x. 28 ; 
 Ezek. xxvii. 7. While our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle is, without, black as the tents of Kedar, uncomely 
 to mortal eyes; the redeemed soul, the king's daughter, 
 is all glorious within, as there adorned with curtains of 
 pious graces, wrought in heaven by a greater than Solo- 
 mon, and hung around the sanctuary of this spiritual 
 temple by the hands of angels under the eye of God the 
 Spirit. The beauty and glory of the believer are now 
 very much hidden from the world. Our life is a hidden 
 life. There is a fulness of "glory which shall be revealed 
 in us" at "the manifestation of the sons of God." Horn, 
 viii. 10. When the apostle, speaking of heaven, says, "I 
 saw no temple therein," Rev. x.xi. '22, lie would intimate 
 that the outer covering of the tabernacle, with its golden 
 
CHAPTER I. 5. 149 
 
 walls and all its costly appendages, had fallen away, 
 that nothing had been left but the holy of holies, 
 with the cloud of glory, and this holy place had been 
 expanded into the dimensions of the paradise of God: 
 thus when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, Ave 
 also shall appear with him in glory; the secrets of 
 all hearts shall be revealed; the image of Christ within 
 us the hope of glory, shall be manifested; our earthly 
 house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, and the 
 soul emerge from it like the most holy place of the 
 heavenly sanctuary, pure, spiritual, luminous with the 
 divine glory. Of the existence of holy graces within us, 
 we cannot be unconscious, if we are the sons of God ; yet 
 will we be painfully sensible of our depravity and corrup- 
 tion. Humility consists in a true knowledge of our 
 character, without being insensible of what grace has 
 done for us, while aware of our extreme unworthiness. 
 How useless and unnecessary w.ould it have been to put 
 such fine and costly curtains on the outside for the cover- 
 ing of a tent exposed to the sun, wind, and rain. The 
 tabernacle was covered with coarse skins; the costly vail 
 was within, screened from the eyes of the multitude; so 
 the beauteous, transparent drapery of holiness, which the 
 Spirit of God is hanging around the soul, is within, con- 
 cealed from the gaze of the world, while the outer cover- 
 ing of this habitation of God through the Spirit, Eph. 
 ii. 22, is the coarse fabric of this dark and weather-beaten 
 body. The crystal palace reared in London has been 
 justly the admiration of the world; like it, there has been 
 nothing seen in any age; an unlettered savage could 
 hardly be made to understand how a building could lie 
 formed so beautiful, so transparent, and how there could 
 be gathered in it such choice products of skill, into the 
 beauties of which even kings and nobles naturally desire 
 
150 COMMENTARY. 
 
 to look. In the heavenly Jerusalem will be reared a 
 spiritual palace which shall be the admiration and orna- 
 ment of that world of light and glory; nothing will there 
 be known more splendid; it will rise on those heavenly 
 hills a new and astonishing creation, of materials clearer 
 and more beautiful than a fabric of glass and gold, 
 open on every side to the rays of the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness, stored with those choice products of the Holy 
 Spirit's wisdom and power, the graces of the sanctified 
 heart — into which things the angels desire to look. That 
 crystal palace is the redeemed Church ; even a more 
 glorious temple is every sanctified soul. 
 
 Ver. 6. — 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. 
 
 Having acknowledged the whole truth concerning her- 
 self, dark but comely, the spouse seems here to say, that 
 she was not worthy of the high regard with which the 
 daughters of Jerusalem beheld her; for she was of a 
 tanned or swarthy colour, and this had been caused by 
 exposure to the sun, in the discharge of menial services, 
 to which she had been compelled by her kindred.* She 
 shrinks from their admiration, by a consciousness of 
 unworthiness. She had beauty, as travellers even now 
 speak of Arab women met with in Syria, who, though 
 swarthy, have good features. Zenobia, the celebrated 
 
 * D'Arvieux observes of the Arabs of the Holy Land, that though the 
 ordinary women are extremely tawny, yet the princesses are not so, but 
 of a very fair complexion, being always kept from the sun. Shaw 
 made a like observation as to the women of Barbary. Thevcnot states 
 that when he travelled into Mesopotamia, though he wore on his head a 
 gn>at black handkerchief, like a woman's hood, which sort of handker- 
 chiefs the Turks commonly use upon the road, yet his forehead was 
 scorched many times, and his hands continually. 
 
CHAPTER I. G. 151 
 
 queen of Palmyra, is described by historians as a woman 
 of remarkable beauty, possessing a dark brown complex- 
 ion, eyes black, sparkling, and of an uncommon fire, a 
 countenance highly animated and sprightly, a person sur- 
 passingly graceful and genteel, with teeth white as pearl, 
 and a voice strong and musical. But though thus beau- 
 tiful, the spouse does not encourage them to admire her 
 for her beauty; she rather entreats them to turn away 
 from her their gaze, because she felt that over her beauty 
 had been thrown a shade. 
 
 Communion with Jesus leads the soul enjoying it to 
 shrink from courting the attention and admiration of 
 men, even of our fellow Christians: "Look not upon me, 
 because I am black." The desire of applause is deeply 
 rooted in the natural heart, and is as universal and strong 
 as the love of gold. Pursuit of this seems the business 
 for which many irreligious persons are living. From the 
 frail beauty fluttering in the ball-room, to the politician 
 with his wily schemes, and the soldier seeking "the 
 bubble reputation at the cannon's mouth" — all are trying 
 to push themselves into notoriety, and their feeling, 
 though policy keeps it unuttered, is, Look on me, see how 
 worthy I am of admiration. 
 
 "Fame is the spur that the clear spirit cloth raise, — 
 That last infirmity of noble minds, — 
 To scorn delights, and live laborious days."* 
 
 This principle, springing from vanity, is seen in weak 
 minds no less than in the highest genius, in poor as well 
 as in rich, in the obscure no less than in the most exalted. 
 Hard is it for the believer to get this propensity eradi- 
 cated; and often does it injure, even destroy, the ambas- 
 sador of Christ. Grace crucifies us to the world, makes 
 us see through the speciousness of "the things of the 
 
 * Milton's Lycidas. 
 
152 COMMENTARY. 
 
 world," abates our desire for them, and absorbs the soul 
 in a passion for the honour that is from God. It makes 
 us see our vileness and weakness, so as to feel unworthy 
 of any commendation, and realize how dangerous is 
 praise to the good of the soul. Hence those whom Jesus 
 loves are often subjected to humiliation and mortification 
 from the world, for training them to a renunciation of 
 the pride which is the root of ambition, and for obliging 
 them to cultivate lowliness of heart. So far from seek- 
 ing worldly honour and applause, He who is our example, 
 when he perceived that they would come and take him 
 by force to make him a king, departed again into a 
 mountain himself alone. John vi. 15. In Ps. cxxi. 5, 
 "The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand; the sun 
 shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night; the 
 Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall preserve 
 thy soul ;" the sun is represented as the source of the 
 evils from which we need to be screened, and Jehovah as 
 our protection and shade. Thus the words "the sun 
 hath looked upon me," express the cause of this injury 
 to the beauty once natural to the soul, the withering and 
 darkening effects of sin, of the divine justice blazing forth 
 towards us as a consuming fire. This sense of inward 
 depravity, of the hateful effects of sin on the heart, better 
 known to ourselves than any others through the illumina- 
 tion of the Spirit, makes us shrink from tne applause of 
 men, and feel unworthy of the favour <of God. Far 
 from the desire of climbing to the conspicuous eminence 
 of worldly fame, we seek to withdraw inl quietness to 
 the calm retreats found in the "shadow, of the great 
 Rock in a weary land." With Moses, vvc prefer the 
 solitude of Horcb to the splendour of the court of Egypt. 
 The cause of the comeliness or beauty of .the soul is not 
 noticed in this verse, as it springs so evidently from 
 
CHAPTER I. 6. 153 
 
 communion with our Lord, "in his chambers," at the 
 throne of grace, where "we all with open face beholding 
 as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the 
 same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of 
 the Lord." 
 
 Love to the Lord Jesus, special tokens of his favour, 
 meekness, and lowliness of heart, are no security against 
 hatred and ill-treatment from the world, and even from 
 followers of Christ. Such was the case of Jesus on 
 earth; we must expect the same. "My mother's child- 
 ren were angry with me,* they made me the keeper of 
 the vineyards."f This was a work laborious and menial. 
 Those whom Nebuzaraclan left for vine-dressers and 
 husbandmen were the poor of the land. 2 Kings xxv. 12. 
 The bless-ings promised to his people by the coming of 
 the Messiah, are represented by freedom from this ser- 
 vice. "The sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen 
 and your vinedressers." Isa. Ixi. 5. Well is it that the 
 saints have been made to feel that the Saviour's kino-- 
 dom is not of this world. Temporal power is as prone 
 to ruin the Church, as riches and ease are to ruin indi- 
 vidual Christians. Feeling the uncongenial and hostile 
 
 * "In the East, the husband is a stern and unfeeling despot; his 
 harem, a group of trembling slaves. The children espouse with ardour. 
 unknown to those who are placed in other circumstances, the cause of 
 their own mother, while they regard their common father with indif- 
 ference or terror. It greatly aggravated the affliction of David, that 
 he had become an alien to his mother's children, Ps. lxix. 8; the 
 enmity of his brethren, the relations of his father's other wives, or his 
 more distant relatives, gave him less concern."— Stackkouse'a History 
 of the Bible, book viii. chap. 4. 
 
 t "Great care was taken to preserve the clusters of the vine from 
 the intrusion of birds ; and boys were constantly employed, about the 
 season of the vintage, to frighten them with a sling and' the sound of 
 the voice." — Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. 149. 
 14 
 
154 COMMENTARY. 
 
 spirit of the world, the young believer fondly trusts to 
 find among his fellow Christians the sanctuary of a 
 brotherhood, unclouded by envy, undisturbed by a jar. 
 Experience shows how fallacious was his expectation. 
 The remains of corruption in the hearts of good men 
 prove elements of dissension, discord, and collision. 
 The love of power, desire of prominence, jealousy of 
 rivals in ability and influence, frequently excite to efforts 
 for keeping down brethren whose offence is that they are 
 apparently superior in learning, piety, or usefulness. 
 "Whence come w T ars and fightings among you? come 
 they not hence, even of your lusts?" Jas. iv. 1. While 
 sanctification remains imperfect, these tendencies to dis- 
 cord will more or less frequently rise above the control 
 of grace, as well as surmount the influenee of natural 
 affection. Members of irreligious families are yet ex- 
 posed to persecution on becoming pious; and the believer 
 often finds a man's foes are they of his own household 
 of faith. The same unhallowed principle, not yet 
 entirely uprooted by grace, is the cause of the ill treat- 
 ment and ill feeling received by the humble saint from 
 the wicked world, from other religious denominations, 
 and from members of the same church. How common for 
 different sects, even of evangelical Christians, to endea- 
 vour to injure, if not destroy, each other's influence, when 
 their energies combined against the enemies of all reli- 
 gion, would produce little enough impression; when there 
 is more than a sufficiency for them all to do in converting 
 the world; and when each is designed by the Head of 
 the Church to exert an influence, and occupy a position 
 the other is not adapted to fill. The spirit of detraction 
 and selfishness, so rife in the world, will never be entirely 
 banished from the Church, till we reach the spirits of 
 just men made perfect. Among those of the same sect, 
 
C II A P T E 11 I. 0. 155 
 
 how common for such as live near to Christ to be envied, 
 maligned, and ill treated by their brethren. Speaking 
 to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trem- 
 bleth at his word, the Holy Spirit says: "Your brethren 
 that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, 
 said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to 
 your joy, and they shall be ashamed." Isa. lxvi. 5. In 
 his last affecting address to them, Jesus insists strongly 
 on his disciples loving one another, because, among other 
 reasons therefor, they would be hated by the world, 
 John xv. 17; and though the intolerance among rival 
 sects, and the envy often apparent in Christian brethren, 
 may be "overruled for good, just as other sin may be, 
 Ps. lxxvi. 10, those show themselves to have departed 
 most from the temper of the world, and come nearest to 
 Jesus, who strive not to pull down others, but cultivate 
 love to Christ's people wherever found, manifesting kind- 
 ness and forbearance towards the persecuting spirit yet 
 hanging around them, as well as towards the malice of 
 the impenitent. 
 
 The soul thus blessed with Jesus' love, feels and con- 
 fesses its omissions, short-comings, and neglect of duty; 
 "my own vineyard have I not kept." A sense of 
 unworthiness increases with growth in grace. As ad- 
 vancement in learning makes us more sensible how little 
 we know, so the more we increase in Christian activity, 
 the more active do we wish to be, and the more painfully 
 are we conscious of deficiencies. No man feels so acutely 
 how far he falls below the full measure of holy duties, 
 pious zeal, and heavenly love, as he who is growing up 
 nearest to the stature of a perfect one in Christ. He 
 who has done most for the Redeemer feels himself to have 
 done least. Our obligations to Jesus are seen to be so 
 great, love to him would so constrain us, that after 
 
156 COMMENTARY. 
 
 stretching our powers to the utmost, we are ready to weep 
 that we do no more. Though the trust committed to us 
 lias been kept, we are humbled with the consciousness 
 that in many respects it might have been kept -with 
 greater faithfulness. Duties have been neglected, oppor- 
 tunities of usefulness misimproved, watchfulness un- 
 heeded, prayer offered with coldness, temptation tampered 
 with, self-denial too little exercised, everything, indeed, 
 however laborious our piety, bearing traces of the 
 imperfection inseparable from earth, and filling us with 
 deep humiliation. With contrition and tears, we ac- 
 quiesce in the Avords of Jesus, "When ye shall have done 
 all those things which are commanded you, say, We are 
 unprofitable servants." Luke xvii. 10. The moral man 
 will look with complacency on some trifling deeds done 
 for religion, thinking he is conferring an honour on 
 Christ, and is showing a praiseworthy condescension in 
 such a work of supererogation: our feeling is, "in many 
 things we come short all." Many duties have been 
 crowded out of place by selfish desires; and with those 
 which have been done are mingled many imperfections, 
 and much of an improper spirit. Sensible of these 
 things, we feel the uprightness of God in his chastise- 
 ments, even when from the hands of brethren, rather 
 than of the wicked; and instead of fretting against our 
 Father in heaven, or complaining of those who misuse 
 and oppress, we find in our own unworthiness more than 
 sufficient reason for all these ills, and are filled with 
 wonder that our blessings are yet so numerous, and our 
 sorrows so few, that while we deserve a sea of troubles, 
 God has sent only a surge. Grace makes the believer 
 feel painfully how much more closely he might have 
 walked with God, how much more his privileges might 
 have been improved. 
 
CHAPTER I. 7. 157 
 
 Ver. 7. — Tell nic, thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, 
 where thou makest thy Hock to rest at noon: for why should I be 
 as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? 
 
 For carrying out the design of the allegory, this regal 
 encampment is here represented as moving from place to 
 place, in search of green pastures, cooling shades, and 
 still waters, under the guidance of their shepherd-king. 
 The spouse having heen received so kindly and feeling 
 increased ardour of affection, wishes to follow the beloved, 
 not merely as one among the mixed multitude, but enjoy- 
 ing, as she had already, the pleasure of his pavilion and 
 society.* 
 
 The first burst of desire from the pious heart is for the 
 fulness of the Holy Spirit, as in verse 2 ; this creates the 
 
 * /"It would be difficult to describe the appearance of a large tribe, 
 like that we now met, when migrating to new pastures. We found 
 ourselves in the midst of wide-spreading flocks of sheep and camels. 
 As far as the eye could reach, to the right, to the left, and in front, 
 still the same moving crowd. Long lines of asses and bullocks laden 
 with black tents and variegated carpets; boys driving flocks of lambs; 
 horsemen armed with their long tufted spears, scouring the plain on 
 their fleet mares; riders urging their dromedaries with their short 
 hooked sticks, and leading their high-bred steeds by the halter; colts 
 galloping among the throng; high-born ladies seated in the centre of 
 huge wings, which extended like those of a butterfly from each side of 
 the camel's hump, and are no less gaudy and variegated. Such was 
 the motley crowd through which we had to wend our way for several 
 hours. When we reached the encampment, our horses, as well as our- 
 selves, were exhausted by the heat of the sun, and the length of the 
 day's journey. The tents were pitched on a broad lawn in a deep 
 ravine ; they were scattered in every direction, and amongst them rose 
 the white pavilions of the Turkish irregular cavalry." — LayarrVs 
 Nineveh, vol. i. 91. "Looking to the east, flocks and herds were seen 
 spreading through the undulating valleys. In one place, we saw many 
 of them gathered together under a shady tree, waiting till the excessive 
 heat of noon should be abated. At other times, the shepherds gather 
 the flocks beside a well, as we afterwards saw at Lebonah, where many 
 hundreds were lying down around the well's mouth." — Mission of 
 Inquiry to the Jews, p. 109. 
 
 14* 
 
1,38 COMMENTARY. 
 
 anxious wish to run after Jesu3, ver. 4; and this feeling 
 receives its gratification in being brought to intimate 
 communion with our Lord, ver. 4. The soul thus blessed 
 desires to follow Jesus whithersoever he goeth, Rev. 
 xiv. 4; John x. 27; and when this Shepherd-king goes 
 abroad to take charge of his flock, we would go with him, 
 anxious to be with him in difficulty, fatigue, and danger, 
 no less than amid the luxuries of his palace. The for- 
 malist and lukewarm have their view occupied with the 
 difficulties and self-denial likely to be encountered; the 
 spiritual Christian has his attention so engrossed with the 
 loveliness of Christ, as to overlook, or encounter with 
 alacrity, all obstructions in reaching the presence of his 
 Lord. 
 
 This results from the intensity and energy of his love — 
 
 a love such that his whole soul seems melted down into 
 
 this one affection, and its delighted expression is, " thou 
 
 whom my soul loveth." When love to Jesus is compared 
 
 with love felt for anything that may be a man's ruling 
 
 passion, such as the love of fame, of power, of money, we 
 
 are far from doing it justice. These are strong; but far 
 
 stronger is love to Jesus. In these cases there is but one 
 
 solitary thing, and that an inferior one, to satisfy all the 
 
 cravings of all the powers of the soul ; the one propensity 
 
 is only partially satisfied, and the other affections are still 
 
 more restless. But in Christ, love taking the lead, as its 
 
 most exalted exercise is in cleaving to an object as far 
 
 above every other as the Creator is above the thing 
 
 created, all the faculties find in him the richest field for 
 
 activity; and the Holy Ghost does in the meantime, open 
 
 to us his loveliness, and brace up every fibre of the soul 
 
 for beholding, adoring, and loving him; so that all our 
 
 energies are concentrated on this one point of love to 
 
 "ist, and thus drawn to a focus, burn with a heavenly 
 
CHAPTER I. 7. 159 
 
 radiance, a consuming fervour. Love to Christ thus 
 becomes the strongest passion which can take possession 
 of the soul of man. Husband, wife, children, father, 
 mother, life, however fondly cherished, are so much less 
 loved, that in comparison with Jesus they may be said to 
 be hat.d. Matt. x. 37; Luke xiv. 26. By the power of 
 the Spirit, who makes us partakers of the divine nature, 
 we are through this love so absorbed in Jesus as to be 
 one with him ; so that as Christ thus dwells in our hearts, 
 and being thus rooted and grounded in love, we know his 
 love which passeth knowledge, we are filled with all the 
 fulness of God, and approximate to the feeling enjoined 
 in the command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 strength, and with all thy mind." Luke x. 27. With 
 what depth of blessedness does the soul then look 
 earnestly towards Jesus, and say: "0 thou whom my 
 soul loveth !" 
 
 "Tell me, where thou fecdest;" — where thou dost 
 watch over thy flock as a shepherd;— where I maybe 
 under thy care as my shepherd. The word "feed" in 
 this verse, as well as in Isa. xl. 11, Rev. vii. 17, means to 
 discharge the office of a shepherd. As in the services of 
 the law, a variety of sacrifices and purifications was neces- 
 sary, heeause no one type could prefigure everything 
 necessary to be known about Jesus Christ in the work of 
 purchasing redemption; so, various illustrations are used 
 for showing the different relations he sustains to the 
 saints, in applying the benefits of his purchase. The 
 blessedness of the seasons when we are favoured with 
 delightful communications of the Holy Spirit, is set forth 
 by communion with the king in his chambers; but as our 
 course is long and lies through difficulties, trials, and 
 dangers, wherein we are of ourselves helpless and need 
 
; A B Y. 
 
 the superintending care of an all-powerful han-l. 
 repre- . l'~. xx:;:. 1: as the Shepherd 
 
 bishop of Bonis, 1 Pet :i. _ the chief Shepherd, 
 
 1 Per. v. 4 : as the great Shepherd of the sheep, Heb. 
 xiii. 20. This includes protection, guidance, pro- 
 for the soul, pastures and waters, and company with our 
 Lord. There are places where Jesus may be thus found; 
 and ieep that wanders from the shepherd 
 
 benefits, we must be careful to keep near him, 
 among his flock. He has a variety of pastures into 
 which he lea .11 increasing in richness and 
 
 luxuriance, as we draw nearer to the limits of this wilder- 
 
 uid the borders of the promised land in heaven. A: 
 
 under L;- ral care, these green pastures and 
 
 still : the spiritual life are found at intervals, 
 
 like the green spots in the -lis of water and 
 
 palm-" *.h many a weary journey between; but as 
 
 we draw nearer to heaven, more frequent evidences are 
 met of our approaching a better country; the . 
 
 . and less extensive; the verdure 
 
 grows richer, as lying more nearly under the influence of 
 
 a more refreshing than II -: until at length 
 
 - ver into that good land, where the Lamb, which 
 
 is in the midst of the throne, shall feed us, and shall lead 
 
 :o livinjr fountains of waters. In the illimitable 
 wilderness around us. how can we find these prt 
 
 . without his guidance' If we rest in greet, 
 tures, it is he that makes us lie down there; if we r 
 beside the still wate: :ie that leads us thither. 
 
 The world has many alluring scenes for drawing us away 
 from Christ ; but we wish to come away even from Leba- 
 non and Dermon. Song it. 8, ; pt itself, and 
 Goshen, for Horeb, u - it may seem, if there we 
 : nd the good Shepherd, in the attr 
 
 / 
 
CHAPTER I. 7. 161 
 
 manifestations of his glory. Exod. Hi. 2. Tell me — make 
 me to know by the inward voice of thy Spirit, and by the 
 outward guiding? of thy providence, where and what are 
 those situations and occupations in life, and those seasons 
 pen mere than usual influences of the Holy 
 
 Spirit, in which I may dwell, not by my own choice, but 
 :ine appointment, and there enjoy unceasing thy 
 gracious presence and thy shepherd-care. 
 
 ••Where thou makest thv flock to rest at noon."* At 
 
 ■ 
 
 noon, they led their flocks a.-ide into the shade, and by 
 wells or streams, that they might be sheltered from the 
 oppressive heat, and enjoy the refreshment of cool w;. 
 Gen. xxix. 7. "They shall feed in the ways, and their 
 pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not 
 hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite 
 
 * ''Tis raging noon; and, vertical, the sun 
 the head direct his forceful 
 me, ye shades! ye bowery thickets, hail! 
 Around th' adjoining brook that purls along 
 The Tocal grove, now jutting o"er a rock, 
 
 ■v scarcely moving through a reedy pool, 
 Now starting to a sudden stream, and now 
 Gently diffused into a limpid plain; 
 
 :ous group the herds and flocks comj 
 
 — Thompson' '» Summer. 
 "We might further mention in illustration the Culei of Virgil, ver. 110. 
 "Now at the shepherd's call, the kids once more 
 k the deep shade, their devious rambles o'er, 
 Where murmuring waters wash th" o'erhanging moss 
 And lim] ng the blue-tin.: 
 
 le from his mid- the sunbeams beat, 
 
 shades the shepherd and his flock retreat." 
 
 'leorg. iii. 331. 
 ien noon-tide flames, down cool sequestered glades, 
 
 where some giant oak the dell 
 where the gloom of many an ilex throws 
 The sacred dai . 5e." 
 
162 COMMENTARY. 
 
 them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, 
 even by the springs of water shall he guide them." Isa. 
 xlix. 10, Ezek. xxxiv. 13. The day has not more 
 certainly its noon, a time -when in the East all are glad to 
 seek repose in the shade, by springs, to slake their 
 consuming thirst, than has the life of the believer its 
 period of trial and sorrow. In following our Lord, we 
 must expect not only to enjoy seasons when everything in 
 the spiritual life is calm, dewy, and refreshing, like the 
 morning; but also to encounter times when all things 
 conspire to weary, discourage, and exhaust the spirit 
 with the withering power of an oriental noon. But there 
 are at such times, wells and fountains in this wilderness, 
 like these which were concealed in the desert, and to 
 which the wearied hosts of Israel were led by "the Shep- 
 herd of his flock." They are known to our good Shep- 
 herd, aftd he will so guide us, that, like Jesus, wearied 
 with his journey, and sitting on Jacob's well at noon, 
 John iv. 6, we may, when worn with the difficulties of our 
 pilgrimage, sit there, and drink, and with joy draw water 
 out of the wells of salvation. There is an "hour of 
 temptation," Rev. iii. 10, and an hour of affliction. 
 These are sure to follow any remarkable communication 
 of grace to us. It was directly after the baptism of the 
 Holy Spirit, that Jesus was tempted by the devil. In 
 all these times, when the soul is ready to wither under 
 the power of trials and sorrows, Jesus has provided "a 
 tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat." 
 Isa. iv. 5. To this refuge will he lead his chosen ones; 
 and there, in time of trouble, he will hide us in his 
 pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle will he hide us. 
 Wearied with the assaults of Satan; worn with toil; 
 oppressed with grief; with the cherished objects that 
 requited our affection, gone by death; and those from 
 
C II A P T E R I. 7. 1G3 
 
 whom we have a right to expect better things, treating us 
 with neglect, ingratitude, and scorn, how anxiously does 
 the soul, feeling there is but the one object, even Jesus, 
 left for it to love, seek his hand to guide us where there 
 is shelter from evil, and where on his bosom the weary 
 are at rest. "And the sheep hear his voice, and he 
 calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out; 
 and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before 
 them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his 
 voice." John x. 3, 4. 
 
 "For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the 
 flocks of thy companions?"* The divine love which 
 constrains us to follow Jesus with earnest self-denial 
 wherever he may see best to lead, whether through dark 
 
 * Concerning the precise import of the word here rendered "turneth 
 aside," interpreters are divided. It properly means "to cover ; : ' and 
 the feminine participle "covered, veiled;" that is, Why should I be as 
 one veiled among the flocks of thy companions, — Why should I, as a 
 faithless harlot, turn away from thee with an unsteady, erring love, 
 and seek among those connected with the flocks of thy companions 
 some new and improper object of affection. Thus, Gen. xxxviii. 15, 
 '• lie thought her to bean harlot, because she had covered her face." 
 No! only did she wish to seek no other love; she wished to avoid even 
 a suspicion of not being entirely devoted to him; and consequently 
 desired to know precisely where she might find him, without having to 
 make the inquiries, and to incur the treatment afterwards met with 
 from tho watchmen. Chap. v. 7. Hence, Mercerus happily remarks, 
 "The spouse wishes to create the impression of her devoted affection, 
 as though there were danger, while she wanders about inquiring for 
 him, that she be taken for a harlot," According to Kitto, "it is cus- 
 tomary for all the women inhabiting towns to go about closely veiled; 
 while all the women of the different pastoral people who live in tents 
 do not commonly wear veils, or at most only so far as to cover their 
 foreheads and lower parts of the face, having the countenance exposed, 
 from the eyebrows to below the nose. It is evident, that although the 
 use of complete coverings was known, the women of the pastoral patri- 
 archs did not conceal their fans completely, except on extraordinary 
 Occasions." — Illustrated Commentary, Gen. xx. 1G. 
 
164 COMMENTARY. 
 
 and rough valleys, or into the most refreshing pastures; 
 which makes us seek his direction in trouble, and rest in 
 the covert in which he would then have us to abide, does 
 equally incline us to dread any liability of being led 
 astray from him, and to avoid following any but Jesus. 
 Companions of Jesus are mentioned in Acts i. 21, John 
 xv. 27, Luke i. 2 ; they were the Apostles. Sin consists 
 in apostasy from God. It creates in the heart a repulsion 
 to God, and a disposition to occupy the powers of the 
 soul with anything in preference to the Creator. "What- 
 ever ,jthe manifestations of God, however attractive and 
 glorious, depravity so changes our constitution as to 
 carry us away from Jehovah by its natural opposition to 
 holiness. It is the nature of a sinful being to fall away 
 from God. Such cannot be drawn and kept near the 
 Fountain of light and life, the Sun of Righteousness, 
 without the restraining influences of the Holy Spirit. 
 From God, as manifested in Paradise, in the flood, on 
 Sinai, sinful man turned spontaneously away; and when 
 at last he disclosed himself to us in the fulness of grace 
 and truth in the Lord Jesus, the same native propensity 
 towards evil and darkness inclines us to adopt the teach- 
 ings of others rather than of Christ; to worship and 
 serve the creature more than the Creator thus incarnate ; 
 to turn aside from the Redeemer, even though no farther 
 than after his companions. From the first there was a 
 disposition to say, "I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and 
 I of Cephas." 1 Cor. i. 12. And ever since, much of the 
 divisions among Christians has sprung from the dis- 
 position to turn away from God even in Christ, and 
 cleave to men, to church organizations or forms of 
 doctrine, to anything, indeed, though an idol or a crucifix, 
 if thereby the Author of our being, the Spirit of holiness, 
 may be displaced from the heart. Even when holding 
 
C II A P T E R I. 7. 165 
 
 firmly to Christ, we find within us a propensity to model 
 our religious life after the example of our pious asso- 
 ciates, without thinking of rising above the general tone 
 of feeling around us, and to take as the pattern to which 
 our ambition and efforts for holiness aspire, the life of 
 some eminent saint, rather than the glorious righteous- 
 ness of Christ. This love, as here expressed, desires to 
 follow Jesus only, to take his example. Unsatisfied with 
 being led by any other, we feel, with Bunyan's Pilgrim, 
 "Wherever I have seen the print of his shoe in the earth, 
 there I have coveted to set my foot too." Taking his 
 truth as the first rule of duty, and his life as the only 
 perfect representation of what ours should be, we study 
 to be not so much like any development of piety in any 
 saint however eminent, as to be like Christ. While 
 valuing church organizations, this love puts them in their 
 proper place, without letting them come between the soul 
 and Christ, and rejoices in the prosperity of religion 
 among undoubted Christians, even though not of its own 
 sect. Phil. i. 18. While these means of grace, creeds, 
 and denominations, are seen necessary in the present 
 state of man, we arc able to feel they are trivial things in 
 comparison with Jesus, to be done away in heaven. 
 1 Cor. xiii. 10. Through this divine love absorbing the 
 soul, we are able in a measure to rise in our desires 
 above everything else, however closely allied to him, and 
 feel Christ to be all in all. Like many things and asso- 
 ciations viewed as very important during childhood, but 
 lost sight of under weightier considerations in riper years, 
 these earthly things, even those essentially connected 
 with religion, will be seen in their true proportions, and 
 sink down into their proper place, when that which is 
 perfect shall come, and that which is in part shall be 
 done away in heaven. 
 15 
 
166 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Ver. 8. — If thou know not, thou fairest among women, go thy way 
 forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the 
 shepherd's tents. 
 
 These words are an answer to the inquiry in the fore- 
 going verse. It is necessary for the good of those 
 having too high an opinion of themselves, that they be 
 reproved and humbled: there are pious spirits so borne 
 down by humbleness of heart, as to need encourage- 
 ment. Some must be held in with bit and bridle; others 
 are so lowly they may be guided by the good Shepherd's 
 eye, Ps. xxxii. 9, and need encouragement by his speak- 
 ing to their heart. Among the latter, are those having 
 the state of mind expressed in verses 5 and 6, "I am 
 black, but comely, &c." Jesus seeing the lowliness of 
 such, and unwilling to break the bruised reed, comforts 
 them, and says, "0 thou fairest among women." While 
 the pious are despised by the world, as possessing nothing 
 of loveliness, Jesus looking on the heart, beyond the mere 
 accomplishments of person and manners, beholds the 
 saint as the fairest among the sons of men. Heart has 
 very little, if anything, to do with beauty among the 
 fashionable world. The most accomplished there, is 
 most heartless. Speaking of the court of Louis XV. a 
 writer observes, " Generations of luxury had given to the 
 manners of court-minions the polish of steel, and its 
 hardness to their hearts." All is outward polish and 
 grace, while inward, deformity and corruption. The 
 devotee of fashion is at best but a whited sepulchre, 
 beautifully garnished to the eye, but full of all unclean- 
 ness; his courtly bearing an embroidered pall, which it 
 has been the whole business of his life to weave, covering 
 from the view of men, perhaps of himself, spiritual loath- 
 someness and death. God, who is love, begins his 
 estimate of beauty, by taking into consideration, first of 
 
CHAPTER I. 8. 167 
 
 all the heart, and the heart purified by love. Whatever 
 our outward circumstances, even though unfavourable in 
 appearance as those of Lazarus, we are beautiful in his 
 eyes, if the heart be filled with the limpid and life-giving 
 influences of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Having thus received encouragement, so that by knowing 
 the opinion had of her by the beloved, the spouse might 
 be cheered onward in following him, she was prepared to 
 hear the duty that is enjoined in reply to her inquiry : If 
 thou know not, if you are at any time in doubt, go thy 
 way forth by the footsteps of the flock, follow the exam- 
 ple of those gone before you to glory. The same direc- 
 tion is given in Heb. vi. 10 — 12. They are exhorted to 
 "be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith 
 and patience inherit the promises." This is to be done 
 with a diligence continued to full assurance of hope, and 
 on to the end. The state of heart thus acceptable with 
 God, and inclining us to those ways where are the foot- 
 steps of the flock, shows itself in works and labours of 
 love, manifested towards the name of Jesus, by minister- 
 ing to his saints. Christ is given as our example: 
 "Leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps." 
 1 Peter ii. 21. We are to follow the saints as they follow 
 Christ. 1 Cor. xi. 1. It is necessary to have the exam- 
 ples of both constantly before us. If the Scriptures had 
 given nothing but doctrines in a didactic form, we must 
 have had difficulty in comprehending and obeying them. 
 We require something sensible and tangible; we must 
 see the thing not only described, but done before our 
 eyes. There is in the mind a propensity to personify 
 abstract things, arising from the extreme difficulty of 
 making them otherwise intelligible to beings, who, like 
 us, derive their knowledge mainly through the senses. 
 When the poets would make their instructions attractive 
 
168 COMMEXTAR Y. 
 
 and impressive, they resort to personification; and try to 
 represent abstract truths as nearly as they can be repre- 
 sented, by allegorical forms. With this, the ancient 
 mythology abounds. The Jewish ritual was formed on 
 this principle. In making to the Jews promises and 
 threatenings, God often had them symbolized by both 
 acts and things. Thus the truths of religion brought 
 down from time to time into the darkness of our world, 
 like rays of glory from heaven, were not left to shoot afar 
 at random, but have been concentrated, embodied, clothed 
 with a living form, in the person of Jesus Christ; and of 
 him may be said with truth, what was said of a heathen 
 god; 
 
 "Each conception was a heavenly guest, 
 A ray of immortality, and stood 
 Star-like around until they gathered to a God."* 
 
 There is danger of overlooking Christ as our exemplar, 
 while receiving him as our teacher. It is required in an 
 instructor that himself should do what he teaches others. 
 This was eminently done by Jesus when sojourning on 
 earth. While receiving his teachings, we must study to 
 find how he carried out the spirit of such instructions, in 
 his actions. The artist who seeks perfection in painting 
 or statuary, devotes himself to the study of the works of 
 the best masters and the models of antiquity. God has 
 set forth, in the incarnation of Christ, a perfect model 
 for those who would attain moral perfection. As ancient 
 temples were ornamented with statues and sculpture, so 
 in the temple of our God in heaven, there will be pillars, 
 Rev. iii. 12, living statues, wrought out from the living 
 stones here found in the horrible pit, of which the cheru- 
 bim and palm-trees carved in the golden walls of the 
 
 * Childe Harold, Canto 4, clxii. 
 
CHAPTER I. 8. 1G9 
 
 earthly temple were the foreshadowing, 1 Kings vi. 29, 
 Ezek. xli. 18; and those of us who are co-workers with 
 God in forming our souls for that position of glory, can 
 accomplish our trust, can, under the co-operating influ- 
 ences of the Holy Spirit, have our whole man reduced to 
 the beauty of holiness, only by taking as our model, Him 
 in whom, when on earth in human form, did all the ful- 
 ness of the Godhead dwell. It has ever been a device of 
 Satan, to draw attention away from Jesus to his saints — 
 first from his example, and then from his instructions — 
 to the lives of mart vis and the teachings of the fathers, 
 as they are called. When he cannot succeed in doing 
 both, he will be satisfied in turning our view from the 
 example of Christ, while we retain our hold on his word, 
 lie knows that in proportion to the degree he can thus 
 turn the eye from Jesus, the only perfect teacher and 
 perfect model, will be his success in introducing error; 
 because no man is infallible, either in doctrine or prac- 
 tice, and accordingly, those who are content with human 
 guides, may be more easily corrupted by imbibing their 
 errors. The coldness of many Protestants springs from 
 losing sight of the living example of Christ, while his 
 word may be retained and perhaps studied ; the errors 
 of Popery arise from displacing both the word and the 
 example of Jesus, and giving the attention to the doctrines 
 and lives of the so-called saints. 
 
 But the example of the followers of Christ, is neverthe- 
 less of great value. In many things, Jesus cannot be 
 imitated. While found in fashion as a man, there are 
 things which he could not have in common with our 
 nature, lie was a man, but a man who did no evil, who 
 was sinless. In devotion to the will of God, in bearing 
 reproach, in all things pertaining to holy living, he is a 
 15* 
 
170 COMMENTARY. 
 
 perfect model. But there are spiritual exercises arising 
 from our being fallen sinners, and in a course of sanctifi- 
 cation, that Jesus could never know. Regeneration, 
 repentance, contrition, conversion, temptations to sin 
 caused by corruptions of the heart, are things he could 
 not have personally experienced : these things modify the 
 whole tenor of our spiritual exercises ; and, consequently, 
 if we are to enjoy on this ground the advantage of any 
 who has been before us, this must be found, not in the 
 history of Jesus, but in the lives of his people. The fall 
 of David, his recovery and the feeling attending this 
 recovery, as given in the Scriptures, is necessary for the 
 encouragement of the saint under discipline: the same is 
 true of the exercises of Paul, mentioned in Rom. vii. 
 15—25, and 2 Cor. xii. 7—9. Nothing in the life of 
 Christ could furnish features of an example for our en- 
 couragement in cases like these. We need doctrinal 
 statements, such as our Lord has given, of what we should 
 be, and of the means by which we can become such ; the 
 example of a perfect model like Jesus, towards which to 
 be conformed ; and the example of fallen men in process 
 of restoration by grace to the image of Christ, that 
 through the knowledge of their exercises we may have 
 warning, consolation, and hope. Great encouragement is 
 derived from studying the lives of those who have been 
 among us, and have passed through like difficulties and 
 conflicts to glory. Good biographies are valuable to the 
 saint as an exhibition of the operations of the Holy 
 Spirit, and of God's gracious dealings with those in 
 course of deliverance from the dominion of sin. "With 
 these marks so numerous — thus compassed about with BO 
 great a cloud of witnesses — we need not wander, as did 
 Joseph, and get bewildered when seeking his brethren 
 with their father's flock in Dothan, Gen. xxxvii. 15; but 
 
CHAPTER I. 8. 171 
 
 are enabled to ask for the old paths, where is the good 
 way, and find rest for our souls. Jer. vi. 16. 
 
 "And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents!" 
 While Jacob was waiting at the well, Rachel came with 
 her father's sheep, for she kept them, Gen. xxix. 9 ; and 
 the (laughters of the priest of Midian came and watered 
 their father's flock. Exod. ii. 16. The direction to the 
 spouse is, In feeding thy kids, keep near to the shep- 
 herds' tents, and thou shalt find me at noon in the midst 
 of my sheep. Jesus said unto Peter, "Feed my lfi.mbs," 
 John xxi. 15; and our Lord "shall feed his flock like a 
 shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and 
 carry them in his bosom." His ministers are the under- 
 shepherds. Jesus is to be sought by following in the 
 footsteps marked out for his people ; and by waiting for 
 him near the shepherds' tents, in the use of the means of 
 a regular ministry, and by "feeding the kids," that is, in 
 the discharge of duties of usefulness to the souls of others, 
 particularly the young. Christ is not to be found in 
 retirement only, "in his chambers:" by following these 
 directions, we may enjoy his presence amid the active 
 duties of life. While religion requires us to be much alone 
 with God, it also requires us to be much with man, espe- 
 cially the brethren and the ministry. They are appointed 
 by Jesus in his stead, and must be esteemed highly for 
 his sake. In the exercise of his sovereignty, God may 
 renew and save souls without the regular means of grace; 
 but this is the exception, not the rule. Grain, fruit, and 
 choice flowers, may be found on remote islands, where no 
 hand has sown or tilled; yet this does not show it is not 
 our duty to labour, if we expect to live. These words 
 include the duty of keeping ourselves under the influence 
 of all the means of the sanctuary, at the head of which 
 stands the ministry of the word. With this, must be 
 
172 COMMENTARY. 
 
 joined active usefulness. While bound to offer the sacri- 
 fice of praise continually, we must not forget to do good, 
 and to communicate. Heb. xiii. 15. The deepest spirit 
 of love, and of acquaintance with the glory of Jesus, is 
 not found in seclusion, nor in action alone, but in the two 
 combined. Activity, to a certain extent, is the life of our 
 whole being; without this, the body shrivels, the mind 
 withers; nor are we more certainly broken down by over- 
 taxing the powers, than by continuance of sluggish repose. 
 The development of our spiritual life follows the same law. 
 Like the seasons of rest and sleep for the body, times of 
 withdrawal from the world, and of seclusion with our 
 Lord, are essential for recruiting our spiritual energies; 
 but those energies, when thus renewed, will not expand 
 into their full vigour, unless we use them for running 
 without weariness, and walking without faintness, in the 
 ways and duties of the Lord. There is something which 
 every Christian may do, and must do, in feeding the 
 Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own 
 blood. "Feeding the kids" requires that we be careful 
 in training our household in the ways of the Redeemer; 
 that wc do good to those whom we may find, by seeking 
 opportunity, in our daily walk: and that in the Sabbath- 
 school, we labour according to our situation, in training 
 the young to follow Jesus. The spirit of these words has 
 its perfect fulfilment in the faithful instruction of their 
 children by parents, and in the unobtrusive but important 
 duties of the teacher in the Sabbath-school. There, are 
 the young of the flock gathered under the shadow <>f the 
 Shepherds' tents, and happy arc those servants who are 
 found thus employed when the good Shepherd appears 
 grea^ midst of his fold. " Blessed is that servant whom 
 Joseph, l, when he cometh, shall find so doing." Matt, 
 with their tc. 
 
CHAPTER I. 9. 173 
 
 Vkr. 0. — I have compared thee, my love, to a company of horses in 
 Pharaoh's chariots. 
 
 In this encampment, where the bridal company are 
 now supposed to be, the king would have his most 
 splendid equipage; the Egyptian horses were celebrated 
 for their beauty, "they were even exported to the neigh- 
 bouring countries, and Solomon bought them at a hun- 
 dred and fifty shekels of silver, from the merchants 
 who traded with Egypt by the Syrian desert."* In 
 modern, as well as in ancient times, the mares are 
 considered in all respects most beautiful, valuable, and 
 desirable. Such a steed in a chariot, like that which 
 Solomon had brought out of Egypt by his agents, for six 
 hundred shekels of silver, was an object of great beauty 
 to the eye, especially when adorned with the costly trap- 
 pings then usual. The beloved does therefore naturally 
 compare the bride to such a horse in these words, which 
 would be more correctly rendered, "I compare, thee, my 
 
 * Wilkinson's Anc. Egyptians, vol. iii. 35. "It was mid-day before 
 we found a small party that had stopped and were pitching their tents. 
 A young chestnut mare, belonging to the sheik, was one of the most 
 beautiful creatures 1 ever beheld. As she struggled to free herself 
 from the spear to which she was tied, she showed the lightness and 
 elegance of the gazelle. Her limbs were in perfect symmetry; her 
 ears long, slender, and transparent; her nostrils high, dilated, and 
 deep red; her neck gracefully arched, and her mane and tail of the 
 
 texture of silk Two sheiks rode into the encampment, and 
 
 hearing that the chief was with us, they fastened their high-bred mares 
 
 at the door of our tent, and seated themselves on our carpets 
 
 Sofuk was the owner of a mare of matchless beauty, called, as if the 
 property of the tribe, Shammeriyah. ... No one can look at the 
 horses of the early Assyrian sculptures without being convinced that 
 they were drawn from the finest models." — Layard't Nineveh, vol. i. 91. 
 
 The superiority of the mares at the Olympic games is repeatedly 
 referred to in the classic authors. 
 
174 COMMENTARY. 
 
 love, to my chariot-steed, or mare, from Pharaoh;" or to 
 my Egyptian chariot-steed. Though unusual in the 
 present age, this comparison will appear beautifully 
 appropriate, when we call to mind still further the affec- 
 tionate adoration and tenderness with which these animals 
 are regarded by the orientals. Theocritus has adopted 
 the same illustration : 
 
 As towers the cypress mid the garden's bloom, 
 Or in the chariot proud Thessalian steed, 
 Thus graceful rose-complexioned Helen moves.* 
 
 Having called the spouse "fairest among women," in 
 reply to her inquiry after him in ver. 8, the Holy Spirit 
 proceeds to express the impression had by our Lord, of 
 the beauty of the saint, by the endearing words, "my 
 
 * The words of Horace are well known. Odes, lib. iii. 11. Thus 
 Sophocles: 
 
 E'en as a high-bred steed, though old, retains 
 His mettle still in danger, and his ears 
 Pricks upright; so thou us dost onward urge 
 And art the first to follow. — Electra, '!'>. 
 
 And Homer says Paris went forth to battle, 
 
 "As some stalled horse high-fed, his stable-cord 
 Snapt short, beats under foot the sounding plain, 
 Accustomed in smooth sliding streams to lave 
 Exulting; high he bears his head, his mane 
 Undulates o'er his shoulders, pleased he eyes 
 His glossy sides, and borne on pliant knees, 
 Shoots to the meadow where his fellows graze." — Iliad, vi. 506. 
 
 See al->> the same Bimile applied to Hector, Iliad, xt. 266. 
 
 The epithet "magnanimua" is often applied to the horse by the 
 anciente, as In Virgil, .En. iii. 704, who Bpeaks of "noble. spirited 
 horses," produced in the country of the Agrigentines, who were famous 
 for sending Buperiox horses to the Olympic games. We need hardly 
 add that the same word is very commonly applied to heroes. 
 
CHAPTER I. 9. 175 
 
 love." This shows the deep, devoted, pre-eminent, and 
 tender love of Jesus for his people. Among all his 
 creatures there can be none for'wh'om he has a stronger 
 affection than for the redeemed. Towards these he bears 
 a three-fold love. To the original affection felt for them 
 as for the holy angels and all his creatures, is superadded 
 the tenderness necessarily arising towards those for whom 
 he has thus suffered, and the love arising from forming 
 them a second time as new creatures. His love for the 
 unfallen inmates of heaven, is the love felt by him as 
 their Creator: his love to the saints has the three- fold 
 strength resulting from creation, redemption, and sancti- 
 fication. 
 
 In Rev. iv. 8, and Ezek. i. 10, the living creatures had 
 faces like different animals, emblematic of various quali- 
 ties of the mind. The horse is here referred to as the 
 emblem of the saint; and as the best horses came from 
 Egypt, and of these the finest were in the chariot of the 
 king, so whatever excellences this emblem expresses, 
 must exist in the greatest perfection in the believer. 
 Contemplating the saint as following him through the 
 difficulties of pilgrimage in the wilderness, with self- 
 denial, energy, and perseverance, Jesus would intimate 
 by this comparison, that there is in the Christian char- 
 acter something noble, adapted to impress us with res- 
 pect, and to command our admiration.* The feclinor of 
 unrenewed men towards religion is still the same — "Can 
 
 * "These Arabian horses are noble animals, and are no les< remark- 
 able for their chivalrous disposition, than for their Btrength and 
 endurance: gallant, yet docile; fiery, yet gentle: full of mettle, yet 
 patient as a camel. The head is beautiful: the expansive forehead, 
 the brilliant, prominent eye, and the delicately shaped ear, would tes- 
 tify to nobleness in any animal."— War bur ton' a Travels. 
 
176 COMMENTARY 
 
 any good thing come out of Nazercth ?" With them 
 piety is in disrepute, as fitted for base and ignoble minds, 
 as incompatible with true honour. As war was the 
 favourite and most honourable employment of the Ro- 
 mans, virtue "was in their language synonymous with 
 courage. And the word honour will have, among differ- 
 ent classes of men, a meaning varying according to the 
 traits of character which, in their view, show the highest 
 excellence. Thus, with some persons, truth is made 
 almost the sole test of honour; and the honourable man, 
 in their judgment, is the man who, whatever other vices 
 he has, will not lie. With others, honour consists in 
 promptitude and severity in avenging an insult. 
 
 True honour lies in the possession and practice of the 
 most exalted virtues. Among the irreligious in Christ- 
 endom, public sentiment has been so affected by religion, 
 that the word honour is brought nearer to its true mean- 
 ing than among even the most refined heathen; yet how 
 glaring and palpable are the vices which the world 
 cherish and associate with what they call honour. That 
 man makes the nearest approach to honour, and has the 
 true claim on our admiration, who has concentrated in 
 his heart, and embodies in his actions, most of the purest 
 moral virtues. lie shows something better than the 
 ragged and meretricious excellence in which "gallantry 
 atones for every vice." The trait which has in every 
 age been assumed as the basis of honour, whatever else 
 might be its aspect, is the principle which prompts to 
 exposure of comfort and life to peril for the good of 
 others. This is the principle which stands pre-eminent 
 in the character of Christ. lie exhibits the noblest mag- 
 nanimity, honour unallied with any imperfection. His 
 people must lie like him in self-denying benevolence, and 
 
CHAPTER I. 9. 177 
 
 expose themselves for the welfare of enemies no less than 
 friends. 
 
 "Honest courtesy, 
 Which oft is sooner found in lowly Bheda 
 With smoky rafters, than in tap'stry halls 
 And courts of princes, where it first was named, 
 And yet is most pretended."* 
 
 There is nothing on which men of the world pride 
 themselves, that religion does not give in the full measure 
 of absolute perfection to the saints. Nobleness of soul, 
 courtesy, excellence of heart, beauty of appearance, 
 objects of such desire to the fashionable, are gifts dis- 
 pensed at the foot of the cross, not to many rich, not 
 to many wise, not to many noble, but to the poor of 
 this world, and will be enjoyed at last in greater perfec- 
 tion by Lazarus than by the proudest princes. All the 
 excellences that have adorned all the great and noble 
 of the world, and made their character the admiration 
 of ages, would not form a single cluster so rich as the 
 many found in the bosom of the humblest saint. f The 
 
 * Milton's Comus, 322. — Thus, the following from iEschylus: 
 Integrity burns a lamp with brilliant beams, 
 
 In smoky cottages, 
 And crowns with honour purity of life. 
 Hut turning with averted eyes away 
 From gilded prosperity with polluted hands, 
 
 Draws nigh to goodness: 
 Not honouring wealth Btamp'd with a counterfeit impression 
 By false applause of men. — Agamemnon, 709. 
 f Sir Walter Scott says: "I have read books enough, and observed 
 and conversed with enough of eminent and splendidly cultivated minds, 
 too, in my time; but I assure you, I have heard higher sentiments 
 from the lips of poor uneducated men and women, when exerting the 
 spirit of severe yet gentle heroism under difficulties and afflictions, or 
 speaking their simple tln-ughts as to circumstances in the lot of friends 
 and neighbours, than I ever yet met with out of the pages of the Bible. 
 We shall never learn to feel and respect our real calling and destiny 
 
 10 
 
178 COMMENTARY. 
 
 world despise religion as overlooking what is honourable, 
 because they judge of piety by -what they see in the 
 actions of professing Christians, rather than by the 
 words of Scripture and the example of Christ. And in 
 their judgment of pious men, they overlook their virtues, 
 through eagerness to contemplate their failings. Should 
 the heroes of the world's idolatry be estimated according 
 to the same rule, by neglecting their little excellence 
 and summing up the many vices with which this single 
 good trait is in union, worldly honour would appear a 
 very beggarly and worthless thing. Piety, as seen in 
 God's people here, is at best a conflict of grace with 
 corruption, a yearning and struggling after perfection. 
 Because dishonourable doings are found in those called 
 by Christ's name, it by no means follows these are inte- 
 gral elements of pure religion. Whatever meanness may 
 be seen in God's people, is owing not to their religion, 
 but to their remaining corruptions. If a real Christian 
 exhibit anything of meanness, notwithstanding sanctifica- 
 tion is begun, much more of this would be visible were 
 he entirely without grace. Charity doth not behave 
 itself unseemly, 1 Cor. xiii. 5; that is, avoids all conduct 
 which may be indecorous, or, in common estimation, 
 unbecoming a follower of Christ. 
 
 " The best of men 
 That e'er wove earth about aim was a Bufferer, 
 A mild, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit, 
 The first true gentleman that ever breathed."* 
 
 Grace elevates the fallen soul of man; and giving it a 
 
 unless we have taught ourselves to consider everything as moonshine, 
 compared with the education of the heart." — Lockhart'a Life <</ Scott, 
 
 vol. ii. 412. 
 ■■ Deeker. 
 
CHAPTER I. 9. 179 
 
 heavenly nobleness, imparts an honour which, like its 
 courage, is above fear and above reproach. In their 
 idolatry of heroism the world are willing to overlook the 
 many defects, even vices, of the hero, in admiration of 
 his gallant bearing; and to deify one who has but the 
 single virtue of courage to redeem a character marked 
 by almost all other imaginable vices. Let them judge 
 of the nobleness inseparable from piety, by looking not 
 at the imperfections of the man, but at his virtues; not 
 at the dark and corrupt soil, but at the statcliness of the 
 growth and beauty of the flowers, which the creative 
 energy of the Spirit is evolving from that mass of corrup- 
 tion.* 
 
 Homer gives a majestic portrait of his hero on ap- 
 pearing again to his foes, when Minerva threw over 
 his shoulders Iter terrific a?gis, and crowned his head with 
 a golden cloud from which burned an all-brilliant flame. 
 And when God sends forth to the good fight of faith, 
 to wrestle with wicked spirits in high [daces, no less than 
 with flesh and blood, the soul of the believer weeping 
 for sin; covered with the shield and buckler of those 
 divine truths more precious and adorned with richer 
 sculpture than all the gold ami silver of all the shields 
 of the earth ; and with that brilliancy of which the cloud 
 over the mercy-seat was the emblem, burning on his 
 brow; even the hosts of enemies of such soul, whether 
 evil spirits or evil men, arc compelled to gaze on such 
 
 * "There is not any kind of spirit in the world so noble as that 
 spirit that is in a Christian, the very Spirit of Jesus Christ, that great 
 King, the Spirit of glory, as the Apostle calls it, 1 Pet iv. 14. This is 
 a sure way to ennoble the basest and poorest among us ; this royalty 
 takes away all attainders, and leaves nothing of all that is past to be 
 laid tn our charge, or to dishonour us." — Leighton on 1 Fet. ii. 9. 
 
180 COMMENTARY. 
 
 a character with reverence, even while using every exer- 
 tion to destroy it: 
 
 "So spake the Cherub, and his grave rebuke, 
 Severe in youthful beauty, added grace, 
 Invincible : abashed the devil stood, 
 And felt how awful goodness is, and saw 
 Virtue in her shape how lovely." 
 
 A low and sordid disposition is the offspring of man's 
 corruption, and must vanish as he rises in purity and fit- 
 ness for heaven. By the grace which is carrying our 
 fallen nature back to the perfection of Paradise, we can- 
 not but be ennobled. 
 
 The horse is here mentioned as the emblem of the 
 energy belonging to piety. Sloth, lack of energy, indo- 
 lence, detract from any character. AVe look for energy 
 in what we would admire ; not the energy of feverish 
 irregularity, but that which results from the calm, har- 
 monious movement of well-balanced powers. The facul- 
 ties of the maniac may be vigorous, but are destitute of 
 harmony. There is an energy peculiar to the nature of 
 different beings, and this only can we admire in them. 
 Grace diffuses through the soul the energy which belongs 
 to creatures like ourselves in perfection, but of which we 
 have been despoiled through sin. A health}' mind, of 
 good endowments, is always active, perhaps more or less 
 so, even in hours of sleep. Perfect inactivity is a feature 
 of perfect death; and as the soul sinks down under the 
 influence of spiritual death, the faculties become more 
 enfeebled, and activity becomes a greater effort. Coun- 
 teracting this tendency, the Holy Spirit opens in the 
 heart a fountain of water springing up into everlasting 
 life; and makes us, while not slothful in business, fervent 
 
CHAPTER I. 9. 181 
 
 in spirit; a divine energy rising in the soul, like the 
 waters boiling up in a perennial spring, and flowing with 
 greater fulness as we draw nearer to him with whom is 
 the fountain of life. Indolence is one of the many infir- 
 mities from which sanctification sets us free. Industry 
 and perseverance in our calling, whatever that calling 
 may be, prove a duty and a pleasure to the Christian. 
 How are the flagging energies of the soul roused into 
 new life by the presentation of a new motive, like the 
 hope of fame; and the body recruited by the application 
 of a healthful stimulant. The means provided for arrest- 
 ing the decay of the soul, and restoring a perfect vigour, 
 arc the influences of the Holy Spirit. Compared with 
 these, how weak, how temporary, arc all the stimulants 
 which the power of man can bring to bear on the sinking 
 body or the failing mind. Those who are filled with the 
 Spirit will be active according to their capability; and 
 even when the flesh may be weak, the spirit may be 
 willing. Besides the direct operation of the Holy Ghost 
 feeding the powers with heavenly strength, there are 
 combined in action on the heart the noblest motives from 
 without, heaven, eternal life; and the purest, strongest 
 love within, affection to the dying Redeemer; the greatest 
 of works to be done under the strongest of motives, and 
 with the most encouraging aid. Whal a calm yet steady 
 energy appears in the example of Christ! From the 
 workshop of Nazareth, and from the wilderness, from 
 nights spent alone in the mountains in prayer, did he go 
 forth on his ministry, to heal the sick and preach in their 
 • ■itirs. How abundant in labours was Paul! in all these 
 the love of Christ constrained him. 
 
 The horse may be the symbol of an activity that 
 does not tire. The idea of beauty includes that of 
 16* 
 
182 COMMENTARY. 
 
 an elastic vigour of the frame, light, free from heavi- 
 ness, and with power of enduring fatigue and exposure.* 
 These characteristics are imparted in perfection to the 
 hody and soul, hy grace. So light, elastic, and airy, 
 shall be the tread of the spiritual body, so different from 
 the care-worn footsteps with which we now drag along 
 this body of corruption, that we shall at last be like the 
 angels, not liable to death any more, being the children 
 of the resurrection. Luke xx. 36. While other pursuits 
 bring weariness and satiety, the Christian life grows more 
 interesting and pleasing. Retirement from business, with 
 an independence and full honours, grows burdensome, 
 though desired and laboured for through a long life. 
 After a degree of success, wealth, and reputation, the 
 soldier becomes weary of his triumphs, and longs for 
 repose. But the man who is filled with the Holy Spirit, 
 and cultivates the habits of contemplation and action 
 excited by grace, will find the service of Jesus more and 
 more delightful: every act of duty exhausts not, but 
 renews his strength; and though the infirmity of the 
 flesh, the dulness creeping through the bodily frame, 
 from age, and ardent desire to enjoy the glory of his 
 Lord, may make him anxious to flee away to the rest in 
 
 * "Thus I set my printless feet 
 On the cowslip's velvet head, 
 That bends not as I tread." — Comus, 897. 
 
 " E'en the light hare-bell raised its head, 
 Elastic from her airy tread." — Lady of tin I 
 
 "Unwearied as in the morning, my gallant mare dashed away over 
 the rooky valley, exulting in her Btrength and Bpeed. She | 
 against the powerful Mameluke bit, as if its curb were but a ohallenge, 
 and it was only bj Blackening the rein that she could be induced to 
 pause over si. me precipitous descent, or tangled copse; then, tossing 
 
 her proud head, she would I mist away again like a greyhound from the 
 leash." — Warburton't Travel*. 
 
CHAPTER I. 10. 183 
 
 heaven, no weariness with the work of holiness and 
 benevolence is felt; he is sensible that as his outward 
 man perishes, his inward man is renewed day by day, he 
 mounts up on wings as eagles, and never is he more 
 willing to remain at the post of duty, never more active 
 in every good work, than when the time of his departure 
 is at hand. 
 
 Yer. 10.— Thy checks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with 
 chains of gold. 
 
 The chariot-horses were in ancient times more richly 
 adorned than those used for riding; "the harness and 
 trappings of such were extremely elegant; plumes waved 
 over their heads, or fanciful crests rose gracefully in an 
 arch above the ears, and descended in front to the nos- 
 trils ; round the neck, immediately at the head, was an 
 embroidered collar, ending in a rich tassel, or bell; the 
 bit, as well as many ornaments of the bridle and trap- 
 pings, were of gold, and other precious materials."* A 
 drawing given by Layard of the head of an Assyrian 
 horse, thus ornamented, is certainly very beautiful. The 
 mention of the Egyptian steed in ver. 9, naturally sug- 
 
 * Layard's Nineveh, vol. ii. 272. "On grand occasions the Egyptian 
 horses were decked with fancy ornaments; a rich striped or checkered 
 housing, trimmed with a broad border, and large pendent tassels, 
 covered the whole body; ami two or inure feathers, inserted i„ lion's 
 heads, or some other device of gold, formed a cresl upon the summit of 
 the bead-stall. Bat this display was confined to the chariots of the 
 monarch, or the military chiefs."— WUkmton, vol. i. 885. Thus when 
 Latimis ordered the ambassadors sent by .hlueas to have horses given 
 them on which to return, — in Virgil — 
 
 "At bis command 
 The steeds caparisoned with purple stand 
 
 With golden trappings glorious to behold; 
 
 And champ betwixt their teeth the foaming gold." 
 
184 COMMENTARY. 
 
 gested the reference here made to the beautiful head- 
 dress of the spouse. Olearius tells us, that "all the 
 head-dress that the Persian ladies make use of, are two 
 or three rows of pearls, which are not worn there about 
 the neck, as in other places, but around the head, begin- 
 ning on the forehead, and descending down the cheeks, 
 and under the chin, so that their faces seem to be set in 
 pearls. This coiffure seems to be very ancient among the 
 eastern people." Royal brides are represented by ori- 
 ental authors as dressed after this manner. So, when 
 the Caliph Al Mamon went to receive Touran-Dokht, that 
 prince found her seated on a throne, her head loaded with 
 a thousand pearls, every one of them as big as a pigeon's 
 egg, or a large nut, which rich coiffure the caliph resolved 
 should be assigned her for her dowry. D'Arvieux, who 
 describes the Arab women as wearing pieces of gold coin 
 hanging down by the sides of the face, adds, that they 
 have chains of gold about their necks, which hang down 
 their breasts.* 
 
 * Harmer, 20G. Females in the East wear an ornament on the 
 forehead, which is made of thin gold, and is studded with precious 
 stones. Tyerman and Bennet say of a bride they saw in China, "Her 
 head-dress sparkled with jewels, and was most elegantly beaded with 
 rows of pearls encircling it like a coronet; from which a brilliant 
 angular ornament hung over her forehead, and between her eyebrows." 
 Curzon, in his "Visits to Monasteries in the Levant," referring to the 
 Jews of Palestine, says, "The women are covered with gold, and 
 dressed in brocades stiff with embroidery. Some of them are beauti- 
 ful; and a girl of about twelve years old, who was betrothed to the son 
 of a rich old rabbi, was the prettiest little creature lever saw; her 
 skin was whiter than ivory, and her hair, which was black as jet and 
 was plaited with strings of sequins, fell in tresses nearly to the 
 ground." P. 186. The sufaof the modern Egyptian females is a head- 
 dress of beautiful network, hanging down the back, and filled with 
 jewels of various kinds. This ornament is generally made by dividing 
 the hair into a number of tresses, and attaching to each tress three 
 silken threads. These threads have jewels attached to them, and at 
 
CHAPTER I. 10. 185 
 
 The words of this verse do, therefore, refer to the rows 
 or strings of pearls and jewels ladies were in the habit of 
 wearing as part of the head-dress, and to the rich neck- 
 laces with golden chains over the bosom. Speaking to 
 the Jewish church by Ezekicl, chap. xvi. 11, the Holy 
 Spirit says, "I decked thee also with ornaments, and I 
 put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. 
 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear-rings in thine 
 ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus wast 
 thou decked with gold and silver." The comparison of 
 the horse refers to what may be called the vital energy or 
 principle of the Christian life : this verse expresses the 
 virtues which may be superadded by grace. Such allu- 
 sions are frequent. " They shall be an ornament of grace 
 unto thy head, and chains about thy neck." Prov. i. 9. 
 Wisdom "shall give to thine head an ornament of grace, 
 a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee." Prov. iv. 9. 
 "In like manner, also, that women adorn themselves in 
 modest apparel, with shamefacedness, and sobriety; not 
 with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, 
 but with good works." 1 Tim. ii. 9. "Whose adorning, 
 let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, 
 and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel ; but 
 let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not 
 corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, 
 which is in the sight of God of great price." 
 
 When Pharaoh would honour Joseph, he took off his 
 ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and 
 arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain 
 about his neck. Gen. xli. 42. Thus, by the king's com- 
 
 the end a Bmall gold coin. Mr. Lane remarks, "The sufa appears to 
 me the prettiest, as well as the most singular of the ornaments worn by 
 Egyptian ladies. The glittering of the burck, and their clinking 
 together as the wearer walks, have a peculiarly lively effect." 
 
186 COMMENTARY. 
 
 mand, they put a chain of gold about the neck of Daniel. 
 Dan. v. 29. And when, like Joseph, we are drawn from 
 the horrible pit of our natural condition, and raised by 
 adoption to the second rank in God's glorious kingdom, 
 even to be the sons of God, how pure and rich the robe 
 he throws around us, the same in texture with that worn 
 by Jesus, even his resplendent righteousness; how beau- 
 tiful those pearls of virtue and chains of heavenly graces, 
 conferred by him, clustered together by the invisible 
 thread of divine influence, while kept steadfast and illu- 
 mined by the golden clasp of love. These the topaz of 
 Ethiopia shall not equal, neither shall they be valued 
 with pure gold ; ornaments so priceless as to be brought 
 down to us by the hands of the Holy Spirit from that 
 world where so excellent are all things, that the very 
 pavement of the streets is pure gold, as it were transpa- 
 rent glass. The Apostle enumerates some of the jewels 
 thus grouped together; "Add to your faith, virtue; and 
 to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and 
 to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; ami 
 to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kind- 
 ness, love." 2 Peter i. 5. So beautiful and valuable are 
 these, that a single one of the number is above all price. 
 "If a man would give all the substanec of his house for 
 love, it would utterly be contemned." Song viii. 7. 
 
 These virtues, the ornament of the saint, are something 
 distinct from his character by nature, and arc superadded 
 by grace. There arc not in our hearts the germs of graces, 
 lying like seeds in an ungenial soil, awaiting the beams 
 of the summer sun for warming them into life: our Banc- 
 tification, as well as our regeneration, is not the develop- 
 ment of latent goodness nf heart, bul the creation of 
 those excellences which constitute holiness. No new 
 faculties arc added by the work of the Spirit. He does 
 
c II apt eh I. u. 187 
 
 not take of the intellectual powers belonging to a superior 
 order of beings, and ingraft them into our soul.- He gives 
 life to the withered hand, strength to the palsied limbs, 
 and sight to the blinded eye of the soul. Like the author 
 of our spiritual being, rising as a branch from the stem 
 or stump of the decayed tree of Jesse, there comes forth, 
 by the energy of grace, from the roots of the fallen trunk 
 of our ruined soul, a shoot that grows by sanctification 
 into a tree of righteousness. By the Holy Ghost, the 
 soul darkened and changed to stone through sin, is inlaid 
 with eyes pure as the seven eyes upon the stone laid 
 before Joshua, Zech. iii. 9; pure as those seven eyes of 
 the Lamb, Rev. v. 6; and is inlaid with sensibilities alive 
 to the faintest beams of divine goodness; and with ears 
 that gather home to the very core of our being the tones 
 of the melting voice of our God; and with affections 
 which, unfolding more beauteous than Sharon's rose, 
 exhale a perfume grateful even amid the odours of hea- 
 ven, and gather in their bosom the rays of the Father's 
 love, the drops of the Spirit's dews. What jewels of the 
 spouse, so beautiful as those endowments! "What chains 
 of gold, so comely as these clusters of heavenly graces ! 
 
 Vkr. 11. — We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. 
 
 The Hebrew word here rendered "borders," is the 
 same with that rendered "rows," in ver. 10; and would 
 seem to refer here to the same kind of ornaments.* The 
 
 * In the Odyssey, lib. xv., there is nmeh said that refers to the pur- 
 suits and skill of the Sidonians, whose intercourse with the Jews in the 
 time of Solomon is well known. Among other things, there is :i refer- 
 ence Which seems to illustrate this text: 
 
 "A man of theirs, Bubtle and .-lnvwd, produced 
 A splendid collar, gold with amber strung. 
 With deep delight, my neither and her maids 
 
 Gazed on it." — Lib. xv. 459. 
 
188 COMMENTARY. 
 
 queen was, however, distinguished by a crown,* Jer. 
 xiii. 18; Ezek. xvi. 12; Esth. ii. IT; and to the crown 
 these words may refer. Struck witli her beauty, as 
 adorned with rows of jewels, the king wishes to give the 
 finish to her head-attire, by placing on her a crown of 
 gold, variegated with studs of silver. As in Ps. xxi. 3: 
 " Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head." There 
 is laid up for every saint a crown of righteousness, which 
 the Lord shall give at that day unto all them that love 
 his appearing. "Whatever the exact ornaments here men- 
 tioned, the idea is that the beloved would add to the 
 beautiful ornaments already worn by the bride, others of 
 the most precious kind, devised and made by himself. 
 While the graces considered under the foregoing verse, 
 are developing in this life, there are in reserve in the 
 treasury of heaven, crowning glories which shall be re- 
 ceived when the chief Shepherd shall appear. " Unto 
 every one that hath shall be given." Those who are faith- 
 ful to their trust, even though by making their pound 
 gain five pounds, shall be made rulers over cities, kings 
 unto God. "Were we presented by some kingly friend 
 with costly jewels, the same in appearance with those 
 worn by himself, he would be little likely to follow those 
 gifts with others equally valuable, did we receive them 
 with eagerness but afterwards appear without them, and 
 allow them to lie neglected, unworn, and bedimmed. 
 Neglect of the ring and gold chain by Joseph, would have 
 certainly drawn on him the displeasure of Pharaoh. ]>y 
 guarding faithfully the treasures committed to our heart 
 by the Holy Spirit, we shall find him constantly adding 
 
 * The Hebrew word rendered "spouse," in Bong iv. s . 9, 10, 11, 12, 
 
 means B crowned one, derived from a root sijrnifvini; to make perfect; 
 and then used to express a bride, from the completion put to her attire 
 by the bridal ohaplet or crown 
 
CHAPTER I. 11. 189 
 
 to them, changing us from glory to glory, till the soul, all 
 glorious within, with clothing of wrought gold, emerges 
 from its probation on earth into the unending bridal fes- 
 tivities of heaven, fairer than the woman clothed with the 
 sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a 
 crown of stars. Success in amassing wealth depends on 
 keeping and using properly the amounts acquired from 
 time to time; no reasonable expectation can be indulged 
 of its being otherwise in our efforts for gathering the 
 riches of God's grace. 
 
 How much more glorious and desirable must be the 
 ornaments thus conferred by Jesus, than those which 
 man elaborates for himself. Desire of personal inde- 
 pendence is a besetting sin of our fallen nature. Among 
 men of the world much is heard about self-reliance as 
 the spring of success in life : with such persons the glo- 
 rification of self is the chief thing; and they wish the 
 impression made that this fabric of fortune is the work 
 of their own wisdom and power; they hate the idea of 
 dependence even on Him who formed the machinery of 
 their intellect, even of their whole being, and without 
 the stream of whose living influence that machinery 
 must instantly cease to move. With the nature of the 
 characters thus formed, wc are familiar. Their portraits 
 are recorded in colours of selfishness, pride, ambition, 
 and blood. However ill-disguised by vanity and policy, 
 the smothered sentiments of such hearts, on viewing 
 their doings, position, and success, are, "Is not this 
 great Babylon that I have built by the might of my 
 power, and for the honour of my majesty." Dan. iv. 30. 
 Reputation, influence, riches, everything thus relying 
 on self as its foundation, must be unsubstantial as a 
 fabric resting on the vapour that appeareth for a little 
 17 
 
100 COMMENTARY. 
 
 time and then vanisheth away. All such hopes and 
 structures of pride are so fragile and unreal, that a 
 breath of air may blast them, and reduce their possess- 
 ors to a condition as friendless and pitiable as that to 
 which the haughty king of Babylon was brought down 
 by a voice that fell from heaven while yet the word was 
 in his mouth. Like the palace of ice, fairy-like in ap- 
 pearance yet repulsively cold, built on a foundation 
 uuderneath which was a hidden river ready to swallow 
 it up at the return of spring, all the labours of human 
 pride and self-reliance, for rearing a fabric of happiness 
 and renown, must issue in results equally unsubstantial, 
 and destined to be perfectly lost when the scenes of this 
 wintry world are displaced in heaven by the beauties 
 of an unbounded spring. ■ How much superior the char- 
 acter which is formed by the virtues made for us by 
 God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit! Casting 
 aside this self-reliance, which is another name for pride, 
 let us substitute therefor reliance on the Holy Ghost; 
 so that to us the words may be addressed, "Ye arc his 
 workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." 
 The results of the artistic skill of this boasted self- 
 reliance are enumerated by one who best knows the 
 heart; which are these — "adultery, fornication, unclean- 
 ness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, 
 emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, 
 murders, drunkenness, rcvclings, and such like." Gal. 
 v. 19. The borders of gold, with studs of silver, made 
 for those who depend on the Spirit, include such jewels 
 as, "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, temperance." 
 
 How much honour is conferred on the spouse, and 
 how strong the proof of his love, when the beloved, the 
 king, condescends to make these ornaments himself. 
 
CHAPTER I. 11. 191 
 
 He docs not say, "We will give," but "We will make, 
 &c." There were two reasons for this; none but himself 
 could finish those things in a manner sufficiently royal 
 and splendid; and it is a gratification for him to be thus 
 occupied in labours for the souls he loves. The virtues 
 adorning the redeemed, the beauties of their souls, their 
 spiritual bodies, can be the workmanship of none less 
 than Jesus Christ. Growing unto an holy temple in 
 the Lord, we are budded together for an habitation of 
 God through the Spirit; and he by whom we, as living 
 stones, are built up a spiritual house — is one who has 
 been filled to an infinitely greater degree than Bezaleel, 
 the architect of the tabernacle, with the Spirit of God, 
 in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and 
 in all manner of workmanship, Exod. xxxi. 3 — is Christ 
 the wisdom of God, and Christ the power of God. He 
 cleanses us from sin; he overlays the refined gold of the 
 sanctified heart, with engraving more beautiful than was 
 ever wrought in the gems worn on Aaron's breast; his 
 hands alone set this priceless jewel of a transparent soul 
 in the pellucid shrine of a spiritual body; and deposits 
 it among the peculiar treasure of the King of kings, in 
 the secret of the Most High, under the shadow of the 
 Almighty. And this is to him a labour of love. His 
 affection for us forbids the idea of entrusting this work 
 to other hands, even could any be found equal to the 
 task. The heart of Jesus delights to anticipate our 
 wants, to labour for our good, though in bearing the 
 burden of a cross. He is the artificer of our fortune; he 
 carves out our whole destiny ; he makes all that is valu- 
 able and beautiful about us; and our only pride is in 
 the consciousness of having nothing which we have not 
 received. 
 
192 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Ver. 12. — While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth 
 forth the smell thereof. 
 
 According to oriental customs the encampment moving 
 from place to place is here supposed to have stopped, and 
 the king to have seated himself for enjoying the society 
 of his friends. Thus Layard says: "When they reached 
 the tents, the chiefs placed themselves on the divan, 
 whilst the others seated themselves in a circle on the 
 green-sward. An abundant repast had been prepared 
 for them. The meaning of the verse is this — My per- 
 fume is most fragrant, and while the beloved is enjoying 
 his repast in the circle of his friends, delights him with 
 the richness of it odour.* According to Good, the 
 phrase "gracing the banquet," is in common use among 
 the Persian poets, to delineate an elegant woman. Mary 
 showed her regard for our Lord by bringing very costly 
 spikenard, and anointing Jesus while at table, so that 
 the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 
 John xii. 3. In the same spirit does the spouse here 
 desire to show her affection for the beloved. 
 
 After the manifestations of Jesus' love alluded to, in 
 being brought into his chambers, ver. 4, the soul longing 
 
 * See notes on ver. 3. The spikenard was a very precious and 
 costly unguent, obtained in Judea by foreign commerce from the 
 eastern coast of Africa and from India. The ointment of spikenard 
 used by Mary, John xii. 3, was "very costly;" and Hoi-ace, who lived 
 in the same age, promises Virgil a whole cadus, about nine gallons, of 
 wine, for a small onyx-box full of spikenard. "The composition of 
 this unguent is given by Dioscorides, who describes it as being made 
 with nut oil, and having as ingredients malabathrum, BChoenus, costus, 
 ainomum, nardus, myrrha, and balsamnm, that is almost all the most 
 valued perfumes of antiquity." Dr. Boyle, when in [ndia, near the 
 foot of the Himalaya mountains, found this plant brought down in 
 considerable quantities as an article of commerce; and shows that the 
 Jewish spikenard >\as most probably derived from these regione.— 
 Kitto'a Cye. Bib. Lit. 
 
CHAPTER I. 12. 193 
 
 for his presence follows hard after him by pilgrimage 
 in the paths of duty, "by the footsteps of the ilock." 
 Having found him whom her soul loved, and being 
 brought again into his presence on terms of affectionate 
 friendship by receiving the reviving power of the Holy 
 Spirit under different circumstances from those before 
 noticed, she here expresses, in ver. 12, the effect pro- 
 duced by his presence, in kindling the affections into a 
 lively glow. The presence of Jesus as felt by the divine 
 light beaming in the effulgent cloud of the Spirit's 
 influences continually around him, is unfolded to us at 
 different times, and in various ways. Now, we are 
 revived by entering into that cloud alone in our closet, 
 more retired perhaps, than the three chosen disciples 
 amid the glory on Tabor; again, we feel ourselves with 
 him by our hearts burning within us when journeying 
 by the way; and then, we meet with him by grace show- 
 ered on the soul in the enjoyment of public ordinances, 
 especially the sacrament of the supper. Here, his 
 society is enjoyed not in private communion, his cham- 
 bers, but in public, at his table, in the circle of his 
 friends. 
 
 At this banquet, he presides in person, with kingly 
 majesty. In the Psalms, especially the forty-fifth and 
 seventy-second, to which this Song is allied, the epithet 
 "the king," was held by the Jews to designate, in all 
 cases, except where the context directs otherwise, the 
 Messiah. As here used, this title seems to refer less to 
 what is technically called his kingly office, than to his 
 divine nature. He who receives us into reconciliation 
 and communion, is the King, the most exalted personage 
 in the government of God, is divine, is God. When, after 
 especial blessedness in the private duties of religion, at 
 times when there may be nothing unusual in the Church 
 17* 
 
194 C0MMENTA11Y. 
 
 as a body, we have been cleaving to Christ by patient 
 labours, without any uncommon enjoyment, we find not 
 unfrequently, on coming to the sacramental table, the 
 King of saints there refreshing us with the hidden manna 
 for the hungry soul, with the water of life for the thirsting 
 spirit, and with golden censers alive with holy fire and 
 heavenly incense for kindling anew the smouldering affec- 
 tions of the heart. At these seasons of reviving love, we 
 dwell much on the grandeur and divinity of our Lord ; 
 and love to feel, " Thou art fairer than the children of 
 men; grace is poured into thy lips." 
 
 Sitting together at table was evidence of reconciliation 
 and friendship: "If any man hear my voice, and open 
 the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, 
 and he with me." Rev. iii. 20. There is in preparation 
 in heaven a marriage-supper of the Lamb, at which he 
 and those who having been once enemies are reconciled, 
 shall sit down in affectionate fellowship and unbroken 
 peace. Just as, previous to the coming of Christ, the 
 nature of his death was represented by the Jewish sacri- 
 fices ; so, the nature of that feast of love on high, for 
 which all things in this world are a preparation, is illus- 
 trated to us by the services of the Lord's supper. In 
 every sacrifice, the part consumed by fire was considered 
 as God's; and the offerer ate a portion to show his 
 restoration to fellowship with his offended king; while 
 the altar was God's table, at which he and the sinner thus 
 met in reconciliation. In the Lord's supper we arc par- 
 taking, in the only way now possible, of the sacrifice once 
 for all offered on Calvary; and while doing this, show 
 forth the Lord's death, till he come and drink the fruit of 
 the vine anew with us in his Father's kingdom; till the 
 reconciliation through his death, now shadowed dimly 
 through these emblems, shall be perfectly consummated 
 
CHAPTER I. 12. 105 
 
 in both body and soul, by sitting with him at table in the 
 New Jerusalem. This feast of love will be enjoyed in 
 perfection in heaven; and all things connected with this 
 sacrament on earth are pledges and foretastes of the 
 fulness enjoyed above. All the sacrificial appointments 
 of the tabernacle were shadows of the blessings we now 
 enjoy; and shadows of them as the beginning of the mani- 
 festation of God to his redeemed, and their attending joy 
 in heaven. In the camp of Israel, God was in the circle 
 of his friends by the Shcchinah; at the supper, he was 
 thus present in the bodily form of Jesus ; now at the com- 
 munion table, in the congregation, and where two or three 
 are gathered in his name, he is there in the influences of 
 the Holy Spirit; and in heaven, he that sitteth on the 
 throne, even the Lamb, shall for ever dwell among them. 
 The covenant made with Israel at the foot of Sinai, was 
 not completed until, after the shedding of blood and its 
 application by sprinkling, the elders, as representatives of 
 the people, went up into the mount, and there seeing the 
 God of Israel, did eat and drink in his presence. In like 
 manner, the new covenant, established on better promises, 
 will not receive its perfect ratification until all those on 
 whom has been shed the blood of sprinkling, are gathered 
 up into the most holy mount on which rests the purity of 
 the eternal clearness of heaven; and there, led on by a 
 greater than Moses, even by the Lamb slain, drink the 
 new wine at the table where presides the King of kings 
 in the fulness of his glory. 
 
 "My spikenard sendcth forth the smell thereof."* 
 
 * The following, from Chardin's Voyages, illustrates this — mentioned 
 by him for showing how prodigal the oriental females are in the use of 
 perfumes. " I remember that at the solemnization of the nuptials of 
 the three princesses royal of Golconda, whom the king, their father, 
 who had no other children, married in one day, in the year 1679, per- 
 
19G COMMENTARY. 
 
 This was the oil of spikenard, the most costly, precious, 
 and grateful perfume, with which the spouse was anointed 
 according to the practice of using such things profusely 
 at entertainments. In this communion with Christ, our 
 presence is as agreeable to him as the fragrance of spike- 
 nard, and his society is delightful to us as a bundle of 
 myrrh or cluster of camphire. With these perfumes of 
 the oil of gladness, the great governor of the feast is 
 anointed without measure; and as the virgins love him 
 because of the savour of his good ointments, so his delight 
 is with none among the sons of men but those who have 
 received an unction from the Holy one. The use of fra- 
 grant oils was not a more necessary preparation for the 
 society of friends at a feast, than is the anointing of the 
 Spirit requisite to fit us for seeing God. This unction 
 comes from himself. Hence the Psalmist says, "Thou 
 anointest my head with oil." The graces of the holy 
 heart, so acceptable to God, are the work of the Spirit. 
 He makes us partakers of the excellency of the fulness of 
 Christ, even grace for grace. He brings to us, in this 
 wilderness, from the hills of frankincense on high, those 
 graces of liquid perfume which arise from the alabaster 
 of a heart broken in contrition, in odours of prayers, 
 
 fumes were lavished on every invited guest as he arrived. They sprin- 
 kled them on those who were clad in white, but gave thoin into the 
 hands of those who wore coloured raiment, because their garments 
 would have been spoiled by throwing it orer them, which was done in 
 the following manner. They threw over the body a bottle of roBe- 
 Water, containing about half a pint, and then a large bottle of water 
 tinted with Baffron, in such a manner that the clothes would have been 
 stained with it. After this, they rubbed the arms and the body with a 
 liquid perfume of laudanum and amerbgris, and they put around the 
 throat a thick cord of jasmine. I was thus perfumed with Baffron in 
 
 many great houses of this country, and in other places. This attention 
 and honour 18 8 universal custom among the women who have the 
 means of obtaining this luxury 
 
CHAPTEK I. 13. 107 
 
 desires, and affections, most grateful to this kingly friend. 
 Love, holiness, all the desires unfolding purity of heart, 
 are the things well pleasing to our Redeemer. The 
 unction of the Holy Spirit diffuses around us a refreshing 
 perfume, by enlivening and developing our graces. As 
 the Spirit is inseparable from the presence of Jesus, every 
 approach of our Lord brings Avith it an influence "which, 
 by enlivening the affections, draws forth the precious 
 exhalations of the spikenard of the heart. Thus does the 
 sun of spring fill the calm, pure air, with fragrance from 
 the landscape's blooms, the garden's flowers, by pouring 
 around their roots the genial unction of his reviving glow. 
 In the sacrament of the supper we are merely expressing 
 by ceremonies that which it is our privilege and duty con- 
 tinually to enjoy. Not the communion service only, but 
 our whole life, is a continual sacramental feast. As such, 
 this feast may preserve our affections always in a glow, 
 by keeping us near to Christ; and when our fervour may 
 have manifestly declined, we shall find that it is not 
 because Jesus has left the circle of his friends, but because 
 we have gone out from among them, like Judas, led by 
 love of gain or some kindred desire, when, had we, like 
 the beloved disciple, lingered fondly near our Lord, Ave 
 might have enjoyed a like fervour of affection. 
 
 \f.\x. 18. — A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto mc; he f hall 
 lie all night betwixt my breasts. 
 
 The tAvclfth verse having expressed the agreeablcness 
 of the holy heart to Jesus, the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 verses set forth the pleasantness of the society of Christ 
 to the saint. This passage has been much misrepre- 
 sented. 'We would read it, My beloved is unto me as 
 an amulet, (a bag, or delicate vessel,) filled with liquid 
 
198 C M xM E N T A R Y. 
 
 myrrh, that is borne continually in the bosom.* Myrrh 
 was one of the most costly and fragrant perfumes. The 
 shrub was beautiful, with smooth leaves of a dark green 
 on the upper, and a whitish colour on the under surface, 
 with flowers of a reddish purple, and a remarkable odour 
 in the root, branches, leaf, and bloom; so that a cluster 
 gathered therefrom was beautiful and fragrant; yet the 
 liquid obtained by exudation gave the tree its chief 
 value, and is most probably what is here mentioned. No- 
 thing of the kind could be more delightful to the senses, 
 than myrrh thus worn in the bosom. Rich perfume 
 very appropriately represents the influences of the Holy 
 Spirit; and what can illustrate more beautifully than this, 
 those divine influences distilled as dew from the moun- 
 tain of myrrh and hill of frankincense, and lying with 
 
 * " The eastern women, among other ornaments, used little perfume- 
 boxes, or vessels filled with perfumes, to smell at. These were worn 
 suspended from the neck, and hanging down on the breast. Such 
 snielling-boxes are still in use among the Fersian women, to whose 
 necklaces, which fall below the bosom, is fastened a large box of 
 sweets; some of these boxes are as big as one's hand; the common 
 ones are of gold, the others are covered with jewels. They are all 
 bored through, and filled with a black paste, very light, made of musk 
 and amber, but of very strongsmell." — Burdcr. Among the Egyptian-;, 
 "Small boxes, made of wood or ivory, were very numerous, offering, 
 like the vases, a multiplicity of forms; and some, which contained 
 cosmetics of divers kinds, served to deck the dressing-table, or a lady's 
 boudoir. They were carved in various ways, and loaded with orna- 
 mental devices in relief; sometimes representing the favourite lotus- 
 flower, with its buds and stalks, a goose, gazelle, fox, or other animal." 
 — Wilkinson, vol. ii. 350, where may be found much that is interesting 
 on this subject. lie gives also, (vol. iii. 107,) an account and drawings 
 of some curious Chinese bottles, which have been found in various 
 tombs, and were evidently brought to Egypt through India at a very 
 remote period. They arc about two inches in height; one side presents 
 a flower, and the other this inscription: "The flower opens, and lo! 
 another year." They must have been filled with some precious ingre- 
 dient, whose value may be inferred from the size of the vase. 
 
CHAPTER I. 14. 199 
 
 an embalming power and exhilarating fragrance in the 
 very bosom of the soul, the centre of the spiritual heart. 
 This language is not stronger than those passages of 
 Scripture which speak of Christ dwelling in us by his 
 Spirit — "Christ in you the hope of glory," Col. i. 27; 
 "Filled with all the fulness of God," Eph. iii. 19. 
 Jesus says that his Spirit shall be in us "a well of 
 water springing up into everlasting life," John i\\ 14. 
 Here, the illustration is varied for showing still further 
 the loveliness and benefit of his presence, by saying that 
 through his Spirit he is in the pure heart, as distillations 
 of liquid myrrh. Lodged at the bottom of the heart, 
 like a cluster of liquid or pulverized myrrh, the love of 
 Jesus, the truths, thoughts, consolations, and influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, exhale and roll through all the chan- 
 nels of the soul, with a soothing exhilarating power, and 
 diffuse there as much as is now possible to be enjoyed 
 of heaven. 
 
 Ver. 14. — My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vine- 
 yards of Eugedi. 
 
 The idea of the foregoing verse is presented in an- 
 other form; My beloved is like a cluster, or bouquet, 
 of camphire blooms from the gardens of Engcdi.* By 
 
 * "After the ceremony of anointing was over, and in some cases 
 at the time of entering the saloon, a lotus-flower was presented to each 
 guest, who held it in his hand during the entertainment. Servants 
 x- 'hen brought necklaces of flowers, composed chiefly of the lotus; a 
 ga rland was put round the head, and a single lotus bud, or a full-blown 
 flo wer, was so attached as to hang over the forehead. Many of them, 
 in; ide up into wreathes and other devices, were suspended upon stands 
 pi 1 nod in the room, to be in readiness for immediate use, and servants 
 "wis, '.ere constantly employed to bring other fresh flowers from the garden, 
 in^ \ order to supply the guests as their bouquets faded; and, to prevent 
 t! leir withering, they were generally put close to jars of water, into 
 w' pich their stalks were probably immersed. The stands that served 
 
200 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the camphire is most probably meant the Jtennali, a plant 
 growing to the height of eight or ten feet, beautiful to 
 the eye and grateful to the smell. " The dark colour of 
 its bark, the light green of its foliage, the softened mix- 
 ture of white and yellow, with which the flowers, collected 
 into long clusters like the lilac, are coloured ; the red 
 tint of the ramifications which support them, form a com- 
 bination the effect of which is highly agreeable. The 
 flowers whose shades are so delicate, diffuse around the 
 most grateful odours, and embalm with their strong fra- 
 grance the gardens in which they grow, and the apart- 
 ments which they adorn. The women take pleasure in 
 decking their persons and apartments with these delight- 
 ful blossoms." The best of these flowers grew in Engedi, 
 a part of the fertile plain of Jericho, abounding not only 
 in vineyards, but also in gardens for aromatic shrubs, in 
 the gums and balsams of which the Jews carried on a 
 traffic. In the days of Jerome, this region was remark- 
 able for the balm of Gilead. To persons thus familiar 
 with these beautiful and fragrant clusters, nothing could 
 be more expressive of the loveliness of the presence of 
 another, even of the Lord Jesus Christ. How could we 
 express otherwise, or more intelligibly, than by these 
 emblems, the apprehension had of Jesus as lodged in our 
 hearts by his love, and of that love as hoarded by us, and 
 the source of inexpressible pleasure; as grateful, not 
 
 for holding the flowers and garlands, were similar to those for t'-. 
 vases, and varied in size according to circumstances. The Grea„ 
 and Romans had the same custom; and their guests were, in like m^ s 
 ner, decked with flowers and garlands. They not only adorned tl L fl 
 heads, necks, and breasts, like the Egyptians, but often bestrewed tL 
 couches on which they lay. and all parts of the room, with lioivi^ 
 They also perfumed the apartment with myrrh, frankincense, a ; 
 other choice odours, which they obtained from Syria." — Wffl 
 vol. ii. 215. 
 
CHAPTER I. U. 201 
 
 merely in public, like the incense burning on the altar, 
 but in private, withdrawn from society. The love of 
 Christ, his consolations and joys, are to us not unstable 
 and evanescent, like fragrance floating on a passing 
 breeze; but are, in the depths of the soul, a perpetual 
 fountain of exhilarating perfumes, refreshing as myrrh, 
 beautiful as the clusters of camphirc. And when we arc 
 most alone, his presence makes us realize something de- 
 lightful and delicately beauteous to our spiritual percep- 
 tion, and inseparable from us, as the bundle of myrrh or 
 camphirc, which may attend us with an influence pleasant 
 to others, no less than ourselves, in the public assembly, 
 in our closet retirement, or in our private walks. 
 
 By our precious Lord there is given to us something 
 better than the golden vial full of odours; the heart of 
 the pure in spirit is a richer vial, and the love of Christ 
 imbedded there in the myrrh of Scripture truth, holy 
 desires, and heavenly anticipations, is a more precious 
 incense. The promises and Scripture truths gathered 
 from time to time, from different parts of the word of 
 God, and borne in our bosom, in clusters, as we need 
 them, are the clusters of camphire, flowering and fragrant 
 with the love of Jesus: 
 
 " A flower which once 
 In Taradise, fast by the tree of Life, 
 Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence 
 To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows; 
 v. And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life, 
 
 jra And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven 
 
 tl" Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream." 
 
 mi 
 
 pi In the fragrance of this divine love thus diffused around 
 
 wis, we are breathing sweeter odours than known by Adam 
 
 l Eden, such as are even now reviving those who are 
 
 w 1 
 
 * Paradise Lost, book iii. 353. 
 
 18 
 
202 C M M E X T A R Y. 
 
 under the shadow of the tree of life in the midst of the 
 Paradise of God. There is in the love of Christ some- 
 thin z refined and ethereal, to which the most sublimated 
 extracts from the most elegant things of earth cannot 
 approximate; very different from the gross pleasures of 
 sense, better than wine; and as the wind is the best em- 
 blem of the Holy Spirit, John iii. 8, so the wind loaded 
 with such fragrance as the myrrh and camphire blooms, 
 is the best illustration of the Holy Spirit in his office of 
 conveying to the soul the exhilarating love of our Lord. 
 In what perfect contrast are the enjoyments of the glut- 
 ton, and the drunkard, and " all that wallow in the sen- 
 sual sty," to the pleasures inhaled from a cluster of myrrh 
 or camphire blooms. While the presence of Christ dif- 
 fuses a pure and elevating influence through the soul, 
 from the influences of the Holy Spirit gathered like liquid 
 myrrh ^ our heart, it does also gratify the sight by 
 visions more delicately exquisite than the flowers of the 
 camphire. How fragrant does this presence render our 
 retirement, and cause us to linger fondly there while the 
 world are pitying our loneliness. The Scriptures, this 
 precious volume, the visible means of our communion with 
 Christ, with the exquisite net-work of its literary mate- 
 rials and style, filled with words fitly spoken, is more 
 beautiful t and valuable than a basket of silver filled with 
 apples of gold; and no golden vase on a centre-table of 
 the purest marble, containing clusters of camphire min- 
 gling their fragrance with the odour of distilled myrrh, 
 can diffuse so pleasant an incense as that filling the 
 retired room of the believer, in which the central orna- 
 ment is this book of life, this golden urn of salvation, 
 filled with the pure water of life, with clusters gathered 
 in the heavenly Paradise, and fragrant with truths in 
 unfading bloom. 
 
C II A P T E R I. 15. 203 
 
 Tkr. 1"). — Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou 
 h;ist doves' eyes. 
 
 While thus entertained by Jesus, what is the language 
 addressed by hira to the believer? No tenderer epithet 
 could be used, "My love;" or, as the Hebrew word 
 strictly means, a female friend, a companion — the import 
 of the language is, thou art indeed beautiful, my friend, 
 my companion; my love, thou art beautiful. So literally 
 true are the words, "As the bridegroom rejoiceth over 
 the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee," Isa. Ixii. 5. 
 There are among his creatures none that he loves better 
 than the redeemed. He who is altogether lovely, who is 
 love, shall he not know what is lovely? and shall not his 
 love be of great worth? He that planted the ear, shall 
 he not hear? He that wove the texture of Sharon's rose, 
 shall he not know what is beautiful? Yet, he says to us, 
 "My love, behold thou art fair." Feeling our depravity 
 and knowing our shortcomings, we wonder what there can 
 be in us to admire; but he whose all-present eye sees 
 pure gems in the deep caves of ocean, and delicate flowers 
 in secluded retreats of the wilderness, penetrates beyond 
 the outward appearance, and notices what is beautiful in 
 the heart, which may still be too much like the troubled 
 sea when it cannot rest. An unseemly shoot ingrafted 
 into a tree grows more beautiful by growing into the tree, 
 till at length it bursts into bloom. We are ingrafted into 
 Christ; and as we become more and more one with him, 
 our beauty increases by his beauty becoming ours. The 
 parent looks on the infant as beautiful according to the 
 likeness to himself, though there is much weakness and 
 infirmity in the child, and very much beauty remains to 
 be developed. In his created works, God does not wait 
 until they are perfectly finished, before he can see beauty 
 in them; he traces it in all things, from the first, as there 
 
204 COMMENTARY. 
 
 forming; and the unfolding of beauty in the several 
 stages of its progress towards maturity cannot be less 
 interesting to him than the view of its full perfection. 
 There is pleasure in training the tender plant; in watch- 
 ing the bursting bud and fragrant bloom of spring, as 
 well as in enjoying the golden fruits of autumn. As soon 
 as born again, the soul begins an assimilation to Christ, 
 which is scarcely seen in the body, and must be much 
 hidden from those who see the body only, while the linea- 
 ments of this loveliness must be apparent to those who 
 can behold the soul. We are made one with Christ by 
 justification; and sanctification then transfers to our soul 
 the excellences existing in Jesus. Beauty is inseparable 
 from holiness, as deformity is inseparable from sin. Jesus 
 is making us what he pleases, with none to interfere; and 
 he certainly cannot wish to make us otherwise than 
 beautiful. 
 
 "Thou hast doves' eyes," or literally, Thine eyes are 
 doves. The doves of Syria have eyes remarkably large 
 and beautiful. The eye, as here mentioned, seems to 
 combine the beauty of the brilliant light-blue eye of 
 Minerva, with that of the tender, melting, languishing eye 
 of Venus, to represent which her statues have the lower 
 eyelid drawn up a little over the eye. All poets dwell on 
 the eye as a most expressive feature. Every one is fami- 
 liar with the varied epithets on this point in Homer, and 
 the description of a beauty in Anacreon, Ode 28 : 
 
 Ami paint her eye Minerva's blue, 
 With Venus' melting, languid hue. 
 
 The eyes of Agamemnon enraged, "were like blazing 
 fire;" those of Minerva, a mild, sparkling, animated blue; 
 Juno's, large, round, and full, "ox-eyed." The counte- 
 nance has been called " the living telegraph of all that is 
 
CHAPTER I. 15. 205 
 
 felt within ;"* especially may this be said of the eye. As 
 in Milton's Penseroso, 
 
 " Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes." 
 
 And an oriental poet, "All his soul sparkled in his eyes." 
 As the soul of the saint is the shrine wherein lies the 
 sacred fountain of divine love, the eyes of doves, the 
 emblem of affection, are the best expression to others of 
 this inward emotion. The eyes are transparencies through 
 which the soul may look out on surrounding things; and 
 as through these we do, as it were, come nearer than in 
 any other way, getting glimpses of the soul, the expres- 
 sion of the eye is an index of the passions within, as of 
 anger, envy, guilt, innocence, or love. Hence the lan- 
 guage, "An evil eye," Matt. xx. 15; "Eyes full of 
 adultery," 2 Pet. ii. 14; "An high look and a proud 
 heart," Ps. ci. 5. The dove is an emblem of gentleness, 
 innocence, and love; and has been chosen by the Holy 
 Ghost for representing his divine nature and offices 
 towards man. As the Spirit changes us to his own like- 
 ness, and makes us harmless, guileless, or pure, as doves, 
 Matt. x. 16, the eyes must acquire an expression like the 
 eyes of doves. Not the haughty air of the devotee of 
 faslnon, not the proud bearing of the soldier, not the 
 selfish cast of the miser, not the fierce glare of malice, not 
 the ill-concealed vanity, betokening, under the guise of 
 feigned humility, a hungering ami thirsting for admira- 
 
 *The Body and the Mind, by Dr. Moore, p. 85.-" The sagacious 
 traveller, Nicolai, states that he saw the most divinely beautifult^-ile 
 countenances among womeu who were most devout. The calm contain 
 plat.on of loveliness where affection blends with adoration, seems to 
 act most powerfully in tranquilizing and exalting the features. Doubt- 
 less the apprehension of spiritual truth being absolute, the reflex of the 
 divine mind would possess the mind with a more heavenly idea, and cor- 
 respondingly transform the whole being " P 86 
 IN 
 
206 COMMENTARY. 
 
 tion; but the eye bespeaking gentleness, purity, and love, 
 is the expression of countenance agreeable to our Lord. 
 As the man, who is the head of the woman, 1 Cor. xi. 3, 
 does everything requiring energy, defence, danger, and 
 resistance, while the woman in her sphere acts, but con- 
 fides and loves; so we must do all things in love, feeling 
 that the head of every man is Christ ; and not avenging 
 ourselves, but committing our cause to him in well doing, 
 and sensible that with this well doing our business now is, 
 as the spouse of Christ, to confide and love. 
 
 " They tell of things -which no gross ear can hear, 
 Till oft converse with heavenly habitants 
 Begin to cast a beam on th' outward shape, 
 The unpolluted temple of the mind, 
 And turns it by degrees to the soul's essence, 
 Till all be made immortal."* 
 
 Ver. 10, 17. — Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also 
 our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters 
 are fir. 
 
 We love him because he first loved us ; we presume to 
 call him our beloved, because he first calls us his love. 
 It is much for such unworthy creatures to have the right 
 of saying this; much to have the feelings and desires 
 which prompt this language. When Jesus speaks to our 
 heart, as in the 15th verse, there arises the trepidation of 
 warm affection; and we would gladly give utterance to 
 the strongest expressions of love; but we are so over- 
 whelmed with li is grandeur, and our unworthiness, as to 
 hesitate in using words our emotions would justify. 
 II nice the Holy Spirit has indited this language, and 
 assures us we cannot do wrong in thus speaking of our 
 Lord. Jesus is well pleased to have us call him our 
 beloved. 
 
 "Thou art fair." How fair? Fairer than the sons of 
 
 * Milton's Coiuus. 
 
CHAPTER I. 1G. 207 
 
 men ; adorned with greater beauty than any of our fallen 
 race; fairer too than the angels. Heb. i. "Grace is 
 poured into thy lips;" and when, in consequence of this, 
 we wonder at the gracious words which proceed out of 
 his mouth, we delight to add, "Yea, pleasant." The 
 pleasures of refined society, of society ennobled by intel- 
 lectual culture and polished manners, in combination with 
 the grace which purifies the heart for seeing God, are 
 the most delightful possible for man. The society of 
 Jesus, far from being gloomy and irksome, is captivating 
 and delightful. In him are united all conceivable 
 charms, princely dignity, mind of infinite compass, illim- 
 itable influence, beauty, knowledge, and wisdom divine, 
 a nature that is itself love. When in the form of a 
 slave, in the flesh, emptied of his glory, there was a 
 wondrous charm about his person, his presence, his 
 conversation. "Never man spake like this man." What, 
 therefore, must be the charm investing him now in glorv. 
 Those who have been admitted to the gatherings in which 
 the hospitality of high rank loved to assemble the courtly, 
 the powerful, the learned, and the influential, delighted 
 in those privileges as their happiest hours, and cherish 
 the remembrance of them fondly in declining age.* Of 
 such privileges the humble saint maybe deprived; but he 
 mingles intimately in a more refined, more intellectual, 
 more fascinating society — a gathering wherein he who 
 presides is the king in the circle of his friends. How 
 pleasant is the society of Jesus, when he unfolds to us 
 the way of salvation, opens the promises, encourages in 
 difficulty, comforts in trouble, and speaks of the blessed- 
 ness of heaven! How rich the influence around his 
 presence! In his presence is fulness of joy. "When on 
 
 * Final Memorials of Charles Lamb, p. 238. 
 
208 COMMENTAR Y. 
 
 earth, he must have possessed great attractions, to draw 
 multitudes after him into the wilderness, and retain them 
 there for days without food. The indifference of the 
 believer to the highest society among the irreligious, is 
 the result of a deep and intelligent conviction of the 
 superiority of the society of Christ. Entranced with his 
 pleasantness, enchained with his wisdom, and rapt by the 
 glorious visions of the ideal world unfolded by his 
 promises, we exclaim, "This is my rest for ever; here will 
 I dwell. Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there 
 is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." 
 
 "Also our bed is green," or, the green flowery turf is 
 our place of repose. The scene in which these words, 
 and possibly all from verse 12 are used, seems to be laid 
 in the kiosk or summer-house in the royal garden.* 
 
 * "The next day we went to visit the gardens, and to spend a day 
 there. The place was about a mile out of town. It afforded us a very 
 pleasant summer-house, having a plentiful stream of water running 
 through it. The garden was thick set with fruit-trees, but without any 
 art or order. Such as this are all the gardens hereabouts: only with 
 this odds, that some of them have their summer-houses more splendid 
 than others, and their waters improved into greater variety of foun- 
 tains." — Maundrell, p. 130. In Kitto's Illustrated Commentary, Deut. 
 iii. 11, is a drawing of what he calls "a garden bedstead," which is in 
 fact a kiosk, and illustrates precisely what is meant in these two verses. 
 "The Egyptians spent much time in the cool and shady retirement of 
 their gardens, where, like the Romans, they entertained their friends 
 during the summer-season, as we may judge from the size of some of 
 the kiosks which occur in the paintings of the tombs." — Wilkinson, 
 vol. ii. 187. Thus the following from Plato : " How beautiful a retreat! 
 For this plane-tree is very wide-spreading and lofty, ami the height and 
 shadinese of this agnus castus are very beautiful; and being now in 
 full bloom, in makes the place exceedingly fragrant. Moreover, there 
 flows under tlii-^ plane-tree a delightful fountain of very cold water, to 
 judge from its effect on the foot. It appears from these images and 
 statues, to be sacred to certain nymphs, and to Achelous. Observe 
 again the freshness of the spot, how charming and delightful it is, and 
 
CHAPTER I. 16. 209 
 
 Oriental gardens were without the city, and from half a 
 mile to a mile distant from the houses of the persons to 
 whom they belonged. " In the gardens around Aleppo, 
 commodious villas arc built, for the use of the inhabitants, 
 to which they retire during the oppressive heats of sum- 
 mer. Here, amid the wild and almost impervious 
 thickets of pomegranate, and other fruit-bearing trees, 
 the languid native and exhausted traveller find a delight- 
 ful retreat from the scorching beams of the sun. A 
 similar custom of retiring into the country, and taking 
 shelter in the gardens, at that season, appears to have 
 been followed in Palestine, in ages very remote. The 
 exquisite pleasure which an oriental feels, while he 
 reclines under the deep shade of the pomegranates, the 
 apple, and other fruitful trees, in the Syrian gardens, 
 which, uniting their branches over his head, defend him 
 from the glowing firmament, is well described by Russel : 
 " Revived by the freshening breeze, the purling of the 
 brooks, and the verdure of the groves, his car will catch 
 
 how summer-like ami shrill it sounds from tke choir of grasshoppers. 
 But the most delightful of all is the grass, which, sloping gently, gives 
 an easy support to the head as we recline." — Phcedrus, 5. 
 In the bower of Nehushta, 
 
 "With fragrant moss the floor 
 Was planted, to the foot a carpet rich, 
 Or, for the languid limbs a downy couch 
 Inviting Blumber." 
 Milton mentions, 
 
 "Beds of hyacinth and roses, 
 Where young Adonis oft reposes." 
 And Theocritus, 
 
 "On soft beds recline, 
 Of lentisk and young branches of the vine." 
 "My tent was pitched "ii a carpet of Boft, green sward, under the 
 wide-spread arms of one of the old cedars." — War burton's Travels. 
 
210 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the melody of the nightingale, delightful beyond what is 
 heard in England; with conscious gratitude to heaven, he 
 will recline on the simple mat, and bless the hospitable 
 shelter." Lady Montague writes, "In the midst of the 
 garden is the kiosk, that is, a large room, commonly 
 beautified with a fine fountain in the midst of it. It is 
 raised nine or ten steps, and enclosed with gilded lattices, 
 round which vines, jessamines, and honeysuckles, make a 
 sort of green wall. Large trees are planted round this 
 place, wdiich is the scene of their greatest pleasures." 
 Speaking of the plain of Sharon, a traveller remarks, 
 " The fields were decked with thousands of gay flowers, 
 forming an enamelled carpet, that perfumed the air, and 
 offered a scene replete with everything that could gratify 
 the eye, or charm the imagination." In such a place, 
 and on such a couch, are the beloved and the spouse here 
 represented as reposing. This picture is common in 
 poetry. Thus Thompson: 
 
 "There on the verdant turf and flowery bed, 
 By gelid founts and careless rills to muse." 
 
 And Homer: 
 
 "Beneath them earth 
 With sudden herbage teemed; at once upsprnng 
 The crocus soft, the lotus bathed in dew, 
 And the crisp hyacinth with clustering bells; 
 Thick was their growth, and high above the ground 
 Upbore them. On that flowery couch they lay, 
 Invested with a golden cloud that shed 
 Bright dew-drops all around."* 
 
 From such scenes does the Holy Spirit draw the means 
 of illustrating the loveliness of the society of Jesus. His 
 presence can make the desert itself delightful. When he 
 
 * Iliad, book xiv. •'! 17. 
 
CHAPTER I. 16. 211 
 
 brings his beloved into the wilderness for speaking to her 
 
 o J. o 
 
 heart, IIos. ii. 14, he makes the wilderness and the soli- 
 tary place glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom as the 
 rose. To the charm of his society is added the beauty of 
 the place in which it is enjoyed. The word bed, here 
 expresses the place where, in a pastoral scene, the two 
 friends may recline on the verdure, and share the plea- 
 sures of each other's company. We would read, Our 
 couch or place of repose is spread with the verdure and 
 flowers of spring; the roof, the ceiling of our summer- 
 house or kiosk, our canopy, is cedar interspersed with fir, 
 richly carved. As if it were said, The place where I rest 
 and enjoy the society of this beloved friend, is invested 
 with the freshness and richness of vernal beauty, amid 
 green grass and blooming flowers. The same idea is 
 expressed, in different words, in Ps. xxiii. 2, "He maketh 
 me to lie down in green pastures;" and in Isa. xi. 10, 
 '*IIis rest, or place of rest, shall be glorious." And when 
 the same prophet would show that the dwelling-place of 
 God among men shall be adorned with the most attractive 
 beauty, he says, " The glory of Lebanon shall come unto 
 thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to 
 beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the 
 place of my feet glorious." Chap. lx. 13. Into the oriental 
 gardens, many of which were very extensive, the owner 
 delighted to go with a few friends, and sitting down in 
 some shady place, most commonly a small open structure 
 or summer-house, elegantly made, there enjoy the cool 
 shade, the refreshing breeze, the foliage of the groves, 
 the fragrance of the flowers, and the golden luxuriousness 
 of the ripening fruits, while the ear was pleased with the 
 murmuring of the rills and the melodies of the nightin- 
 gale. By such scenes as this, would the Holy Spirit 
 represent that in our communion with Jesus we are sur- 
 
212 COMMENTARY. 
 
 rounded with pleasantness and peace.* There arc many 
 barren tracts and wilds in our pilgrimage; but he who 
 comforts Zion, "will make her wilderness like Eden, and 
 her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness 
 shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of 
 melody." Isa. li. 3. The curse cannot encroach on the 
 spot where the Lamb slain reposes with his redeemed ;f 
 the earth, cursed for the disobedience of the first Adam, 
 receives through the righteousness of the second Adam, a 
 deliverance from the bondage of corruption; the first 
 fruits of which we now feel clustering around us in hours 
 of communion with Jesus. Like the early violets, the 
 harbingers of spring, these incipient joys of holiness 
 bespeak the vernal glories of heaven nigh. Heavenly 
 pleasures can no more be separated from the presence of 
 Jesus, than flowers can be separated from the spring. 
 
 * Plato says, "Love does not settle on any spot where flowers are 
 not, or where they have fallen off; but wherever is a spot flowery and 
 fragrant, there he settles and fixes his .abode." 
 
 In the same spirit, Lucretius, speaking of Love, says, — 
 Thee flee the winds; the fleecy clouds of heaven 
 Thy coming flee; for thee th' embroidered earth 
 Pours fragrant flowers forth; before thee smiles 
 Old ocean boundless; and from tempests freed, 
 With radiant light suffused, heaven tranquil smiles. 
 
 De Her. Nat. 1 : 6. 
 f "When the conscience discovers the favourable sentence of God 
 concerning man, and intimates the same to itself, and at the same time 
 bears testimony of its unfeigned piety towards God, it spreads a sur- 
 prising serenity and calm over the whole soul. Consequently, the 
 peace of God necessarily brings with it peace of conscience, and much 
 confidence in God. The soul nowhere reposes itself more comfortably, 
 than in that hod of tranquillity, and in the bosom of Jesus, its loving, 
 lovely Bponse, singing at that time to its adversaries, 'Know that the 
 Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. I will both lay me 
 down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only niakest me dwell in 
 safety.' " — Witriut on Spiritual Peace, Cov., book iii. 0. 1 ■'.. 
 
CHAPTER I. 1G. 213 
 
 He is to this blighted world, what spring is to the dreari- 
 ness of winter, the resurrection and the life. Feeling 
 already the first fruits of that better order of things when 
 
 "The storms of wintry time will quickly pass. 
 And one unbounded spring encircle all;" 
 
 we read in these earthly beauties, the patterns of things 
 in the heavens ; and with the eye of faith resting on the 
 blessedness of the second Eden, exclaim with triumphant 
 exultation, 
 
 "Come, gentle spring! ethereal mildness! come; 
 And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud 
 Of balm of Paradise and heavenly dews, 
 AVhile music wakes around, veil'd in a shower 
 Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend." 
 
 From the presence of Jesus, however manifested, 
 nothing can be separated that is delightful. He makes 
 all things work together for good. How sweet is our 
 repose when we sit down with him in the hour of repent- 
 ance, in times of refreshing, in seasons of prayer, amid 
 his gracious providences, in the ordinances of the sanc- 
 tuary, lie makes even the valley of Baca a well; he 
 sheds down divine . essings, as the rain that filleth the 
 pools. Around his footsteps, around the place .of his 
 rest, the desert blossoms abundantly, and rejoices even 
 with joy and singing. The heavenly host still attend 
 him with more of glory and of melody than at his ap- 
 pearance on the plains of Bethlehem ; and when we are 
 thus with Jesus, "the angels with their silver wings, 
 o'ershade the ground thus sacred by his presence made" 
 They yet delight to praise God for every display of his 
 good will to man ; their music spreads around us a sea 
 of harmonious undulations ; so that 
 
 "The place is full of noises, 
 Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not; 
 
 19 
 
214 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Sometimes a thousand instruments melodious 
 Will murmur round our ears; and sometimes voices, 
 That if we then had waked after long sleep, 
 Will make us sleep again; and then in dreaming, 
 The clouds will seem to open and show riches 
 Ready to drop upon us."* 
 
 And though shut out from these airs by "this muddy 
 vesture of decay," there are frequently effects produced 
 on the soul, which force on us the impression that we are 
 in the midst of such a chorus ; and that these harmonies 
 are quivering faintly through the flesh, and trilling in 
 upon the heart. No couch of flowers, not even of Sha- 
 ron's roses, can excite sensations of pleasantness at all 
 equalling those felt by the soul thus reposing in the 
 society of Jesus. All, all is peace, love, harmony ; with 
 the surrounding harmonies our disordered soul grows 
 more in unison. 
 
 "We lay the head 
 In golden slumber on a bed 
 Of heaped Elysian flowers, and hear 
 Such strains as sweetly win the ear 
 Of spirits from the flesh set free."f 
 
 "The beams of our house are cedar,]; and our rafters 
 of fir."§ Our place of repose, while thus beautiful, is 
 
 * Tempest, Act. 3, Scene 2. 
 
 f Milton's Allegro. 
 
 X "Hardly any kind of wood unites so many good qualities for 
 building as the cedar: its wood not only pleases the eye by its reddish 
 stripes, and exhales an agreeable smell, but it is hard and without 
 knots, and is never eaten by worms, and lasts so long, that some per- 
 sons consider it imperishable. Hence it was used for rafters and 
 boards, either to cover the houses or floors." — Border. 
 
 \ The Hebrew word here used, seems to be only the Aramaean pro- 
 nunciation of the word which, in most passages whore it occurs, is 
 translated cypress in the old Ureek and Byriac versions. "The wood 
 of the cypress is bar 1, fragrant, and of a remarkably line, close grain, 
 very durable, and of a beautiful reddish hue, which Pliny says it never 
 
CHAPTER I. 17. 215 
 
 not open to the rays of the sun, nor to the rain, hut is 
 protected by a shelter, a roof with rafters of cedar, and 
 a ceiling of fir or cypress, adorned with exquisite carved 
 work.* These were materials used in the temple; in 
 their nature rich and enduring. The ceilings of oriental 
 houses, in the present day, as well as in the time of 
 Solomon, are beautified with carvings and arabesques, 
 with highly coloured paintings. According to Josephus, 
 the roof of the temple was of cedar ; and that part of 
 the roof that was under the beams, was made of the 
 same materials, and had ornaments proper for roofs; 
 also the royal palace of Solomon was supported by 
 fluted, quadrangular pillars of cedar, and adorned with 
 sculptures, whereby were represented trees and all sorts 
 of plants, with the shades that arose from their branches, 
 and leaves that hung down from them; the leaves were 
 
 loses. According to this author, 'The statue of Jupiter in the Capitol, 
 which was formed of cypress, had existed above six hundred years, 
 without showing the least symptom of decay; and the doors of the 
 temple of Diana at Ephesus, which were also of cypress, and were four 
 hundred years old, had the appearance of being quite new.' This wood 
 was used for a variety of purposes, as for wine-presses, rafters, and 
 joists." — Kilto's Cyclvpt din. 
 
 * "The ceiling was slightly arched, and clustered with stalactites 
 of purple and gold, that appeared to have oozed out from some rich 
 treasury above. The walls were of panelled cedar, or some such dark 
 and fragrant wood, exquisitely carved; and curtains of Damascus silk 
 were gathered into thick folds between pilasters of cedars, polished, 
 yet rugged with rich carving."— Warburton's Travels. "The ceilings 
 were divided into square compartments, painted with flowers, or with 
 the figures of animals. Some were inlaid with ivory, each compart- 
 ment being surrounded with elegant borders and mouldings. The 
 beams, as well as the sides of the chambers, may have been gilded, 
 or even plated with gold and silver; and the rarest woods, in which 
 the cedar was conspicuous, were used for the wood work." — Layard'a 
 Nmeveh, ii. 208. There are some beautiful "patterns from Egyptian 
 ceilings," in Wilkinson, vol. ii. 125. 
 
216 COMMENTARY. 
 
 wrought so tliin and subtle, that you would think them 
 in motion. He made the whole building entirely of 
 white stone, and cedar wood, and gold, and silver : he 
 also adorned the roofs and walls with stones set in gold. 
 The idea then seems to be, that the spouse was enjoying 
 this pleasant society of the beloved, reclining on a bed of 
 grass and vernal flowers, over which was spread the pro- 
 tection of a ceiling of durable materials and exquisite 
 carving, and open on every side to the pleasing prospects 
 and balmy airs. One emblem, or set of emblems, was 
 not enough; the Holy Spirit, in a kind of anxiety to set 
 forth our privileges, brings together whatever is most 
 beautiful in nature and in art — beds of flowers, rural 
 beauty, the shelter of a palace without the confinement 
 of its walls. X ne true conception of happiness, as con- 
 nected with our restoration from the curse, is that of 
 being amid such scenes as those in Eden, and sheltered 
 from the smiting of the sun by day, and of the moon by 
 night. Ps. cxxi. 6. This protection is set forth as a 
 cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming 
 fire by night; as a shadow from the heat; as a shade; 
 as a shadow of a great rock ; as a covering of us with 
 his wings; here, by the figure of a durable, beauteous, 
 costly ceiling. 
 
 That protection is nothing less than the divine nature 
 of Jesus Christ. Nothing can harm us beneath this hea- 
 venly shade. Evil, Satan, affliction, death, the chill dews 
 of sin, cannot strike us there. Homer represents the god 
 of the sun coming down gloomy as night, and by his 
 arrows scattering death through the Grecian camp; from 
 which protection Avas sought in vain : in the cloud lower- 
 ing with wrath over our guilty world, the angel of death, 
 the minister of divine justice, has his stand; but from his 
 arrows of death, our pardoned spirits are more secure 
 
CHAPTER I. 17. 217 
 
 than she, who reposed with the beloved beneath this ceil- 
 ing, was from the withering rays of the sun. As on the 
 ceiling of ancient temples might sometimes be seen beau- 
 tiful paintings, and in the roof of this summer-house was 
 curious carving; so, in this overshadowing defence of the 
 divine nature of Jesus, are all the excellences of the God- 
 head. The arch spread over us at midnight, with its 
 stars, nebulse, and constellations, does not present to the 
 eve, assisted by the best telescope, anything comparable 
 with the overshadowing divinity of Christ. While, like 
 the roof, it is our shelter; like the evening sky, it sheds 
 down dews on the thirsting soul, refreshing airs on the 
 fainting heart, guiding light on the bewildered spirit; and 
 reveals to our enraptured contemplation, transcendent 
 and inexhaustible glories. As God inhabited a pillar of 
 cloud and of fire, that was the protection of the camp of 
 Israel, and did at the same time commune with them 
 through the form of a man supposed to be seen between 
 the cherubim; so, while the divine nature of Christ is our 
 glorious covering, he in whom dwells all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily, communes with us through the human 
 nature of Jesus Christ. In the quaint language of Fran- 
 cis Quarles, 
 
 " Hath thy all-glorious Deity no shade, 
 
 Whore I may sit and Tengeance never eye me? 
 See, here's a .shadow found: the Imtnau nature 
 I- Blade th' umbrella to the Deity. 
 
 This shelter can never decay: He is the same yester- 
 day, to-day, and for ever. We may wander to the verge 
 of creation, without being beyond the limit of this defence, 
 lne temples and palaces of earth are crumbling; its for- 
 tresses, even the tower of David, and the stronghold of 
 Zion, inn ruins; the temple of Solomon, with its mar- 
 1J* 
 
218 COMMENT A R Y. 
 
 bles, its cedars, and gold, is in the dust ; but this spiritual 
 covert of the soul, reared for us hard by the tree of life 
 in the paradise of God, stands, and shall stand, through 
 ages of ages, pure, fresh, and undecaying: and when the 
 heavens shall have passed away with a great noise, and 
 the earth, with all that is in it, be consumed, this refuge, 
 the place of repose of the Beloved and his redeemed, shall 
 be seen emerging from the ruins, towering on the Rock 
 of Ages in imposing grandeur, and crowned with that cloud 
 of glory which is the light of the upper world. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Vee. 1. — I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.* 
 
 Reclining thus on a bed of grass and flowers, and be- 
 neath such a shade, with the beauties and odours of an 
 oriental paradise spreading around, the beloved and the 
 
 * Patrick, Henry, and Scott, take this verse as the language of the 
 beloved, and consequently the rose and lily as the emblems of Christ. 
 We interpret these as the words of the spouse, for several reasons. 
 1. The scope of the passage requires this view; because the evident 
 design is to put the spouse in contrast with the beloved, by comparison 
 of the rose and lily with the majesty of the citron-tree. -. The lily is 
 in the next verse expressly applied to the spouse; and these two verses 
 are parts of the same continuous sentence ; so that it is unreasonable 
 to apply the lily as the emblem of Jesus in the former clause, and then 
 find it restricted to the saint in the latter. 3. The Jewish interpreters 
 in general are of this opinion. 4. With us also agreo the best Christian 
 expositors, such as Rosenmuller, Delitzsch, Dopke, Cocceius, Michaelis, 
 Vatablus, Ainsworth, Banner, Fercy, Fry, Good, &c. 
 
 The Septuagint and Vulgate render the Hebrew word "rose," by 
 "flower;" and Sharon they translate, not as a proper name, but "a 
 plain," making the words together mean "a flower of the field." Hence 
 Bishop Percy reads, " I am a mere rose of the field." Kitto, however, 
 
CHAPTER II. 1. 219 
 
 bride naturally speak of each other in language drawn 
 from the beautiful objects under their notice. The plain 
 of Sharon was particularly rich in flowers. The orientals 
 have ever been fond of images derived from the rose. 
 The Great Mogul, in a letter to James I. of England, 
 compliments him by comparing him to this flower. A 
 modern eastern poet has the same thought, when speak- 
 ing of Nischabur, the city in which he resided: he says, 
 " I, like Atthar, that famous poet, came out of the gar- 
 den of Nischabur; but Atthar was the rose of that gar- 
 den, and I am only a bramble." Pliny reckons the lily 
 the next plant in excellence to the rose. In the East, as 
 with us, it is the emblem of purity and moral excellence. 
 So the Persian poet Sadi compares an amiable youth to 
 "the white lily in a bed of narcissuses ;" because he sur- 
 passed all the young shepherds in piety, goodness, and 
 vigilance. The spouse is evidently speaking of herself 
 in a modest, humble manner ; and the emblems of the 
 rose and lily do, therefore, illustrate the Christian cha- 
 racter as possessing a beauty in which delicacy, lowliness, 
 and purity, are leading characteristics. 
 
 Nothing could be more delicate than the texture, hues, 
 
 truly remarks, " There can be little doubt that the rose is really intended 
 by the Hebrew word. Even if in the general sense it should mean but 
 a flower, we should still infer that when applied in a particular sense, it 
 means a rose ; for this would be according to tho usage of the East. 
 Thus the Persian word gul describes a flower in general, and the rose 
 2'<ir t-.r<-< llenee; and the Arabic term ward is employed in the same accep- 
 tations." In the East, still more than with us, the rose is the queen of 
 flowers. In May, the hills towards Rama and Joppa, as going from 
 Jerusalem, were found covered with pink and white roses; the gardens 
 of Rama were filled with roses of a powerful fragrance. Mariti states 
 that in the hamlet of St. John, in the desert of that name, "the rose- 
 plants form small forests in the gardens." Burckhardt was struck with 
 the number of rose-trees he found among the ruins of Bozra, beyond the 
 Jordan. 
 
220 COMMENTARY. 
 
 and fragrance of the rose and lily. When even Sharon's 
 vale was filled with such beauteous flowers, so soon to fade 
 and wither under the wintry frosts of the curse, shall the 
 same creative power form with less delicacy those souls 
 which are to flourish in the freshness of immortality, as 
 the spiritual roses and lilies by the river of life, in the 
 heavenly paradise? Piety refines our whole nature. It 
 is a cleansing from the coarseness and defilement of sin. 
 It purifies the heart, the motives, the views, the aspira- 
 tions, the soul ; and so completely does it bring the body 
 into subjection to this spiritual purity, that we are at last 
 invested with a corporeal frame so pure that its nature 
 can be expressed only by calling it a spiritual body. 
 This purity sheds through all our powers, and all our 
 actions, an increasing and delightful delicacy of senti- 
 ment, thought, and feeling. The import of the word 
 "reverence," in Heb. xii. 28, is the spiritual modesty, 
 the delicate sensibility, diffused through the soul, by the 
 pervading influence of the Holy Spirit, which brings 
 spontaneously a blush over the heart, at the very appear- 
 ance, or mention, or thought of sin, without our taking 
 time to think of the consequences of the act, or its hate- 
 fulness in the sight of God. Coarseness of feeling, as 
 well as of language and of action, is the offspring of the 
 impurity of sin, and must disappear under the purifying 
 energy of divine grace. The human eye, which is the 
 bodily organ attempered to the various degrees and 
 shades of light, the most subtile form of matter known 
 to us, is the most delicate of the faculties of sense, and 
 would be unfitted for its office, were it less exquisite in 
 its texture; but the splendour of the stars, the grandeur 
 of the sun, the tints of the rainbow, are merely repre- 
 sentations of the excellence of him who points to light as 
 the best emblem of his spiritual purity; and as the pure 
 
CHAPTER II. 1. 221 
 
 in heart shall see God, not through the drapery thrown 
 around him when he clothes himself with light as with a 
 garment, but in his unveiled glory; who can tell the deli- 
 cate sensibility requisite in a soul for beholding such 
 visions; for thus contemplating the beauty of holiness; 
 a sensibility which the Holy Ghost is now diffusing 
 through the whole fabric of our being by sanctification, 
 as the preparation for our dwelling evermore under the 
 shadow of the Almighty, and enjoying the unutterable 
 beauties there unfolding to the view. 
 
 Like Jesus, whose yoke we bear, the believer finds rest 
 for his soul in meekness and lowliness of heart.* Love 
 is not more certainly the distinguishing virtue of the 
 pious character, than is humility its vital grace. Love 
 being the fruit which holiness bears in the heart, humility 
 is the root by which it is nourished. When the righteous 
 flourish like the palm-tree and grow like a cedar in Leba- 
 non; when he grows as the lily and casts forth his roots 
 as Lebanon ; when his branches spread and his beauty is 
 as the olive-tree ; then is humility the root which spread- 
 ing beneath, as the branches develope above, supplies life 
 and nourishment to all the graces of godliness. Our 
 piety may ever be judged by our humility. When Jesus 
 would cause holiness to grow, he places us in situations 
 where humility may expand. The rose and the lily could 
 hardly be expected to grow with vigour, or, if growing at 
 all, to put forth the fulness of their beauty, in a public 
 
 * "The soul of a true Christian, as I then wrote my meditations, ap- 
 peared like such a little white flower as we see in the spring of the 
 year; low and humble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the 
 pleasant beams of the sun's glory; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rap- 
 ture; diffusing around a sweet fragrancy; standing peacefully and lov- 
 ingly, in the midst of other flowers round about; all in like manner 
 opening their bosoms to drink in the light of the B\m."—JEdv>ardt'» 
 Works, vol. i. p. 21. 
 
222 COMMENTARY. 
 
 thoroughfare, the streets of a city, or the halls of fash- 
 ionable life : in secluded retreats of the country, in lowly 
 meadows, they find a genial soil. In scenes withdrawn 
 from the world and depressed, unthronged with the 
 crowds who seek and bestow the honours coming from 
 man, scenes kindred in lowliness to those so loved by him 
 who was meek and lowly in heart, does the Lord of the 
 vineyard place those whose holiness he would have to 
 blossom as the rose ; whom he would have to spread out 
 their root by the water, and the dew to lie all night on 
 their branch. 
 
 "He sprang from a stock of lowly parentage 
 Among the wilds of Scotland, in a tract 
 Whore many a sheltered and well-tended plant 
 Bears, on the humblest ground of social life, 
 Blossoms of piety and innocence."* 
 
 Before honour is humility. When God is about to exalt 
 to honour or usefulness one on whom his love is placed, he 
 prepares him therefor by humiliation; and when the 
 blessings of the Holy Spirit are poured on the soul in an 
 unusual degree, we find the way was prepared for them 
 by humility, and by humility are they attended. The 
 richest crowns are beautified with gems, gathered in un- 
 trodden regions; the freshest chaplets are woven of 
 flowers bathed in the dews of secluded meadows : 
 
 ,v Lrke virtue, thriving most where little seen." 
 
 So calm is the v prospect, so bracing the airs of the valley 
 of Humiliation) the believer says with Mercy, "The 
 place, methinks, suits with my spirit. I love to be in 
 such places, where there is no rattling with coaches, nor 
 rumbling with wheels : methinks, here one may, without 
 
 * Wordsworth's Excursion, book ii. 
 
CHAPTER II. 1. 223 
 
 much molestation, be thinking what he is, whence he 
 came, what he has done, and to what the King has called 
 him : here one may think, and break at heart, and melt 
 in one's spirit, until one's eyes become as the fish-pools of 
 Heshbon. Behold how green this valley is; also how 
 beautiful with lilies." 
 
 Like the lily of the valleys, the pious soul is invested 
 with a loveliness combining purity with delicacy and 
 lowliness. 
 
 "Our thoughts 
 Pleasant as roses in the thickets Mown, 
 And pure as dew bathing their crimson leaves."* 
 
 Purity and holiness are inseparable. Perhaps we may 
 say holiness is immaterial purity, the moral spotlessness 
 of spiritual beings. Holiness works purity; sin works 
 corruption. Taking the sinner in the midst of his pollu- 
 tion, with a body tending to corruption, because the 
 dwelling-place of a soul under the dominion of guilt, the 
 Holy Spirit unfolds by degrees that newness of life 
 which swells at last into the perfect holiness and dazzling 
 glory of both body and soul in heaven. A person who 
 might possibly be unacquainted with the growth of 
 plants, would hardly believe that the unsightly root of a 
 lily, or even the stalk in its greenness, could be developed 
 into so rich and fragrant a flower. The same Almighty 
 energy whose Spirit causes the seed or root to grow amid 
 earth and corruption itself, into the flower no less pure 
 and beautiful than the lily or the rose, is even now car- 
 rying forward, amid our corruption of soul and body, a 
 growth of holiness which shall ripen into the purity and 
 beauty of heaven. Like the flower of the lily full- 
 blown, perfect sanctification, with a spiritual body, is the 
 consummation of our redemption. The lilies that shall 
 
 * ^Yordsworth's Excursion, book ii. 
 
224 COMMENTARY. 
 
 adorn the meadows amid which winds the pure river of 
 water of life, are the souls of an innumerable multitude 
 "without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," who have 
 washed their robes and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb. When the Holy Spirit first dawns on the 
 heart at the new birth, we are surprised at the degree of 
 our impurity. Often will it seem as though our prayers 
 and struggles against the tide of impure thoughts and 
 desires were in vain; yet, "shall we know, if we follow 
 on to know the Lord; his going forth is prepared as the 
 morning." Over the soul thus clouded with darkness 
 and sin, the day shall break, and the shadows flee away. 
 By nature, in a state of darkness, like that of the night 
 laden with chilling mists and noxious vapours, the soul 
 receives the influences of the Holy Spirit, at first faint 
 and gradual, as the early dawn : like the morning light 
 which goes on and shines not only to sunrise, but to high 
 noon ; (more literally, the fixed part of the day, when the 
 sun seems to stand immovable in the zenith ;) and then, 
 every vapour sunk, every cloud vanished away, lights up 
 all the atmosphere with purity, and rains down bril- 
 liancy on earth and heaven; the faint streaks of light 
 and holiness shooting over the darkened soul in the new 
 birth, go on increasing to the brightness of mid-day 
 splendour in heaven, where all will be purity and glory, 
 as the Sun of Righteousness from the zenith showers on 
 the heart his soft, enlivening rays. 
 
 Vkr. 2. — As a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daugh- 
 ters. 
 
 While combining these excellences, the disposition of 
 the believer is very different from that of the world. As 
 the lily among thorns, so is the believer, during his pro- 
 bation, "among them that are set on fire, even the sons 
 
CHAPTER II. 2. 225 
 
 of men, whose tcctli arc spears and arrows, and their 
 tongue a sharp sword." I\s. lvii. 4. The wind bloweth 
 where it listeth, and bears on its bosom seeds scattered 
 at random, and springing up unnoticed in desolate places; 
 even as the Holy Spirit, according to his sovereign will, 
 causes the seed of the word to take root in souls scattered 
 far and wide among the nations, to grow here, as in their 
 nursery, until fit for transplanting to heaven. The saint 
 must expect to find himself, while in tins world, among 
 uncongenial and hostile spirits. Holiness, however per- 
 fected, will not alter this state of things. Spotless 
 though he may be, as the lily, he is yet the lily among 
 thorns. Through his first disciples, the Lord Jesus said 
 to his servants in all ages, "Behold, I send you forth as 
 sheep in the midst of wolves." Matt. x. 16. Still is the 
 carnal mind enmity against God, and against the sons of 
 God; still the wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh 
 to slay him. Our position is surrounded with those 
 whose evil passions, pride, haughtiness, envy, malice, 
 avarice, sensuality, vindictiveness, bristling from their 
 hearts on every side, make it difficult for us to move 
 without encountering something keener than thorns or 
 drawn swords, by which deep and excruciating wounds 
 are inflicted on the delicate sensibility of the heavenward 
 spirit. We cannot move through the world without feel- 
 ing more or less of these lacerations. Because of the 
 voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the 
 wicked, how often does the bleeding heart feel, "0 that 
 I had wings like a dove, for then would I flyaway and 
 he at rest." As much care is necessary in dealing with 
 the wicked, as in handling ;1 thorn bush; vet wilf those 
 who use the greatest prudence, frequently find themselves 
 wounded. With the best wishes, offences cannol be 
 always avoided: -As far as in you lies, live peaceably 
 
22G COMMENTARY. 
 
 with all men." Those whose souls are brought by grace 
 nearest to the delicacy of holiness set forth by the lily, 
 and who move with most of steady, undeviating Christian 
 energy through the world, are made to feel most sensibly 
 that the believer is here a lily among thorns. Even in 
 Christian countries, the hearts of the wicked are armed 
 with as fierce passions against piety and the pious, as at 
 any former age; and though they may be kept out of 
 view by the civilities of life, change of circumstances 
 often brings us in contact with them where we had hoped 
 they did not exist. Accordingly, our Lord warns us that 
 in becoming his disciples, we must take up the cross, must 
 prepare for suffering. Ignorant of the true state of 
 things here, we expect too much of the world, and 
 thereby injure our peace. Deceived in men thought 
 worthy of confidence, and finding those who are under 
 the greatest debt of gratitude treating us with persecu- 
 tion the most bitter, we would not think our lot singular 
 and hard, did we feel that ingratitude is an inseparable 
 feature of sin, and that as Jesus was a man of sorrows, 
 the disciple cannot be above his Lord. As we are liable 
 to do even good deeds from improper motives, God has 
 kindly placed us in a world where we are thus repelled in 
 our disinterested acts; and are laid under the necessity 
 of doing good and following after holiness, not from any 
 recompense likely to be got from nun, but from prin- 
 ciple, from love to God. And the believer who examines 
 carefully his infirmities, and the peculiar discomforts and 
 afflictions meeting him, will most probably find that these 
 ills arc just what was necessary for counteracting his be- 
 setting sins, for weakening his propensities which are 
 unduly strong, and 'or strengthening those which are 
 disproportionately weai ; so that his life, however check- 
 ered and painful, may constitute a course of discipline 
 
CHAPTER II. 3. 227 
 
 most wisely adapted for bringing his soul into the perfect 
 balancing of all its powers, which is perfect holiness. 
 Hence, one course of life, one series of sorrows, which 
 may be the best possible for the chastisement and disci- 
 pline of a heart with one class of infirmities, would not 
 be at all applicable to the spiritual wants of another with 
 failings very different. One man on whom God has set 
 his love, may be of such a disposition that riches would 
 ruin him; and it is necessary for his preparation for 
 heaven that these be denied him, and he be tried with 
 something of a different kind. Another may be so con- 
 stituted that praise would foster vanity 'and pride ; and 
 he can be kept humble most safely by being depreciated 
 and maligned; while another may pass through the fiery 
 ordeal of worldly applause with less danger of injury. 
 Hence those who arc called to greatest holiness are called 
 to greatest mortifications; and the apostle exhorts his 
 son Timothy no less than ten or twelve times in his 
 second Epistle, to bear with evil, to endure hardness. 
 Too often, alas, is this hardness to be borne from breth- 
 ren from whose hearts the remains of sin have not been 
 removed by grace. Well did Luther say, " If thou art 
 the lily and the rose of Christ, know that thy dwelling- 
 place is among thorns. Only take heed lest by impa- 
 tience, rash judgments, and pride, thou thyself become a 
 thorn." 
 
 Ykh. 3. — ks tlic apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my be- 
 loved among the sons. I sat down ander his shadow with great de- 
 light, and his fruit was Bweet to my taste. 
 
 Having given in the two foregoing verses the character 
 of the believer as represented by the rose and the lily, 
 the Song sets forth in these words the charms of him, 
 who is the object of the believer's love. These illustra- 
 tions, the rose, the lily, and the apple-tree, are such as 
 
228 C M M E N T A R Y. 
 
 would naturally fall under the view of persons reposing 
 on a bed of flowers in an oriental garden, as seen in chap. 
 i. 16. Comparisons drawn from the tree are not unfre- 
 quently applied to Jesus in the Scriptures. Isaiah says, 
 "There shall come forth a shoot from the stem of Jesse, 
 and a branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit 
 of the Lord shall rest upon him." The promised Messiah 
 was called the Branch, for showing that like a shoot or 
 twig springing from the stump of a tree, he should spring 
 from the stock of Judah, through the family of J( «se. 
 The two natures of the Lord Jesus are here pointed out 
 — his coming forth as a branch, representing him to be 
 the Son of man, while the Spirit of the Lord resting on 
 him shows him to be the Son of God. He is here repre- 
 sented under the figure of that shoot or branch full grown, 
 of a tree. The citron-tree seems to be the one here in- 
 tended. The name is derived from the fragrance it ex- 
 hales. The foliage is perpetual; there is no time, not 
 even mid-winter, when there may not be seen on it a pro- 
 fusion of flowers; there is throughout the year a contin- 
 ual succession of blossoms, young fruit, and ripe fruit, at 
 the same time; the fruit was of the colour of gold, very 
 pleasant to the taste, very fragrant, and and reviving to 
 those who were ready to faint; the leaves are studded with 
 small glands, to which the tree owes its rich fragrance. 
 The shade of this tree is deep and refreshing.* Maun- 
 
 * Shade is an article of oriental luxury. "In this fairy-like garden, 
 there were vcrv lew flowers ; but shade an I greener; arc everything in 
 this glaring climate ; and it was pasaing pleasant to Btroll along these 
 paths, all shadowy with orange-trees, whose fruit, 'like lamps in a 
 night of green,' hung temptingly over cur heads. The fragrance of 
 large beds of roses mingled with that of the orange-flower, and seemed 
 to repose on the quiet airs of the calm evening. In the midst of the 
 garden we came to a vast pavilion, glittering like porcelain, and sup- 
 ported on light pillars, which formed cloisters surrounding an immense 
 
CHAPTER II. 3. 229 
 
 drell speaks of the very great beauty of the orange 
 garden or citron grove, at Beroot, attached to the emir's 
 palace. The walks -were shaded with orange-trees of a 
 large spreading size, and all of so fine a growth that 
 nothing could he imagined more perfect, and "gilded with 
 fruit hanging thick upon them. Around were booths, 
 and summer-houses, and other apartments, very delight- 
 ful." The difference between citron and orange-trees is 
 hardly discernible except by the fruit, which in both is of 
 the same golden colour. Such a tree, therefore, as the 
 citron, standing among the trees of the forest, must be 
 an object of pre-eminent beauty and strong attraction. 
 Thus is Jesus distinguished "among the sons." Him hath 
 God anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, 
 Heb. i. 9 ; that is, through the Holy Spirit given without 
 measure to Christ, God has conferred on him a nature 
 more excellent than that of his fellows, those associated 
 with him in the work of redemption, whether angels, or 
 prophets, or saints. As the citron-tree stood in an atmos- 
 
 marble basin, in the centre of which sparkling waters gushed from a 
 picturesque fountain. Through the clear depths of the waters gleamed 
 Bhoals of gold and silver fish." — Warburton. "That variety of fra- 
 grant lemon called the 'citron,' attains its highest perfection in Pales- 
 tine, and is very abundant; and by the consent of the Jewish writers 
 themselves, as well as from the probability of the case, we apprehend 
 that 'citron' is always to be understood by the word translated 'apple ' 
 in the common version. That the citron was well known to the He- 
 brews, we learn from Josephus, who mentions that on one occasion, at 
 the feast of tabernacles, King Alexander JannSBUS was pelted in the 
 temple with citrons, which the Jews had in their hands — for which he 
 assigns the reason, that the law required that at that feast every one 
 should have hunches of the palm-tree and the citron-tree. The fruit of 
 the citron-tree is much used by the oriental ladies to smell to, for which 
 purpose, they often have it in their hands, or within reach, and, as its 
 fragrance is considered most reviving, it is employed for much the 
 same purpose as a scent-bottle in this country." — Kitto. 
 20* 
 
230 COMMENTARY. 
 
 pliere of perfume rising in continual freshness from its 
 perennial bloom, the human nature of Jesus dwells in the 
 midst of the spiritual fragrance breathing in his divine 
 nature, and encompassing him for evermore on every side 
 in the infinity of the fulness of the Godhead. Modern 
 poetry has adopted the spirit of this illustration : 
 
 " The mountain ash, 
 No eye can yet overlook, when 'mid a grove 
 Of yet unfaded trees she lifts her head 
 Deck'd with autumnal berries, that outshine 
 Spring's richest blossoms ; and ye may have marked 
 By a brook side or solitary tarn, 
 How she her station doth adorn. The pool 
 Glows at her feet, and all the gloomy rocks 
 Are brightened round her. In his native vale, 
 Such and. so glorious did this youth appear ; 
 A sight that kindled pleasure in all hearts 
 By his ingenuous beauty."* 
 
 And the meaning of the passage has been -well expressed 
 in the words, 
 
 "From Jesse's root behold a branch arise, 
 Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies; 
 The ethereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move, 
 And on its top descends the mystic Dove."f 
 
 While the pious spirit is lowly, though beautiful like the 
 lily, with the beauty and majesty of the citron-tree, Jesus 
 towers above all others, in the infinite grandeur of his 
 
 * Wordsworth's Excursion, book vii. 
 f Tope's Messiah. Thus Homer, 
 
 "So falls a- poplar, that in watery ground 
 
 Raised high the head with stately branches crowned ; 
 
 Cut down it lies, tall, smooth, and largely spread, 
 
 With all its beauteous honours on its head; 
 
 There left a subject to the wind and rain, 
 
 And scorched by suns, it withers on the plain. 
 
 Thus pierced by Ajax, Simoisius lies." 
 
 Iliad, iv. 482, and xiv. 11-1. 
 
CHAPTER II. 3. 231 
 
 divinity, as the Son of God. The crown of glory and 
 honour resting on him who was made a little lower than 
 the angels, is the glorious crown of his eternal divinity. 
 
 He is the shade of his people. The Lord is thy 
 shade on thy right hand. A shade does not deprive 
 of the light of the sun. It so breaks and tempers the 
 force of the beams as to keep them from injuring us, and 
 enables us to enjoy their brilliancy and warmth. Nothing 
 does this more pleasingly than the stately spreading 
 boughs of the citron-tree. What this shade did for the 
 body, the Lord Jesus does for the soul. Exposed to the 
 full blaze of the justice of him who is a consuming fire, 
 we must be blasted and destroyed, did not Christ spread 
 between us and him whose jealousy burns like fire, that 
 which Israel's covering of cloud represented in the desert, 
 his own divine nature. When the soul feels the agonies 
 of conviction for sin, how sensible is the change, how 
 reviving the shelter, as we pass under the shadow of the 
 cross, and feel around us the refreshing influences of the 
 righteousness of Christ. Within that sacred shelter, no 
 evil spirit can enter, no affliction injure, no fiery dart 
 fall. J 
 
 The apple-tree yielded a profusion of the richest fruits 
 in uninterrupted abundance. Its fruit was highly esteemed 
 as sweet to the taste, of refreshing fragrance, and of the 
 colour of gold. A word fitly spoken is compared to 
 apples of gold, or the golden coloured fruit of the citron, 
 in baskets of silver. Prov. xxv. 11. With richer fruits 
 than these, does Jesus satisfy the soul that rests under 
 his shadow. He is a tree of life to them that lay hold 
 on him. Prov. iii. 18. He alone can satisfy the cravings 
 of the heart. All attempts to pacify these restless 
 desires, these surges of conscience, by any amount of 
 property, or things of the world, is as unreasonable as to 
 
232 COMMENTARY. 
 
 try to quiet the billows of the tempestuous sea, by pour- 
 ing into its remorseless caverns treasures and gems. From 
 the presence of him whose power was felt on the sea of 
 Galilee, goes forth the influence which carries to the 
 depths of the soul a great calm. Peace he gives unto us, 
 that he may give unto us to eat of the tree of life, which 
 is in the midst of the Paradise of God. This elder 
 brother, a greater than Joseph, who has gone before us 
 into heaven to preserve life, is a fruitful bough, even a 
 fruitful bough by a well r whose branches run over the wall, 
 separating us from the invisible world; and sweet indeed 
 must be the fruits gathered therefrom, when their native 
 soil is heaven, and they are the same which shall through- 
 out eternity satisfy the redeemed. 
 
 The weary pilgrim, on coming to the citron-tree, would 
 be delighted with the majesty of its appearance, the pro- 
 tection of its shade, the richness of its fragrance, and the 
 delightfulness of its fruit.* As we come to Jesus, care- 
 worn with guilt and sorrow, he impresses us with the 
 grandeur of his divinity, the excellence of his protecting 
 righteousness, the blessedness shed around us by his 
 Spirit, and the richness of the fruits of holiness found 
 in the Scriptures, in the earnest of the Spirit in the 
 practice of a heavenly temper, and in the anticipation of 
 future glory in heaven. Here are richer than the golden 
 fruits of the Hesperides; and this Angel of the covenant 
 has destroyed the dragon that guarded them, that old 
 
 * "At the foot of each tree is a little circular carpet of verdure." — 
 Warburton. " There is something peculiarly delightful in the shade of 
 the fig-tree. It is far superior to the shelter of a tent, and perhaps 
 even to the shadow of a rock; since not only does the mass of heavy 
 foliage completely exclude the raj's of the sun, but the traveller finds 
 under it a peculiar coolness, arising from the air gently creeping 
 through the branches." — Mission of Inquiry, p. 108. 
 
C II A P T E R II. 3. ' 233 
 
 serpent, which is the devil and Satan. In this shadow 
 does the soul delight; here would Ave sit down in the ful- 
 ness of joy, with the feeling, " This is my rest for ever, 
 here will I dwell, for I have desired it;" here does God 
 abundantly bless our provision and satisfy the poor with 
 bread ; here does he clothe his priests with salvation and 
 his saints shout aloud for joy. Ps. cxxxii. 14. 
 
 The cool shadow of this lofty, beautiful, and fragrant 
 tree, offered an asylum into which the spouse might well 
 delight to retreat from the oppressive heat of noon. The 
 exquisite perfume, the cooling shade, the beauty of the 
 flowers, and the richness of the fruit, combined to make 
 it a retreat the most delightful. In Jesus, the tree of life, 
 we find the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, the shade of his 
 divine righteousness, the beauties of his nature budding 
 forth in infinite variety, and the precious fruits of his 
 grace and truth — all uniting to render his shadow desira- 
 ble and delightful. Hence do we sit down under his 
 shadow with great pleasure: "In this shade I desire to 
 sit down." While the desire of the worldling is towards 
 the enjoyments spread around by riches, or fame, or flat- 
 tery, or ease, looking unto Jesus, we say, "The desire of 
 our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee." 
 Isa. xxvi. 8. An intelligent traveller in the East could 
 find no other refuge from the heat of summer than a 
 recess cut into the bank of the river where it rose perpen- 
 dicularly from the water's edge, and formed into a small 
 room by screening the front with reeds and boughs of 
 trees, and covering the whole with similar materials : such 
 places, though infested Avith reptiles, were the best retreat 
 that could be found.* In what contrast with this stands 
 the shelter afforded by the citron-tree. More uncomfort- 
 able and miserable than the former, is the refuge found 
 
 * Lnyard's Nineveh, vol. i. 11'3. 
 
234 COMMENTARY. 
 
 by those who have their portion in this world ; infinitely 
 more delightful than the latter, is the sanctuary found 
 by those whose resting-place is under the shadow of 
 Christ. Around this place of repose the richest fruits 
 continually fall. As entertainments under trees are com- 
 mon in the East, the soul that abides under the shadow 
 of the Almighty Redeemer, feeds on those pleasant words 
 which are as an honey-comb, sweet to the soul and health 
 to the bones. Pro v. xvi. 24. These truths do now excite 
 in the depths of the soul sensations as delightful as those 
 which shall be felt in heaven from eating the fruit of the 
 tree of life. 
 
 Ver. 4. — He brought me to the banqueting-house, and his banner over 
 me was love. 
 
 Finding the spouse under the apple-tree, ch. viii. 5, he 
 leads her to the banqueting-house, the house of wine, a 
 place beautified with every ornament, and stored with 
 everything refreshing and delightful. Among the apart- 
 ments of his palace, Solomon built, according to Josephus, 
 "a most glorious dining-room, for feastings and compota- 
 tions, and full of gold and such other furniture as so fine 
 a room ought to have for the convenience of the guests : 
 and where all the vessels were made of gold."* To this 
 hall reference seems to be made, rather than to the plans 
 where their wine was stored. No pains were spared to 
 
 * Speaking of Solomon's palace, Josephus says: "It would be an 
 endless task to give a particular survey of this mighty mass of build- 
 ing; so many courts and other contrivances; Booh a variety of cham- 
 bers and offices, great ami small; long and large galleries; vast rooms 
 of state, and others for feasting and entertainment, set out as richly as 
 could be with costly furniture ami gildings; besides, that all the service 
 for the king's table were of pure gold. In a word, the whole palace 
 was, in a manner, made up, from tin- base to the coping, of white mar- 
 ble, cedar, gold, and silver, with precious stones here and there inter- 
 mingled upon the walls and ceilings." — Antiq. viii. o, 2. 
 
CHAPTER II. 4. 235 
 
 make such rooms the splendid possible, as may be still 
 seen in oriental palaces. In a hall of the Alhambra, 
 "the eye is lost in contemplating the rich assemblage of 
 ornaments which appear in every part of this noble hall. 
 From the pavement to the beginning of the arches the 
 Avails are decorated with elegant mosaic ; the panels be- 
 tween the arches arc filled with a very delicate ornament, 
 which, at a little distance, has the appearance of a plain 
 mass ; and the ceiling is composed of stalactites in stucco, 
 and is finished in a style of equal elegance. The distri- 
 bution of the various parts of this noble apartment is 
 truly enchanting. The balconies above were occupied by 
 musicians; below sat the women; while a jet of water in 
 the centre diffused a refreshing coolness through the hall. 
 The windows in the background are finished in a similar 
 manner, and look into a little myrtle garden." Something 
 like this must have been witnessed when the Queen of 
 Sbeba saw all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he 
 had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his 
 servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their 
 apparel, and his cup-bearers, and his ascent by which he 
 went up into the house of the Lord; and there was no 
 more spirit in her. Far more glorious is the place into 
 which Jesus brings our souls, on that mountain where he 
 has made unto all people a feast of fat things full of mar- 
 row, of wines on the lees well refined. Isa. xxv. G. 
 Here, our dwelling-place is amid walls formed of divine 
 goodness, Ps. xxv. 13; our light is the Shcchinah of the 
 Spirit's presence; our food is the hidden manna; our cup 
 salvation; our drink the new wine of the heavenly king- 
 dom; our anointing the oil of gladness; our ministering 
 attendants angels; and the banner over us is love. 
 
 Nothing can be so excellent as the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit. How excellent the fragrance of the 
 
236 COMMENTARY. 
 
 citron bloom, the effect of wine ! no comparison can be 
 drawn between these and the ethereal excellence of the 
 Holy Ghost. When we feed on anything, it is so 
 brought into contact with us as to nourish our life ; and 
 when the Spirit's influences arc so diffused through the 
 soul as to sustain its life, we may be said to feed on his 
 grace. Hence it is written, " Man shall not live by bread 
 alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
 mouth of God." Matt. iv. 4. There is literally such a 
 thing as feeding on truth ; and the place where these 
 spiritual provisions are enjoyed in abundance, may well 
 be called the banqueting house. How superior to every 
 thing else in the world, is the banquet spread for us by 
 Jesus ! The truths and doctrines of Scripture, so rich, 
 better than thousands of gold and silver, are the means, 
 sacred vessels brought from heaven, for conveying to us 
 this food of the Spirit. Here we banquet on the riches 
 of redeeming love. The man who feeds on fame, flattery, 
 riches, power, has nothing better than the husks of the 
 dying prodigal ; while those who are Christ's, share the 
 luxuries of the marriage-supper of the Lamb. 
 
 "His banner over me was love." He brings us to this 
 feast, with the exultation of a conqueror returning in 
 triumph with a loved one wrested from the power of an 
 enemy. Jesus is called the Captain of our salvation, 
 Heb. ii. 10, a name which is applied in the New Testa- 
 ment to none but Christ, and signifies a chief or com- 
 mander, one who leads a column and directs its move- 
 ments. "When Abraham heard that his brother was taken 
 captive, he armed his trained servants, and pursued the 
 enemy, smote them, and brought back Lot, and his 
 goods, and the people: thus has Jesus come to our rescue, 
 and delivered us from bondage to the powers of darkness, 
 lie is still "Captain of the host of the Lord," as when 
 
CHAPTER II. 4. 037 
 
 he appeared to Joshua before Jericho ; and is leading the 
 spiritual host, who, from a period earlier than that of 
 Abraham, have been pressing onward towards the Canaan 
 on high. The banner of this conqueror and king of 
 glorj has its inscription and symbol. Unlike the military 
 nations of the world, whose lust has been for war, and 
 whose emblems have been expressive of their character, 
 as the eagle on the standards of Rome, he, as the Prince 
 of Peace, has the dove as the symbol of his kingdom ; 
 and has a banner woven of the precious fabric of love. 
 When combatants raise a red flag, it is for showing a 
 determination to shed blood ; the black flag is the signal 
 that no quarter may be expected; a white banner & be- 
 speaks the desire for peace. With what propriety there- 
 fore is the banner of Jesus said to be love. 
 
 A banner rallies to the defence of the person over 
 whom it floats, all the resources of the empire to which 
 it belongs: wherever he wanders, this simple symbol calls 
 up around him bulwarks invisible, but mighty with an 
 empire's strength. Thus, under all circumstances in 
 life, and in death, the love of Christ enlists all the per- 
 fections of the Godhead in behalf of his saint. As the 
 flag shows to what country we belong, so by love we are 
 shown to be citizens of heaven. As the banner of his 
 country is an object of honourable pride to the good 
 Citizen, thus while the wise man glories in his wisdom, 
 and the rich man in his riches, and the brave man in his 
 valour, the saint glories only in the cross of Christ, and 
 in possessing thereby the divine love. Poetry has de- 
 lighted to portray the affection of the soldier for the 0ag 
 of his country; and true to the feelings of human nature, 
 is the dying p atr iot said to look upwards to its folds, 
 
 "And smile to see it3 splendours fly, 
 In triumph o'er Lis closing eye." 
 
238 COMMENTARY. 
 
 When lie -who has fought the good fight, and endured 
 hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, finds the dim- 
 ness of death on his eye, and its coldness on his heart, 
 how will his spirit revive on seeing over him this banner 
 of love ! And as a dying patriot requested that the flag 
 under which he had fought and conquered might he 
 placed under his head for a pillow, as life was ebbing 
 away ; then, with our sinking head pillowed on the 
 divine love, while over us floats the banner of love, as 
 paleness comes over the lips, and dimness over the eye, 
 and coldness over the heart, shall the last beat of the 
 heart send up to heaven the shout — Victory through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Yer. 5, 6. — Stay me with flagons,* comfort me with apples: for I am 
 sick of love. His left haud is under my head, and his right hand 
 doth embrace me. 
 
 In these words the spouse expresses the impression 
 made on her by the display of love in the banqueting 
 house — "I am sick of love." From the beginning of 
 the Song, we have had illustrations of the soul as led 
 along from one degree to another of holy love, till reach- 
 
 * In Kitto's Cyc. Bib. Lit., art. Wine, 10, there is a dissertation on 
 the Hebrew word here rendered "flagons." From it we extract the 
 following, found in Olearius : " The Persians are permitted to make a 
 sirrup of sweet wine, which they boyl till it be reduced to a sixth 
 part, and be grown as thick as oyl. They call this drug dusehab, and 
 when they would take of it, they dissolve it with water. Sometimes 
 they boyl the dusehab so long that they reduce it into a paste, for the 
 convenience of travellers, who cut it with a knife, and dissolve it in 
 water. At Tabria they make a certain conserve of it, which they call 
 helwa, mixing therewith beaten almonds, flour, &c. They put this 
 mixture into a long and narrow bag, and having set it under the 
 press, they make of it a paste, which grows so hard that a man must 
 have a hatchet to cut it." This statement reconciles the version in the 
 text with that which is preferred b those who render the word 
 "cakes — such as were prepared from dried grapes or raisin-, pressed 
 or compacted into a certain form." 
 
CHAPTER II. 5. 239 
 
 ing here the highest degree of spiritual enjoyment pos- 
 sible in the present world. The Holy Spirit may so fill 
 the heart with his influences as to make us literally "sick 
 of love;" purifying our power of apprehension, and 
 exciting irrepressible desires for seeing more of our Lord. 
 As hope deferred maketh the heart sick, these longing 
 desires run ahead of our enjoyment, and, indeed, of our 
 capability of enjoying Jesus ; and these desires, thus 
 unsatisfied, make us sick of love. This state of heart is 
 caused by ardour of affection, and inability to enjoy the 
 society of the object of affection fully as we desire; by 
 longings, sometimes so deep as to be expressed only in 
 groanings that cannot be uttered, to behold Jesus in the 
 fulness of his glory. With Moses, we pray without 
 ceasing, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." "There 
 be some kind of assurances," says Leighton,* "that are 
 more rare and extraordinary, some immediate glances or 
 coruscations of the love of God upon the soul of a be- 
 liever, a smile of his countenance, and this doth exceed- 
 ingly refresh, yea, ravish the soul, and enables it mightily 
 for duties and sufferings." This was the experience of 
 Bunyan's Pilgrim, when towards the end of his course, 
 " by reason of the natural glory of the city, and the 
 reflection of the sunbeams upon it, Christian with desire 
 fell sick." Rutherford's Letters abound in expressions 
 of this state of heart. In the words of John Howe, 
 " There will be a sickness at the heart by the delay of 
 what I hope for, most of all, when the sum of my 
 blessedness is the thing hoped for, and still deferred. 
 They that never felt their hearts sick with the desire of 
 heaven, and the blessedness of that state, cannot con- 
 ceive of it a tree of life beforehand, nor ever know what 
 
 * Sermon on Horn. viii. o~>. 
 
240 COMMENTARY. 
 
 patience in expecting it signifies in the meantime.* Even 
 yet there are souls thus exercised, that are constrained 
 to pray with an ancient saint, "Lord, withdraw a little, 
 lest the brittle vial of my heart should burst by the rays 
 of thy favour darting too strongly." 
 
 "Then shall thy ravisht soul inspired bee 
 With heavenly thoughts farre above humane sldl ; 
 And thy bright radiant eyes shall planely see 
 Th' idee of his pure glorie present still 
 Before thy face ; that all thy spirits shall fill 
 With sweete enragement of celestiall love, 
 Kindled through sight of those faire things above. "f 
 
 In this state the predominating feeling of the soul is 
 deep and melting contrition. J It is with the contrite 
 
 * Sermon on Heb. x. 36. An eminent divine now in glory, than 
 whom no man understood theology better, either in a didactic or 
 practical point of view, once remarked to us, in a conversation on this 
 subject, that there were probably more of these exercises among 
 scattered members of the Church, than was generally supposed. There 
 can be no doubt this is the case. Nor are such instances as that 
 recorded of Dr. Green confined always to the closing scene. "On the 
 Sabbath but one before his death, after the family had returned from 
 the morning service, it was observed on entering his room that his 
 mind was burdened with meditations to which he wished to give 
 utterance, and that his emotions were producing a restlessness and 
 agitation that were inexplicable. The reading, by a friend, of the first 
 chapter of the Gospel of John, not only allayed that distressing 
 nervous excitement, but seemed to impart a sort of inspiration, by 
 which his faculties were for the time emancipated: his tongue was 
 loosed, and he burst out into an ecstasy of joy and thanksgiving. His 
 voice was loud, his enunciation clear and distinct as it had been in 
 the best days of his ministry; and this elevated strain of praise and 
 holy exultation was continued until his strength was exhausted, and 
 he sunk into a sweet and refreshing sleep." — Dr. Jones's Life of Dr. 
 Green, p. 498. 
 
 f Spenser's Hymn of Heavenly Love. 
 
 % My gloom was very often relieved greatly by the highest exer- 
 cises of a spiritual kind that I have ever experienced. I was made 
 to feel that I could not command them at my own pleasure, and that 
 Satanic influence could not account for their occurrence, without 
 
CHAPTER II. 5. 241 
 
 and humble spirit that the high and lofty One that 
 inhabiteth eternity dwells. The more intimately he 
 dwells with us, the deeper will be our contrition. Like 
 a blinded eye, the soul is insensible to the splendour of 
 the divine glory and love shining around us with such 
 brilliancy, until the touch of him who healed Bartimeus 
 restores our spiritual sensibility; then the glory of the 
 love of God is the light ; and the sensations of the heart 
 thus made pure, and acted on by these heavenly rays, 
 are emotions of contrition and love. The happiest hours 
 on earth, are those in which our contrition is deepest 
 and most tender. In this exercise, there is a com- 
 mingling in the heart of the two pellucid streams of 
 humility and love: the nearer we come to heaven, the 
 deeper, purer, and more tranquil is their flow. Our 
 luxury is to prostrate ourselves at the mercy-seat, and 
 there weep for sin; weep, not the tears that find vent 
 when bemoaning some crushing sin, but the tears that 
 well forth in the soul, dissolving in contrition when the 
 Holy Spirit is within the heart as a fountain of water 
 springing up into everlasting life. At such hours, we 
 wish to do what was once done by a contrite heart, pour 
 out before the blessed Saviour the precious perfume of 
 the affections from the alabaster of a broken spirit ; and 
 as we lie prostrate before him, weeping, kiss those feet 
 
 making Satan hostile to bis own interests; for their invariable effect 
 ■was to bumble to tbe very dust, and to exalt the Redeemer, and to 
 fill my mind with love to God and man, in an eminent degree, and a 
 desire to do all in my power to advance tbe interests of vital piety." — 
 Life of Dr. Green, p. 302. 
 
 "Assurance of tbe love of God never produces self-complacency or 
 pride; but always humility, self abasement, wonder, gratitude, and 
 praise. Tbe believer sees tbat tbe mysterious fountain of tbis love is 
 in tbe divine mind ; it is not in himself, who is ungodly and a 
 sinner." — Hodge on Romans, v. 8 — 10. 
 
 21* 
 
242 C M M E N T A R Y. 
 
 •which have been wounded for us, and bathe them with 
 our tears. The sense of God's amazing goodness, of his 
 tenderness to such unworthincss as ours, this it is that 
 overcomes us, and makes us weep. We are thus sweetly 
 subdued, because we are able in a clearer manner to 
 " behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed 
 upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." The 
 predominating feeling is, "I am not worthy of the least 
 of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast 
 showed unto thy servant." We sink down in overpower- 
 ing humility, because overcome with melting love. No 
 wild or boisterous feeling, no nervous enthusiasm, no 
 burst of passion, then disturbs the soul. All, all is 
 perfect peace. Such were the exercises of Mrs. Graham, 
 when on the borders of heaven, a few hours before her 
 death, bathed in tears, she said: "I have no more doubt 
 of going to my Saviour, than if I were already in his 
 arms ; my guilt is all transferred ; he has cancelled all I 
 owed. Yet I could weep for sins against so good a 
 God : it seems to me as if there must be weeping even 
 in heaven for sin." At a time of the deepest pious 
 exercises, Edwards says: "There was no part of creature 
 holiness, that I had so great a sense of its loveliness, as 
 humility, brokenness of heart, and poverty of spirit ; and 
 there was nothing that I so earnestly longed for. My 
 heart panted after this, to lie low before God, as in the 
 dust ; that I might be nothing, and that God might be 
 all, that I might become as a little child." 
 
 " His left hand is under my head." We then feel 
 sweetly sustained by the Lord Jesus, by his imputed 
 righteousness, and by his inward grace. So far from 
 wishing to rest on any merit of our own, we cast from 
 us our righteousness as filthy rags, as a broken reed, on 
 which if a man lean, it will go into his heart and pierce 
 
CHAPTER II. G. 243 
 
 it, 2 Kings xviii. 21. His righteousness, like the pillars 
 in the porch of the temple, Jachin and Boaz, firmness 
 and strength ; like the pillars of marble set upon sockets 
 of fine gold, Song v. 15, with his human nature resting 
 on the fine gold of his divine nature, is mighty to save 
 even to the uttermost all who come to him, however 
 great their umvorthiness and guilt. By the grace of the 
 Holy Spirit shed through the heart, the name of Jesus 
 is as ointment poured forth, more refreshing than the 
 cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi, than 
 the bundle of myrrh in the bosom ; he is full of grace 
 and truth. As he comes forth from the ivory palaces 
 of the heavenly glory, his garments smell of myrrh, 
 aloes, and cassia, the excellency of his divine nature 
 sheds a divine influence around us ; we rise gently above 
 the din, the jar, the perplexities of earth ; new vigour is 
 imparted to our faith, new animation to our desires ; the 
 soul is filled with confidence, with joy, with peace; duty 
 becomes pleasing, toils borne for Jesus seem delightful, 
 for the love that we bear to him ; sorrow ceases to 
 distress, care no longer perplexes ; the angel of the 
 covenant makes us to ride on the high places of the 
 earth, and drink of the pure blood of the grape of 
 Israel's inheritance. 
 
 "His right hand doth embrace me." While thus sus- 
 taining us, Jesus draws us very near to himself. Onward, 
 nearer to Jesus ! is the ruling feeling of the saint. AVe 
 may at times wish it had been our privilege to see Jesus, 
 as the apostles saw him, with bodily eyes. But there is 
 no evidence that their hearts experienced any more joy 
 than may be now felt by the believer. The manifesta- 
 tions of the glory of his divine nature may be made to 
 our hearts as vivid and as enchanting as they were to pa- 
 triarchs and apostles. The glories of his glorified human 
 
244 COMMENTARY. 
 
 nature we are not so unreasonable as now to expect to 
 behold. The time will come for the body to have its 
 share in ministering to our vision of the glory of God. 
 Our happiness now consists not in seeing visions, and 
 hearing sounds ; not in bodily exhilaration and rapturous 
 ecstasies; but in feeling God's love, and in being filled 
 with his Spirit. There is no reason for supposing that 
 the emotions of the multitude under the action of the 
 Spirit on the day of Pentecost, were more delightful than 
 the emotions now felt under the reviving power of the 
 same Spirit. In the most glorious visions had by patri- 
 archs and prophets, there was probably no more delight 
 enjoyed than is now the portion of the contrite spirit. 
 We may not see what they saw ; but we may feel what they 
 felt. It is doubtful that Jacob at Bethel, or at Penuel, 
 or that the disciples at the transfiguration, had more real 
 joy of heart than is now often experienced under the min- 
 istration of the Spirit. In the words of Witsius : " Hence 
 it is, that while his saints are sometimes ravished on high 
 by his Spirit, he surrounds them with the beams of his 
 super-celestial light, gives them a view of his face, shining 
 with the brightest love, kisses them with the kisses of his 
 mouth, admits them to the most endearing, mutual inter- 
 course of mystical love with himself; and, while he plen- 
 tifully sheds abroad his love in their hearts, he gives them 
 to drink of rivers of honey and butter; and that often in 
 the greatest drought of the parched soul, when expecting 
 no such thing. There are many more mysteries in this 
 secret intercourse with our heavenly Father, which believ- 
 ers sometimes sec, taste, and feel, and which no pen of 
 the learned can represent as they deserve."* 
 
 "Stay me with ilagons, comfort me with apples:" that 
 
 * Witeias on the Covenants, Look iii. 11, 34. 
 
CHAPTER II. 7. 245 
 
 is, give me support and refreshment with cups of wine 
 from the banqucting-house, and with citrons from the tree 
 whose shadow was so delightful. The fruits with which 
 the soul sick of love desires to be refreshed, are the pre- 
 cious doctrines of the cross and the promises of the 
 Scriptures. There is then a wonderful avidity for the 
 word of God; we feel what it is to live not by bread 
 alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
 mouth of God. The simple doctrines of the cross are 
 sweeter than our daily food. Here at this fountain of 
 life, where the doctrine of Jesus drops as the rain, and 
 his speech distils as the dew, does the Holy Spirit give 
 strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and 
 wine unto those that be of heavy heart — that best wine 
 for the beloved, which goeth down sweetly, causing the 
 lips of those that are asleep to speak ; yea, here does the 
 afilieted saint drink, and forget his poverty, and remem- 
 ber his misery no more. 
 
 Ver. 7.— I charge you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and 
 by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, 
 (the object of my afl'ectiou,) till he please.* 
 
 As these animals were proverbially timorous, the great- 
 est care must be taken not to disturb them ; and the be- 
 
 * Some interpreters, among whom are Dopke, Rosenmuller, and Pro- 
 fessor Stowe, in an article on the Song in the Biblical Repository, April, 
 1847, take these as the words of the beloved, applied to the spouse. 
 The reason for this is, that the Hebrew word rendered "my love," is a 
 feminine noun, and the following verb, "till he please," is also of the 
 feminine form. The conclusion they draw from these facts is unneces- 
 sary and incorrect; and the meaning adopted in the English version 
 seems the true one. 1. Because it harmonizes best with the scope of 
 the passage. 2. It seems to be required also by the scope of the con- 
 text in the other places, ch. iii. 5, viii. 4, where the same language 
 occurs. 3. The beloved is compared to a gazelle, or a young hart, ch. 
 ii. 9, and the immediate connection seems to restrict this verse accord- 
 
246 COMMENTARY. 
 
 liever enjoying the manifestations of heavenly love, will 
 be as cautious in avoiding sin, as in watching the gazelle, 
 which bounds away at the rustling of a leaf. Nothing 
 could express more strongly with what carefulness the 
 contrite heart seeks to retain those influences of the 
 Spirit and the society of Jesus. Never have we such 
 intense anxiety in guarding against sin, as when thus 
 filled with intense love. Then do we watch and pray ; 
 then do we groan, being burdened; then do we moan for 
 entire conformity to Jesus, that with Jesus we may for 
 ever rest. 
 
 Ver. 8, 9. — The voice of my beloved ! behold, he cometh leaping upon 
 the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe, or 
 a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth 
 at the windows, showing himself through the lattice. 
 
 The Christian life is a series of visits and withdrawals 
 of our Lord, of revivals of grace in the heart and expo- 
 
 ingly to the same, if it can be done without violence to the Hebrew. 
 4. This can be done. The Hebrew word "my love," means "love," 
 then "an object of aS'ection," whether male or female, precisely as the 
 corresponding word is used in the English language. This noun, with 
 this meaning, being thus feminine, the following verb would naturally 
 take the same gender. In this very book, ch. v. 9, where the spouse is 
 unquestionably addressing her female friends, the verb "if ye find," is 
 the second person masculine instead of feminine. Moreover, the mas- 
 culine form is used for the feminine, not only in the Future, as in Song 
 viii. 4, Isa. lvii. 8, but also in the Praeter, in Ruth i. 8; and in the Im- 
 perative, in Micah i. 13, and Isa. xxxii. 11. 5. Besides the English 
 version, our view is that adopted by Delitzsch, Good, Fry, and Bishop 
 Percy. 
 
 "Among the orientals it is considered barbarous in the extreme to 
 awake a person out of his sleep. How often, in going to the house of 
 a native, you are saluted with, "He sleeps." Ask them to arouse him: 
 the reply is, "I cannot." Indeed, to request such a thing, shows at 
 once that you are griffin, or new-comer. "Only think of that ignorant 
 Englishman: he went to the house of our chief, and being told that he 
 was asleep, he said lie must see him, ami actually made such a uoiso 
 as to awake him; and then laughed at what he had done." — Roberts. 
 
CHAPTER II. 8. 247 
 
 sure to trials. After the overpowering display of love 
 in the foregoing verses, the beloved had left the spouse; 
 these words describe his return. When we have been 
 passing through a season of coldness and decline, how 
 often have we been sweetly surprised by an influence 
 coming over the heart, we could hardly tell whence, or 
 how, warming the heart, drawing the attention back to 
 the forgotten Saviour, inclining us to prayer, and giving 
 evidence of the return of Jesus. We are taken by sur- 
 prise; we look up with wondering love, and exclaim, 
 "The voice of my beloved!" 
 
 At such times, the Saviour encourages us from a dis- 
 tance by his voice; gives tokens of his approach; makes 
 us feel he is about to repeat his visits, and open to us 
 fresh visions of his love. To the soul dead in sin, the 
 idea of now hearing the voice of Jesus is visionary. But 
 the good Shepherd says, the sheep know his voice. John 
 x. 13. And if the friend of the bridegroom, which 
 standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of 
 the bridegroom's voice ; much more shall the bride re- 
 joice when she heareth him. There is herein no visionary 
 enthusiasm ; no wonders ringing in the ear of the body. 
 There is a something speaking to the soul; spirit whis- 
 pering to spirit ; tones from the lips of Jesus, adapted to 
 the hearing ear of the renewed soul. Faith, "the evidence 
 of things not seen," gives us the best kind of evidence, 
 that this is indeed the voice of our Lord. Then, when 
 Ins speech distils as the dew, as the small rain upon the 
 tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass; the 
 lonely soul feels him to be as the dew unto Israel, and 
 that they that dwell under his shadow, shall return, they 
 shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine, Hos. xiv. 
 7 ; then is he to the reviving heart, like a serene heat 
 
248 COMMENTARY. 
 
 after rain, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 
 Isa. xviii. 4. 
 
 He comes over all difficulties to visit and revive us ; on 
 or over the mountains or hills, he comes leaping, sur- 
 mounting all obstacles with ease. " Here, near the sea 
 of Gallilee, we saw the gazelle bounding on before us, 
 over shrubs and rocks and every obstacle, and felt the 
 exquisite fulness of meaning in the Church's exclamation, 
 'Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping 
 upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or young hart.' 
 It is the very nature of this lively animal to bound over 
 the roughest heights with the greatest ease, it seems even 
 to delight in doing so."* And it is the very nature of 
 the Lord Jesus to come to the souls of his people, over 
 all difficulties with perfect ease. Nothing, whether the 
 inward sense of unworthincss and guilt, aggravated by 
 numerous backslidings, or outward sorrows rising around 
 
 us, dark and towering as the crags of the valley of the 
 tji . 
 
 oorre. 
 
 this mo^' ss * on °*" I nr l u ' r y> P- 296. And thus Euripides puts these scnti- 
 
 takc the si nto tue mout h °f the chorus: 
 
 unquestionabi With snowy foot, my marble neck 
 
 the second per Shall mingle with the nightly choirs, 
 
 culine form is u. Mid falling dews; as when the fawn 
 
 vih. 4, Isa. lvii. ^porting upon the tender grass 
 
 peratrre, in Micah* joyous meadows, flees t lie snares, 
 
 version, our view is t hunters' shouts, and hounds' deep bay; 
 
 Percy. quicker than the sweeping wind 
 
 "Among the o&entido-winged o'erleaps the green 
 awake a person out of 'land streams, and stretches far 
 a native, vmi are salute''-' wilds untrod by man, 
 
 the reply is, "I cannot.avy shades of pathless woods. — Baccha', 850. 
 once that you are griflin 
 Englishman: he wenl to , „ .., ( . 
 
 _„„ „ , , . . ent stand ve thus like fawns, 
 
 was asleep, he B aid he r. . ' , . . .. , . 
 
 no *~ „_ i i ■ . i runuiiiK through the spreading plain, 
 
 as to awake him; and th, ... , . b ' , . "' 
 
 with senseless tear. — Iliad, iv. _1J. 
 
CHAPTER II. 9. 240 
 
 shadow of death, nothing can separate us from the love 
 of Christ. 
 
 He comes to us speedily, unexpectedly. The roe was 
 an emblem of swiftness: Asahel was as light of foot as 
 a wild roe, 2 Sam. ii. 18; and certain of David's men 
 were as swift as the roes upon the mountains. 1 Chron. 
 xii. 8. The heart is surprised in an unexpected moment, 
 by the appearance of the beloved. Though keeping afar 
 off for a time, he comes speedily; his heart was turned; 
 his repentings were kindled ; and ere we were aware, his 
 soul made him like the chariots of Ammi-nadib ; he came 
 as speedily as the angel came to Peter in prison asleep ; 
 as when he came to bless the Psalmist, and he rode on a 
 cherub and did fly, yea, he did fly upon the wings of the 
 wind; as speedily as on the first visit to the disciples 
 after his ascension, when suddenly there came a sound 
 from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and they were 
 all filled with the Holy Ghost. "When churches long 
 thirsting for the revival of his work have well nigh 
 fainted under the thought that their sins and unworthi- 
 ness were so great as to exclude them, perhaps for ever, 
 from the blessing; he has been found among them, as a 
 dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that 
 tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 
 Micah v. 7. 
 
 "Behold he standcth behind our wall." In the present 
 life, we arc in the condition of v.nd }."»ers sentenced to hard 
 labour. This world is our pri, he cnCy inmate of a peni- 
 tentiary is not more complete!; 'om the community 
 in the midst of which he is co ies - aiul a mi association with 
 the public, from knowledge < ope " s , °, n \\ affairs, from open 
 
 1 I 1 , • i • lUtilul (lm m I 
 
 landscapes and glorious sku ni( . llc< :U are we, as offenders 
 against God, cut off from atmidst is ^ with the world of 
 spirits, from knowledge of its r little f <es, from views of its 
 22 
 
250 COMMENTARY. 
 
 grandeurs and glories. After all the labours of science, 
 we have no more acquaintance "with the universe at large, 
 than the prisoner is able to get of the world, through the 
 bars of his dungeon. Like the fallen emperor of the 
 French, we have lost our principality; the crown has 
 fallen from our head, and we are confined on this earth, 
 as a solitary, desolate island in the ocean of space ; an 
 impassable sea is around us, and we know but little, very 
 little of the worlds and peoples lying beyond. Jesus, 
 who has gone away to receive a kingdom for himself, and 
 after preparing a place for us in that kingdom, to return 
 and receive us to himself, does now kindly visit us in our 
 confinement. But dark walls of our dungeon come be- 
 tween — the walls of our earthly house of this tabernacle, 
 the walls that rise between us and the invisible world. 
 How far is Jesus removed from me ? He is standing be- 
 hind this wall. This it is, and this only, which prevents 
 us from having full view of him, from coming very near 
 to him, from hearing distinctly his voice. When the 
 Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
 voice of the archangel and with the trump of God; then 
 shall these walls go down more perfectly than those of 
 Jericho, and our souls, like liberated Rahab, be received 
 into the host of the Lord, and into the presence of the 
 Captain of our salvation. 
 
 "He looketh forth at u thc window, showing himself 
 through the lattice,"*, than ore strictly, glancing through 
 -winged o' 
 
 * "I passed into a 'land streamnd three sides of which the apart- 
 ments ranged. A littles wilds untrrystal water lay enclosed by marble 
 banks, and ovcrshadowtvy shades utiful weeping-willows; little foun- 
 tains leaped and spark (irections, ' and shook their loosened 
 silver in the sun.' Ar ange, and lemon, and mimosa-trees, 
 afforded a quivering shf 1 S ^ marble mosaic paths, and the par- 
 terres of flowers. At o ™ nmn 8,f this court, or garden, was a lofty 
 alcove, with a ceiling ric M ' SeD 'id in gold and crimson fret-work ; the 
 
CHAPTER II. 10. 251 
 
 the lattice. The views now got of Jesus, are like the 
 furtive glances which the spouse Avas able now and then 
 to catch of the glistening eyes of the loved one through 
 the lattice window. Vines, jessamines, roses, and honey- 
 suckles, grew in luxuriance against and over the walls of 
 the royal palace or summer-house, with their tendrils and 
 bloom often flowering beautifully through the gilded lat- 
 tices : to this there may be here an allusion, as though in this 
 way, He who is the true vine, John xv. 1, does unfold to 
 us, through the lattice in the walls separating us from the 
 invisible world, some budding flowers of his glory. The 
 ordinances, the sacraments, the scriptures, constitute the 
 lattice through which we now get glimpses of the Be- 
 loved ; and are enabled to see beauties unfolding, and 
 breathe exhilarating fragrance, which thrill the soul with 
 the assurance of the immeasurable fulness awaiting us 
 amid the splendours of heaven. 
 
 Vkr. 10.— My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, mv 
 lair one, and come away. 
 
 To the spouse, confined within doors by the cold and 
 rains of winter, the beloved having thus come from afar, 
 addresses motives for alluring her away from her retreat, 
 and abroad among the beauties of spring. Thus the 
 Lord Jesus encourages us, by presenting to the mind the 
 attractiveness of heaven as a place adorned with more 
 than the beauties of Eden. And after the withdrawal of 
 his presence, how kindly does he encourage the soul by 
 
 walls are ornamented with arabesques, and a wide divan runs round 
 three sides of the apartment, which opens on the garden and its foun- 
 tains. Next to this alcove is a beautiful drawing-room, with marble 
 floor ami arabesque roof, and carved niches, and softened light falling 
 -n delicately painted walls; in the midst is an alabaster basin, into 
 which water falls from four fantastic little fountains."- Warburton's 
 Travels— The Crescent and the Cross. 
 
252 COMMENTARY. 
 
 making us feci that he loves us none the less because he 
 withdrew for a time ; and how does the heart revive on 
 hearing him still call us, "My love, my fair one!" We 
 had thought that he left us because we had alienated his 
 love by sin, and he was displeased by our many corrup- 
 tions. His first words are, that he loves us as ever, and 
 rejoices in our society as the bridegroom rejoices in the 
 society of his loved one. Such being his love, he wishes 
 to have us with him where he is, that there may be 
 nothing to break the interchange of affection between him 
 and our souls. Bunyan says, that when the summons 
 came for Mr. Standfast to pass over Jordan, "the con- 
 tents thereof were, that he must prepare for a change of 
 life, for his master was not willing that he should be so 
 far from him any longer." Much is said of the desire of 
 the saint to depart and be with Jesus. We should think 
 more of the desire of Jesus to have the believer depart 
 and be with him in glory. The saint cannot be so 
 desirous for being in heaven, as Jesus is for having us 
 with him in heaven. "Father, I will that they also whom 
 thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they 
 may behold my glory." John xvii. 24. He wishes us to 
 be absent from the body and present with the Lord; to 
 go forth from the walls of this prison-cell of the body, 
 and walk Avith him by the living fountains of waters, in 
 the vernal landscape of the heavenly world. How beau- 
 tiful and attractive, as they are here shadowed forth, are 
 the motives he addresses to the heart, as he says, " Rise, 
 and come away." Never was there a more lovely 
 description of spring, fit emblem of the time when we 
 shall see 
 
 "The various seasons woven into one, 
 And that one season an eternal spring." 
 
chapter n. u. 253 
 
 Ver. 11. -For, lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. 
 In the broad and open domains of that world which 
 lies beyond the walls of our present condition, separating 
 us from the Beloved, the winter is past: there, the reign 
 of sin the effect of man's guilt, as seen in the very 
 ground, of which winter is so sad an evidence, is no more 
 seen; in those realms of blessedness, there shall be no 
 more curse. Rev. xxii. 3. St. Paul represents the whole 
 creation as standing in earnest expectation of the time 
 when the curse shall be removed. Rom. viii 19 I n 
 those parts of this world most distinguished for the bodily 
 and mental superiority of man, winter seems the order of 
 nature; the warm genial weather of summer is confined 
 to the smaller portion of the year, no more than sufficient 
 for bringing from the bosom of the earth the productions 
 necessary for the support of man; while cold storms and 
 wintry blasts, chilling nights and gloomy days, fill up the 
 greater part of the seasons, and invade with frequency 
 even the few weeks of summer. In the present condition 
 of the body and soul of man under the curse, this state 
 of things is necessary. In those regions where uninter- 
 rupted summer reigns, the energies of the human mind 
 and body wither, and the ills of the curse ra^e with 
 greater power. In that world to which Jesus is drawing 
 us, all these former things are passed away. There the 
 ground is no longer cursed for the sake of man -'nor 
 must he sustain life by the sweat of his brow; there are 
 no changing seasons, no days of labour, no tedious chill 
 mg nights, no pelting storms, no benumbing winds to 
 breast even in works of mercy, no lightning and h\ 
 snow and vapours, stormy blasts fulfilling the word of an 
 angry God.* With imagery of this kind, has uninspirS 
 * It will be seen that our interpretation of the passage ver 10 13 
 agrees essential,, with the interpretation of those who 2. * a, ^ 
 
254 COMMENTARY. 
 
 poetry, even among pagans, loved to invest the future 
 abode of the blessed. 
 
 "The blissful plains 
 Where heavenly Justice in Elysium reigns; 
 Joys ever young, unmixed with pain or fear, 
 Fill the "wide circle of th' eternal year; 
 Spring ever smiles on that auspicious clime, 
 The fields are flowery with unfading prime: 
 From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow, 
 Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow; 
 But from the breezy deep the blest inhale 
 The fragrant murmurs of the western gale."* 
 
 In the same spirit, Pindar speaks of that state as 
 realms where the virtuous enjoy the light of a sun that 
 never sets, free from all toil, without sorrow, without 
 tears; where ocean-breezes refresh the isles of the 
 blessed ; where flowers of gold cluster, some on the 
 ground, others on beautiful trees, others bathed by the 
 waters of pellucid streams; while entwining crowns and 
 chaplets of these, the happy one follows a life of purity 
 and justice; meads damasked with purple roses form the 
 suburbs of their heavenly city, around which no evening 
 throws its shades ; peaceful plenty everywhere blooms ; 
 and over those lovely realms balmy fragrance is shed, as 
 those heavenly meadows are shaded with groves of trees 
 laden with gold and incense. f 
 
 trating the condition of the soul of the believer when passing from a 
 state of sin to a state of holiness in regeneration. The new birth is 
 the beginning with us of the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, which 
 :iro brought to perfection in the "new heavens and new earth wherein 
 dwelleth righteousness;'' the pious graces first showing themselves in 
 the heart in repentance, are the early violets of that eternal, celestial 
 spring. 
 
 * Odyssey, iv. 504. 
 
 f Pindar, 2d Olymp. Ode. 
 
CHAPTER II. 11. orr 
 
 The winter has thus passed away from the faee of na- 
 ture m that happy world, because the soul of man on 
 account of whose sin the curse fell on the ground 'has 
 been dehvered from all his inanity; hie habiLTL * 
 puie and glorious, because his spiritual leprosy has been 
 
 cleansed. No hnrricanes of passion can there burst on 
 l.e soul; no t f sin oyer (he hoai 
 
 dcibolts of gu.lt shiver our peace; no mildew blight our 
 hopes; no canker prey on the objects of our delight; no 
 frosts chill the budding affections; no withering blast 
 spread desolation over our prospects, or freeze the cur! 
 rents of joy Everything proclaims with a voice of glad- 
 ncss, there shall be no night there; they have no need f 
 e sun, neither of the moon, for the glory of God and 
 the Lamb is the light thereof; there shall bo no more 
 curse; "the winter is past." 
 
 "The rain is over and gone." About the close of 
 winter m the land of Judea, the latter rains were re- 
 quent for many days; and while so necessary for ripenin. 
 the harvest, and the forerunner of the serene sky of t it 
 joyous season were always unpleasant and chilly The 
 eastern winter is past by April; but all the showers were 
 not over till May. The time referred to in these v 
 seems to be the period directly after the ceasing of t lose 
 pnng showers, when all nature was beautiful with a new! 
 born freshness yet untouched by the withering drought of 
 summer. Between the wintry rain of the curse over us 
 m tins world, and the bursting forth of the vernal beau- 
 t es of that new earth wherein dwel.eth righteousness, t, e 
 believer must pass through many pelting 8torma of ' , 
 tress and affliction, which, though for the 'present not joy- 
 ous but grievous, are necessary for ripening i„ our 
 
 * P-eble fruit of righteousness. As the latter ,,i, 
 was the herald of spring and the forerunner of harvest 
 
256 COMMENTAR Y. 
 
 the divine chastisements are the closing evils connected 
 "with sin and the heralds of coming peace in heaven. 
 These must be done away -when we reach that world 
 where "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, 
 and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
 crying;" where the rain is over and gone; where the 
 clouds return not after the rain, Eccl. xii. 2; and as a 
 pledge that sorrow is over and gone, never to return, He 
 who set his bow in the cloud, that the waters shall no 
 more become a flood to cover the world, has placed a rain- 
 bow round about the throne, in sight like unto an eme- 
 rald. Rev. iv. 3. 
 
 Ter. 12. — The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of 
 birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. 
 
 At this time the fields were covered with beautiful 
 flowers, which delighted the eye and filled the air with 
 fragrance. Before the fall, the earth was robed in these 
 vernal splendours, not merely during the few weeks of 
 spring, and in a few spots scattered over its barren sur- 
 face, but presented throughout the year a wilderness of 
 sweets, rejoicing and blossoming as the rose, of which the 
 glory of Lebanon, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, 
 is merely a shrivelled remnant. Equally glorious shall 
 be the earth when the curse is done away, and all things 
 are created new. The Paradise awaiting the just in 
 heaven, shall not be less glorious than that Eden, 
 
 "Where from that sapphire fount the crisped brook-' 
 Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold, 
 With mazy error under pendant shades 
 Ran nectar, visiting each plant, and fed 
 Flow'ra worthy of Paradise, which not nice art 
 In beds and curious knots, but nature boon 
 Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain, 
 Flowers of all hue and without thorn the I 
 
CHAPTER H. 12. 237 
 
 Spring is the living illustration to fallen man of the 
 truth, that there shall be a like resurrection from the 
 barrenness which the curse has spread over our world. 
 Flowers are the most beauteous form that matter, as now 
 known to us, assumes. And when told that in the future 
 world the flowers appear in the earth as the attendants of 
 an eternal spring, we feel nothing could represent to us 
 more pleasingly that there the curse on the ground is 
 repealed, and the face of nature invested with the attract- 
 lve beauty of Paradise. There, Jesus as our Shepherd will 
 make us to lie down in green pastures, and lead us beside 
 the still waters; nor will the flowers there appearing in 
 the earth soon wither under summer's heat, and fall under 
 winter's frost; they will bloom unfading, undecayin<r, 
 throughout a spring which shall fill the whole compass of 
 a cycle boundless as eternal life. 
 
 "The time of the singing of birds is come." Thu* 
 the following, translated by Sir W. Jones from a Turkish 
 Ode by Meshi : « Thou nearest the tale of the nightin- 
 gale, that the vernal season approaches. The spring has 
 spread a bower of joy in every grove where the almond- 
 tree sheds its silver blossoms. The roses and tulips are 
 like the bright cheeks of beautiful maids, in whose ears 
 the pearls hang like drops of dew. The time is pass 
 in winch the plants were sick, and the rose-bud hun* its 
 thoughtful head upon its bosom." Again, in a Turkish 
 song given by Lady Montague: "The nightingale now 
 wanders m the vines ; her passion is to seek roses " 
 Good remarks: "The bulbul, or Persian nightingale is 
 a far more beautiful bird than the European; and the 
 vernal season, here referred to. is always a period of 
 general hilarity among the inhabitants of this happy 
 climate. Hence Hafiz sino- s — * 
 
 "The charms of spring once more the fielJs salute- 
 Ope to the rose, ye nightingales ! your suit: 
 
258 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Ye Zephyrs, 'mid the meadow-youths that rove, 
 Bear to the rose, the basil sweet, our love." 
 
 Thus the elegant Jami — 
 
 " Though countless shrubs of balmiest breath 
 Their fascinating forms disclose, 
 The constant nightingale till death 
 Still covets his beloved rose." 
 
 When Thevenot visited Jordan on the sixteenth of 
 April, he found the little woods on the margin of the 
 river filled with nightingales in full chorus; and Lady 
 Montague, at the same time of the year, speaks of tur- 
 tles as cooing on the cypress-trees of her garden from 
 morning till night.* By reference to such things, would 
 the Holy Spirit illustrate to us that in the world to 
 which Jesus would allure us away, all is vocal with 
 enchanting melody, and even the irrational creation are 
 joining in the chorus. 
 
 Next to the pleasures of sight are those of sound; nor 
 do we know that they are inferior. Man is not capable 
 of richer pleasure than is felt in hearing delightful music. 
 It has its foundation in the human soul. Both lijxht and 
 music seem to have the power of exciting the nervous 
 energy of the human system, as though there were a 
 more refined body imbedded in this physical frame. No 
 one enjoys music with such exquisite delight as the 
 sanctified believer. This delight keeps pace with out- 
 growing deliverance from the bondage of corruption, and 
 our growing fitness for heaven. 
 
 " Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard 
 Are sweeter." 
 
 " And thus the associations of a man familiar with holy 
 
 * Warburton says: "The air was the balmiest I ever breathed; 
 myriads of birds were Bulging enthusiastically in the palm and olive- 
 branches. The nightingales were thrilling the dark groves with their 
 song." 
 
CHAPTER II. 12. 2gg 
 
 troths, carry him away from the confffiJed ^ 
 to world ; the highest harmony belongs to another 
 sphere, and in his estimation the best music of earth 
 serves only to introduce us to that of heaven." Amon* 
 the joys of heaven the Scriptures give this a very promi! 
 nent place. In the Jewish temple, would their son™ 
 have been so sublime, and their choruses so grand had 
 hey not foreshadowed the praise and chorus in which 
 the worshippers shall join in that nobler temple, the 
 heavenly Jerusalem ? Well might the Holy Spirit there- 
 fore saythat „ the world to which Jesus would allure 
 us the tune of smgmg is come ;" the time of mournimr 
 and weeping has been done away; "violence shall no 
 more he heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction 
 ■dun thy borders; hut thou shalt call thy walls salva- 
 tion, and thy gates praise." The mind can conceive of 
 nothing more magnificent than the worship of the 
 heavenly host as opened to ns in the visions at Patau* 
 Rev. jr. v. v„. 9, 10; xiv. 3; xv. 3; six. !_,; £J 
 thoughts of hearing such deeds celebrated in sneh wor- 
 ship, of listening to sneh words set to appropriate 
 hannon.es, sung by such a chorus, under such cireum! 
 stances; nay, of being one of the number who could 
 '"-» -.d s.ng that song, may well-nigh overpower „ 
 „ no more of grandeur and of glor / CM be ^ceiv ,' 
 than the idea of being in the midst of that host and 
 helping to swell that burst of praise which is « s the 
 -co of many waters, and as the voice of mighty than- 
 
 unto the Lamb ! And again they said, Alleluia." Tho 
 ;'"' -•>> Bonh most attuned to the worship of heaven 
 have heard the "Creation" and the "Mesial,," , 
 
260 COMMENTARY. 
 
 been made to feel how attractive and full of grandeur is 
 this feature of heaven. 
 
 " Such harmony is in immortal souls ; 
 But, whilst this muchly vesture of decay 
 Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." 
 
 With the melodies of the host who have lips and heart 
 touched with the coal of the seraphim, will be" mingled 
 the voice of Jesus welcoming us to the service of that 
 temple ; some saints seem to have caught swells of those 
 harmonies ere these walls of partition had yet gone 
 entirely down in death; and they were enraptured with 
 the sound. Who can imagine the overpowering feelings 
 of the soul, when, in addition to the glorious visions 
 bursting on the view, as the body is thrown aside, those 
 deep-toned harmonies rise on the ear as the murmur of 
 the tranquil ocean, as the sound of many waters ; and 
 as the spirit soars onward in the very midst of that 
 chorus, we hear, as enriching and crowning all, tones 
 from the lips of the glorified body of Jesus. 
 
 "The music of birds," as has been well observed, "was 
 the first song of thanksgiving which was offered on earth 
 before man was formed. All their sounds are different, 
 but all harmonious, and all together composed a choir 
 which we cannot imitate." In the words of Isaac "Wal- 
 ton, "the nightingale breathes such sweet loud music out 
 of her little instrumental throat, that it might make man- 
 kind to think miracles are not ceased. lie that at mid- 
 night, when the very labourer sleeps securely, should 
 hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet 
 descants, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and 
 redoubling of her voice, might well be lifted above earth, 
 and say, Lord, what music hast thou provided for the 
 saints in heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music 
 on earth?" 
 
CHAPTER II. 12. 1261 
 
 "Nature's sweet voices, always full of love 
 And joyance! 'Tis the merry nightingale 
 That crowds, and hurries, and precipitates 
 With fast thick warble his delicious notes, 
 As he were fearful that an April night 
 Would be too short for him to utter forth 
 His love-chaunt, and disburden his full soul 
 Of all its music."* 
 
 "And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." 
 Even yet, in those regions, the time of the blossoming of 
 the vines and blooming of flowers is the time of the sing- 
 ing of nightingales, of which the country may then be 
 said to be full, and of the cooing of the turtle. The 
 turtle is migratory. Jer. viii. 7. Aristotle says: "The 
 ring-dove and pigeon are always to be seen, but the turtle 
 in summer only; it does not make its appearance in 
 winter." "The turtle and the crane and the swallow 
 observe the time of their coming," which is about the end 
 of April or beginning of May. The dove was the emblem 
 of affection; and its mention here in preference to any 
 other, is for showing that the key-note of the harmonies 
 of that better land is love : 
 
 "No war, or battle's sound 
 Was heard the world around: 
 
 The idle spear and shield were high up hung, 
 The hooked chariot stood 
 Unstained with hostile blood, 
 
 The trumpet spake not to the armed throng: 
 But peaceful was the night, 
 Wherein the Prince of light 
 
 His reign of peace upon the earth began." 
 
 Much more shall all be peace, the result of universal 
 love, when the reign then begun shall be consummated by 
 the establishment of the Church triumphant in heaven. 
 
 * Coleridge's Nightingale. 
 Z'o 
 
262 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The dove is here mentioned for the same reason that the 
 dove was afterwards the symbol, to human eyes, of the 
 Holy Spirit resting on Jesus by the Jordan. There, will 
 be heard music, but not military sounds, making the soul 
 frantic for horrors and blood; not the swells bursting 
 
 7 O 
 
 from the heartless halls of revelry and dancing, but the 
 harmonies rising from an innumerable multitude, which no 
 man can number, of hearts perfect in love : "Unto him 
 that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and 
 his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and 
 ever. Amen." 
 
 Ver. 1.3. — The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with 
 the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and 
 come away. 
 
 The fig-tree was now embalming or spicing its tender 
 fruit, by filling it with aromatic juice. The vines were 
 in bloom, with leaves of about two months growth, conse- 
 quently very shady; and the buds bursting into full 
 bloom, with the tender grape forming in the midst of the 
 flower, yielded a delightful fragrance. This was at the 
 time when the rose-trees were in bloom, and the gardens 
 filled with nightingales. 
 
 The kiosk, the same meant by the word "bed," in ch. 
 i. 16, stood in the midst of the garden, surrounded with 
 large shady trees, and enclosed with gilded lattices, round 
 which jessamines, honey-suckles, and vines, make a kind 
 of green wall.* So sweet were the flowers of the vine, 
 that the ancients hW a practice of putting them, when 
 dried, into new winel for giving it a pure and delicious 
 flavour, allowing two pounds of such flowers to every 
 cadus or jar. As in ^den, "out of the ground made the 
 
 * See Notes on\ ch. i. 16, and ch. ii. 3, 8, 9. 
 
CHAPTER II. 13, 14. 203 
 
 Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight 
 and good for food;" the heavenly paradise is equally 
 delightful, and there too grows the tree of life. All that 
 can feast the eye and regale the senses is there spread 
 forth. The new wine which Jesus wills to drink with 
 the saints in his Father's kingdom, is even now await- 
 ing us. 
 
 How attractive is heaven as thus represented. There, 
 the curse is done away ; no barren land is found in those 
 realms of eternal spring; no clouded skies, no sorrows, 
 no toil ; the earth covered with unfading flowers, the air 
 loaded with fragrance and with harmonious melodies, the 
 tone of which is love; everything flourishing that can 
 refresh and delight the powers of both body and soul. 
 Hence, from that world of holiness and joy, does Jesus 
 say to us, "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." 
 Come away, from the sorrows, the afflictions, the infirmi- 
 ties, the trials, the bereavements, the toils, the chilling 
 nights, the wintry blasts, of this vale of tears: Come 
 away, to this world of endless spring, to the green pas- 
 tures and living fountains of waters, to the innumerable 
 company of angels, to the spirits of the just made per- 
 fect; come away to the skies, where Jesus, the beloved, 
 awaits thee on the mountain of myrrh and hills of frank- 
 incense, over which the day breaks and the shadows flee 
 away. 
 
 Ver. 14.— my dove, thou art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret 
 places ot the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy 
 voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is is comely. 
 
 Doves in those countries take up their abodes in the 
 hollow places of rocks and cliffs. Hence the words of 
 the prophet, " ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, 
 and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh 
 
264 COMMENTARY. 
 
 her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth." Jer. xlviii. 
 18.* And in Virgil we have a like comparison, 
 
 As the affrighted dove, whose darling young 
 And nest are in the covert of some rock. 
 
 And in the Iliad, 
 
 She weeping fled, 
 As to her cavern in some hollow rock 
 The dove, not destined to his talons, flies 
 The hawk's pursuit. 
 
 Thus, those whom Jesus would allure away to himself, 
 are very frequently found in the rugged scenes of life, 
 in situations of trial, affliction, and desolation, alone, 
 away from the world. "Lo! the people shall dwell 
 alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations." 
 Num. xxiii. 9. And the prophet says, " Feed thy people 
 with thy rod, watch over, as a shepherd with his staff, 
 the flock of thine heritage, which dwells solitarily in the 
 wood, in the midst of Carmel." Mic. vii. 1-4. As God 
 took fallen man out of the garden of Eden, and placed 
 him, for a check on his depravity, in a world blighted by 
 the curse ; so, those whom he would redeem, whose cor- 
 ruptions he would uproot, he cuts off from love of the 
 world, by putting them in the clefts of the rock; he 
 brings us, like Israel, "through the wilderness, through 
 a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought 
 and of the shadow of death," that we may desire a better 
 country, that is, an heavenly; that we may hearken to 
 the admonition of the still small voice from the holy 
 oracle, the Spirit's dwelling-place in the sanctuary of 
 
 * "At such times of noon-day stillness and heat, the larger animals 
 seek shelter in the recesses of the forest, and the birds hide themselves 
 under the thick foliage of the trees, or in the clefts of the rocks." — 
 HumlotdCs Aapecta. 
 
CHAPTER II. 14. 265 
 
 our soul, " Arise ye, and depart, for this is not your 
 rest." Mic. ii. 10. Affliction is the promised inheritance 
 of the saints in this world. They have been left here an 
 afflicted and poor people, whose trust is in the name of 
 the Lord. 
 
 " So virtue blooms, brought forth amid the storms 
 Of chill adversity ; in some lone walk 
 Of life she rears her head, 
 Obscure and unobserved." 
 
 The most remarkable displays of God's glory ever made 
 to man, were made in scenes of loneliness and desolation. 
 When the patriarch dreamed, and beheld a ladder set 
 upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, the 
 emblem of the heavens opened and the angels of God 
 ascending and descending upon the Son of man, he had 
 taken the stones of that place and put them for his 
 pillows, and thus lain down to sleep : The vision of the 
 burning-bush was when Moses was a fugitive from his 
 countrymen, and had led the flock to the back of the 
 desert, to the mountain of God, even to Horeb, so named 
 from its desolation; and when afterwards God would show 
 this servant his glory, he put him in a cleft of the rock : 
 On this Horeb, the mount of desolation, stood Elijah, 
 when, unmoved by the wind, and the earthquake, and 
 the fire, he wrapped his face in his mantle, as he heard 
 the still small voice. The transfiguration was on a high 
 mountain apart; the appointed place for the meeting of 
 Jesus with his disciples, after the resurrection, and for 
 appearing most probably to a body of above five hundred 
 brethren at once, was a mountain in Galilee ; the visions 
 of John were on the rocky isle of Patmos ; and when 
 the angel would close those scenes by a view of that 
 great city, the holy Jerusalem, he carried him away in 
 the spirit to a great and high mountain. If now he 
 23* 
 
2CG COMMENTAR Y. 
 
 withdraw us not from the world, he accomplishes the 
 same end in spreading desolation around us, by bereave- 
 ment, by loss of property, by affliction, by blasted hopes 
 and bitter disappointments. "Of the eight beatitudes, 
 five of them have temporal misery and meanness, or an 
 afflicted condition for their subject. As long as the 
 waters of affliction are upon the earth, so long we dwell 
 in the ark ; but when the land is dry, the dove itself will 
 be tempted to a wandering course of life, and never to 
 return to the house of her safety."* 
 
 The person thus addressed as in the cleft of the rock, 
 was so affected with a sense of unworthiness, as to shrink 
 back and stand in need of the exhortation to come forth 
 to her Lord. To such trembling, timid souls, he says, 
 Cut off though you may be from the riches, the honours, 
 and even the comforts of this world, and feeling yourself 
 most unworthy, there is One on whom you may cast all 
 your care, for he careth for you, who speaks to you in 
 lauguage the most affectionate, My dove, my tender, 
 timid one, the object of my deepest, most devoted love, 
 " let me see thy countenance," for however the world 
 may disregard and despise that expression of humility, 
 in my eyes the countenance bespeaking contrition is 
 beautiful. To the father of the prodigal, far more 
 pleasing than the gayety of the company thronging his 
 halls, was the careworn countenance of his humbled and 
 repenting son. Let me hear thy voice, for it is sweet. 
 The music and dancing were not so sweet to the father's 
 heart, as the humbled tones of his lost son confessing 
 his sin, acknowledging his transgressions, and giving 
 utterance to his reviving love. No sounds are so de- 
 lightful to Jesus, as the tones of the contrite spirit con- 
 
 * Jeremy Taylor's Sermons on 1 Pet. iv. 17, 18. 
 
CHAPTER II. 15. 9(37 
 
 fessing sin, mourning the absence of his countenance, 
 calling on him in trouble, and seeking advance in 
 holiness. 
 
 ■» 
 Ver. 15.— Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines- 
 for our vines have tender grapes. 
 
 Foxes, jackals, little foxes, are very common in Pal- 
 estine, and arc particularly fond of grapes. They often 
 burrow in holes in hedges round the gardens ; and unless 
 Strictly watched, would destroy whole vineyards. Their 
 flesh was sometimes eaten in autumn, when they were 
 grown fat with feeding on grapes. Thus Theocritus 
 says, 
 
 I hate the foxes with their bushy tails, 
 
 Which numerous spoil the grapes of Micon's vines 
 
 When fall the evening shades. 
 
 And Aristophanes compares soldiers to foxes, because 
 they consume the grapes of the countries through which 
 they pass. They here represent anything which injures, 
 by stealth and cunning, the graces of those who are the 
 objects of divine love. Hence, as an enemy of God's 
 people, Herod is called a fox by Jesus. Luke xiii. 32. 
 This verse teaches that those who are favoured richly 
 with grace, and whom 'our Lord is drawing towards 
 heaven, will be careful to guard against sin, and especially 
 against little sins. Heretofore we had to lament, in the 
 words of ch. i. 6, "Mine own vineyard have I not kept;" 
 now we are anxious to guard the vineyard of the heart 
 against the inroad of anything, however trilling, that 
 may corrode and destroy our graces. Too often we may 
 have been like a boy represented by Theocritus, as set 
 to watch a vineyard, but becoming so absorbed in weaving 
 a ehaplet of Bowers as not to notice two foxes, one of 
 which was stealthily plundering his food, while the other 
 
2G8 COMMENTARY. 
 
 was making havoc with the grapes. Never is our care- 
 fulness in guarding against sin so great, as when most 
 deeply filled with the love of Jesus ; against the slightest 
 sins we wish most carefully to guard. The services of 
 the Jewish tabernacle taught the necessity of holiness, 
 even in trivial things. By these little sins, Satan begins 
 the most deadly temptations ; he attacks us in an unex- 
 pected quarter, in an unlooked for way ; and the time 
 for resisting him, is at the very beginning of his insidious 
 assaults. Indulgence in what may seem trifling depar- 
 tures from watchfulness and duty, blinds the mind to the 
 truth of Scripture, corrodes and enfeebles our graces, 
 and grieves the Holy Ghost. While watching with all 
 diligence, our unceasing prayer will be, " Search me, 
 God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; 
 and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me 
 in the way everlasting." Ps. cxxxix. 23. 
 
 Ver. 16. — My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feedeth among the 
 lilies. 
 
 The lily, on account of its beauty as well as fragrance, 
 has been universally admired in all ages: the Greeks and 
 Komans were no less, fond of it than the orientals. The 
 beloved, still compared to a gazelle, is here said to feed 
 beside still waters, in green pastures abounding with lilies. 
 A green meadow, in which the gazelle might be seen 
 feeding and reposing, among the lilies, was a scene truly 
 beautiful. Lilies grew wild in abundance in the fields. 
 In early spring tl^e plain of Sharon was seen covered 
 with hyacinths anduilies, and the richest scarlet poppies 
 Btrewed amid the vurdant grass. On this grass the roes 
 loved to pasture. Hence our Saviour says, "Consider 
 the lilies of the field/' And a Latin poet says, 
 
 Lo, yonder nofyle stag, calmly at rest 
 
 Mid the white HlieS on the meadow's breast. 
 
CHAPTER II. 16. 269 
 
 As in verses first and second of this chapter, the lilies are 
 emblems of the pure in heart, the virgins surrounding the 
 beloved. Thus Hengstenberg remarks on the title of the 
 forty-fifth psalm: "This psalm employs itself on lilies, 
 beautiful virgins, lovely brides. We take the lilies as a 
 figurative description of the lovely virgins whose marriage 
 with the king the Psalmist celebrates." The words "he 
 feedeth among the lilies, do therefore mean, that as the 
 instinct of the gazelle leads him back to his feeding-ground, 
 and wherever he wanders, there is the place of his strong- 
 est desire, in which he loves to linger, loves to rest; so 
 the place of our Lord's strongest desire is in the midst of 
 his saints ; and however he may withdraw, thither he will 
 most certainly return. There is no place in which he 
 loves to be, better than among his people. 
 
 In view of the assurances of love given in the fore- 
 going verses, the spouse says, "My beloved is mine and 
 I am lu.s." Those who thus watch against sin, and arc 
 blessed with communications of heavenly love, enjoy the 
 full assurance of hope, and rejoice to know that Christ is 
 theirs, and they are his. It is not said, I am his and he 
 is mine; but first, he is mine, and then, I am his; inas- 
 much as Christ's being ours is at the foundation of every 
 blessing. While he is separated from us by the walls 
 between this and the invisible world, unable to show us 
 the fulness of his glory, and in the clefts of the rock, we 
 are cut off from so many of the enjoyments of earth — 
 we are permitted to feel that whatever else is wanting, 
 Christ is ours. The whole of the covenant is simply this : 
 Jesus says to us, give yourself to me, and I will give myself 
 to you. On this principle does he act; and to the degree 
 we surrender ourselves up to him, will we ever find him 
 communicating to us his grace and causing us to receive 
 of his fulness. This assurance is a blessing of unspeak- 
 
270 COMMENTAR Y. 
 
 able value. A deed is the legal security that an inheri- 
 tance is ours and cannot be taken from us by law. This 
 assurance, written in new characters on the white stone of 
 the holy heart, by the finger which wrote on the tables of 
 stone on Sinai, is the pledge that heaven, or what is better 
 still, Christ is ours. This charter of our eternal hopes, 
 this title to heaven, is thus laid up in the inner shrine of 
 the heart, so secure, that we cannot be plundered of it 
 even by the spoiler Death. We desire nothing more, as 
 he says, "All mine are thine and thine are mine; and the 
 glory which thou gavest me, I have given them." John 
 xvii. 10. In the words of Quarles, 
 
 "He is my altar; I his holy place; 
 
 I am his guest; and he my living food; 
 I'm his by penitence; he mine by grace; 
 
 I'm his by purchase; he is mine by blood: 
 lie's my supporting helm; and I his vine: 
 Thus I my best beloved's am; thus he is mine." 
 
 "He feedcth among the lilies." There is the place 
 where he is drawn by the strongest desire. We may cal- 
 culate unerringly on his returning at intervals, to mani- 
 fest his presence in his Church ; for the roe or young hart 
 may forget his pasture grounds, but He can never forget 
 the calm retreats of this world, where cluster his chosen 
 ones robed in the purity of holiness. Yea, more, the 
 mother may forget her infant child, "yet will I not forget 
 thee." Isa. xlix. 15. Where would he be more likely to 
 wish to dwell than aniony; his redeemed ones? Hence 
 his usual mode of expressing his relation to his people, is 
 that of making his abode with them, John xiv. 23; of 
 dwelling in their hearts by faith, Eph. iii. 17; ami in 
 heaven, G-od him self iii his tabernacle shall dwell with 
 them, and be their God. Rev. xxi. 3. In times of dark- 
 ness and sorrow, let us therefore be comforted by the 
 
CHAPTER II. 17. 271 
 
 inward assurance, "My beloved is mine and I am his;" 
 and by feeling that more certainly than the roe to his 
 rich pastures among the lilies, will Jesus return to visit 
 and abide with our longing hearts. 
 
 Ver. 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. 
 
 While thus comforted during the withdrawal of our 
 
 Lord, by the assurance of hope, and by the truth that he 
 
 may be more certainly expected from time to time among 
 
 the saints, than the roe may be expected in the pastures 
 
 where he feeds, the desire of our heart is that Jesus would 
 
 repeat those visits as often as possible, until the darkness 
 
 now around us flee away. In those hot countries the 
 
 dawn of day is attended with a fine refreshing breeze, 
 
 much more grateful and desirable than the light itself, 
 
 beautifully expressed by the words "the day breathe."* 
 
 Thus, Milton — 
 
 "And temperate vapours bland, which th' only sound 
 Of leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan, 
 Lightly dispersed." 
 
 As the Hebrew word Bether means a section or division, 
 and as it occurs nowhere else as a proper name, we take 
 
 * Van Egmont and lleyman state that "the excessive heat on the 
 coast, and in many places of the Holy Land, is very much lessened by 
 a sea-breeze, which constantly blows every morning, and by its cool- 
 ness renders the heats of summer very supportable." Dr. Robinson, 
 of Cambridge, mentions that "every morning about sunrise, a fresh 
 gale of wind blew from the sea across the land, which from its whole- 
 someness in clearing the infected air, is always called ' the doctor.' 
 
 "At the approach of morning, the stir of life that seemed, like 
 leaven, to ferment the surface of the world rouud, was very striking; 
 first, the partridge's call joined chorus with the nightingale, and soon 
 after their dusky forms were seen darting through the bushes, and 
 then bird after bird joined the chorus; the lizards began to glance 
 
272 COMMENTARY. 
 
 "mountains of Betlier" here to mean mountains of divi- 
 sion — spoken of a region cut up or divided by mountains 
 and valleys, rough, craggy, and difficult to cross. Over 
 these the spouse intreats the beloved to come like a roe 
 or a young hart. See ver. 9. In the spirit of these 
 words, Wordsworth says, 
 
 "When like a roe, 
 I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides 
 Of the deep rivers and the lonely streams." 
 
 As Jesus sees fit sometimes to withdraw, we pray for the 
 repetition of his visits to the soul as often as possible. 
 These visits are necessary for our advancement in holi- 
 ness ; they are both sunlight and shower. They give the 
 greatest joys we can now have; they are foretastes of 
 heaven. Jesus is the great attraction of heaven; and 
 how comforting to know that although we cannot at pre- 
 sent be with him amid the glories of heaven, he Avill come 
 frequently, over all intervening obstacles, and visit us 
 amid the darkness and ruins of earth, "until the day 
 break and the shadows flee away." The ancient philoso- 
 phers call this world the dark cavern of the imprisoned 
 soul; and Plato* says, "Behold men, as if dwelling in a 
 subterranean cavern." Our world is now involved in 
 shadows dark as night ; and well does the Apostle say, 
 the "night is far spent, the day is at hand." Eom. xiii. 12. 
 
 upon the rocks, the insects on the ground and in the air; the jerboa 
 peeping from its burrow, fish glancing in the stream, hares bounding 
 over the dewy grass, and — as more light came — the airy form of the 
 gazelle could be seen on almost every neighbouring hill. Then came 
 sunrise, first flushing the light clouds above, then flashing over the 
 Arabian mountains, and pouring down into the rich valley of the 
 Jordan : the Dead Sea itself seemed to come to life under that blessed 
 spell, and shone like molten gold among its purple hills." — Warourion 
 — The Crescent and the Cross. 
 * Repub., book vii., chap. 1. 
 
CHAPTER II. IT. 273 
 
 The morning star has long since risen; in the influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, we feel the breathing of breezes from 
 heaven, harbingers of an eternal day ; in the increasing 
 light of sanctification, we hail the brightening day-break 
 of eternity. Like a person who might have been born 
 in the depths of the Mammoth Cave, and wandering for 
 years therein, without a sight of the glorious world above 
 and around him — the impenitent are equally in darkness, 
 living, wandering in caverns more desolate and gloomy to 
 the soul, and with as little knowledge of the splendours 
 of the invisible spiritual world. Should the poor offcast 
 born in the cave, meet with some one from the outer 
 world, penetrating with a torch into those chambers of 
 death, with what interest would he listen to an account of 
 the green earth, the morning sun, the starry heavens; 
 with what feelings must he gaze on the brightening light, 
 in his approach to the mouth of the cavern. How great 
 the transition, when having left those labyrinths of dark- 
 ness, he stands gazing on the morning star overhanging 
 the brightening dawn of a day in spring, hears the sing- 
 ing of the birds, feels the refreshing breath of the pure 
 breeze, and is exhilarated with the fragrance filling the 
 air from the dewy flowers and trees in bloom. Far, far 
 more delightful are our sensations, when our spiritual 
 perception fixes on Christ the bright morning star, and 
 on the dawning light of heavenly blessedness; and we 
 hear swells of music from that better world, and feel the 
 refreshing breezes of the Holy Spirit, laden with balm 
 from the fields the Lord has blessed. 
 
 Then, our view of the boundless universe of God shall 
 be enlarged, as is our view of the landscape under the 
 rising sun ; we shall mingle with an innumerable company 
 of angels, with the spirits of just men made perfect ; the 
 truths now so precious, will be seen more clearly, and in 
 24 
 
274 C M M E N T A R Y. 
 
 wider relations : mysteries of Providence will be cleared 
 up; God will be more fully known; Christ will be 
 revealed in all liis glory. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Ver. 1. — By night on my hed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I 
 sought him, but I found him not. 
 
 The portion of this book from chap. ii. 8 to chap. vii. 9, 
 contains three leading motives addressed to the soul by 
 Jesus for alluring us away from the world. Between 
 these there are introduced, chap. iii. 1 — 5, and chap. v. 
 2 — 8, two seasons of spiritual desertion, differing from 
 each other in this respect, that in the latter the beloved 
 is repulsed by the neglect of cold indifference, while in 
 the former, here under consideration, nothing of that 
 kind seems mentioned. This verse is connected with the 
 close of chapter second, and illustrates the earnestness 
 of the soul in seeking Jesus during a time of his absence. 
 God's way of carrying on our sanctification is by repeated 
 visits and withdrawals, at seasons "put in his own power." 
 When thus absent, he returns in different Avays. Some- 
 times, as in chap. ii. 8, he surprises us with his grace, 
 almost before he Avas expected, Isa. lxv. 1 ; then, as in 
 this passage, he waits for us to seek him with earnest- 
 ness. This verse expresses, that in the absence of Jesus, 
 we seek him with desires so strong as to surmount the 
 most necessary cravings of the body, even sleep. 
 
 No desire is so intense as the craving of a healthful 
 soul after Christ. This is different from the thirst of the 
 mind for intellectual pleasures. In the state of mind 
 
CHAPTER IIL 1. 275 
 
 here set forth, there are as the basis of this craving — 
 
 1. Forecroincr manifestations of the love and loveliness of 
 Jesus through the Holy Spirit; 2. A disclosure of the 
 beauty and glory of heaven; 3. The assurance of hope; 
 and, 4. Strong desires for beholding the glory of Christ. 
 What was wanting, was a sense of the presence of Jesus. 
 Now it is possible to have all these without the last. 
 This is exceedingly desirable, and should be sought; but 
 the want of it is no evidence God has cast us off, and is 
 displeased. Many good people mistake at such time, by 
 despairing and reproaching themselves, instead of seeking 
 him. Through the disposition to walk by sense or sight, 
 rather than by faith, they despond when the manifesta- 
 tions of the presence of Jesus are withheld. But they 
 should feel the absence of these is no proof of want of 
 acceptance; these withdrawals are for a wise end, and 
 are essential in our preparation for heaven.* They test 
 the strength of our faith and steadfastness of our love ; 
 
 • they lead to deeper searchings for secret sins; they 
 advance humility by making us feel our weakness and 
 
 * "Although it is not possible that any who is admitted into peace and 
 friendship with God should altogether fall from it, yet the sense and 
 relish thei'eof are often interrupted. For, 1. God doth not always show 
 his pleasant countenance to his friends; sometimes he hides himself, 
 Isa. yiii. 17; standeth afar off, Ps. x. 1 ; admits them not into famili- 
 arity with him, nor fills them with the abundance of his consolations; 
 he hears not when they call, Ps. xxii. 2, ?,; as if he regarded them not. 
 
 2. Nay, lie thrusts them from him with a kind of contempt; and 'is 
 angry against their prayer.' Ps. lxxx. 4. 3. He terrifies them with 
 many sorrows; not only by hiding his face, without which there is no 
 joy, but by his fierce anger going over them. 4. He seems to deal 
 with them as an adversary, and holdeth them for his enemies, and writes 
 bitter things against them. 5. Gives them up sometimes to be vexed 
 ami buffeted by the devil. Job. ii. 6. After that the light of the divine 
 countenance is set, immediately the beasts of the forest come forth 
 against the soul, the young lions roaring after their prey." — Witsiua on 
 Spiritual Peace, Cov., book iii. 0, 21. 
 
276 COMMENTARY. 
 
 our dependence on God. If this inward spring of divine 
 influence flowed without intermission, in a current always 
 full, we would be in danger of spiritual pride. Says 
 Rutherford, "As nights and shadows are good for flowers, 
 and moonlight and dews are better than a continual sun ; 
 so is Christ's absence of special use, and it hath some 
 nourishing virtue in it, and giveth sap to humility, and 
 putteth an edge on hunger, and furnishcth a fair field to 
 faith to put forth itself." 
 
 How unreasonable to doubt the love of a friend when 
 necessarily withdrawn : to love him only when under our 
 eye betokens infant-like weakness. With love to Jesus, 
 of a manly, vigorous cast, in seasons of spiritual deser- 
 tion, far from despondency, with its attending inactivity, 
 we will cherish a faithful, devoted affection, incapable of 
 diversion from its cherished object by all the seductions 
 of the tempter. How longs and seeks the soul for Christ, 
 in times of temptation, of trial, of affliction, of spiritual 
 desertion! How strong the feelings with which we 
 think, at night on our bed, of those who are loved, but 
 separated from us by distance or by death! When 
 mourning the absence of him whom our soul loveth, 
 how often have Ave made our bed to swim, and watered 
 our couch with tears. After displays of his love, Christ 
 gives us up to the power of the devil, within certain 
 limits. In various ways, Satan will try to lead us into 
 sin, if not against the moralities of the world, against 
 the truth and faithfulness of God; failing in this, he 
 will lead us as near as possible to sin, if perchance we 
 may in an unguarded moment fall; repulsed in these 
 attacks, he will then resort to slander, to worldly per- 
 plexity, to bodily affliction. Thus in his chapter on "the 
 glory of Christ in the mysterious constitution of his 
 person," Owen quotes this passage, and adds: "The Lord 
 
CHAPTER III. 2. 277 
 
 Christ is pleased sometimes to withdraw himself from the 
 spiritual experience of believers, as unto any refreshing 
 sense of his love, or the fresh communications of con- 
 solatory graces. Those who never had experience of any 
 such thing, who never had any refreshing communion 
 with him, cannot be sensible of his absence; they never 
 were so of his presence. But those whom he hath visited, 
 to whom he hath given of his loves, with whom he hath 
 made his abode, whom he hath refreshed, relieved, and 
 comforted, in whom he hath lived in the power of his 
 grace, they know what it is to be forsaken by him, though 
 but for a moment. And their trouble is increased, when 
 they seek him with diligence in the wonted ways of 
 obtaining his presence, and cannot find him. Our duty 
 in this case is, to persevere in our inquiries after him, in 
 prayer, meditation, mourning, reading, and hearing of 
 the word, in all ordinances of divine worship, private and 
 public, in diligent obedience, until Ave find him, or he 
 return unto us, as in former days." 
 
 Ver. 2. — I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in 
 the broad ways I will seek him whom niy soul loveth ; I sought him, 
 but I found him not. 
 
 "The broad ways" seem to mean the broad open places 
 at the gates of oriental cities, where the inhabitants were 
 accustomed to assemble for public business. Not only in 
 the streets, but in these public places, did the spouse seek 
 her beloved. All the difficulties of this passage vanish 
 when the Song is taken as an allegory for illustrating the 
 love of the saint towards Christ. The heart warmed with 
 thoughts of him, like a spring, boiling or bubbling up 
 with deep emotions, Fs. xlv. 1, impels us to seek him in 
 the way of self-denial. Time was when Jesus was sacri- 
 ficed to the pursuit of worldly enjoyments, and pleasures 
 of sense; now everything else is left, even sleep itself 
 24* 
 
278 COMMENTARY. 
 
 sacrificed, for finding the presence of Jesus. This verse 
 is another way of setting forth the state of heart expressed 
 in Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, and in Job xxiii. 8 — 10; more fully in 
 the forty-second Psalm. This state is different from that 
 noticed in chap. v. 3. The latter is a condition of 
 spiritual sluggishness arising from absence of the Holy 
 Spirit; here the affections are alive, the heart warm by 
 the action of grace ; but a sense of the presence of Christ 
 is wanting. In such times of desertion and trial the soul 
 seeks him with great earnestness; periods of conflict, 
 peril, and sorrow, when we feel our best resolutions are 
 nothing before the power of the devil, when the passions 
 of the soul will struggle as though they would burst the 
 cords of the heart asunder; and the fury with which they 
 roll round through the chambers of the soul, reminds us 
 of Virgil's description of the fury of the winds in the 
 cavern of iEolus: 
 
 Where struggling winds and roaring storms he rules 
 With sway imperial; curbs with prison, chains. 
 Impetuous rage they round their mountain-cave: 
 Did he not check their wrath, forth would they burst; 
 Land, sea and heav'n in a wild tempest sweep, 
 Uptorn from their foundations, through the air. 
 
 Even more terrible than these, were the elements which 
 burst so suddenly on the patriarch Job, and buried him 
 under the ruin of his property, his family, his bodily 
 comfort, his friendships, and his spiritual peace. In his 
 passage onward to heaven, every believer has to pass 
 through the valley of the shadow of death; some find it 
 darker and more terrible than others, and have to encoun- 
 ter at its entrance Satan in fiercer mood. There are 
 times of outward desolation and inward trial, when we say 
 with Jacob, "All these things are against me;" and cry 
 with the Psalmist, "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise 
 
CHAPTER III. 2. 279 
 
 of thy water-spouts, all thy waves and thy billows are 
 gone over me." The most painful part of these strug- 
 gles arises from the fiery darts of the devil. They seem 
 at times to fall almost like hail ; and attack is succeeded 
 by attack, as though he was determined to weary us out 
 by the very continuance of his assaults. Even strug- 
 gling hard, with desperate determination, we may find 
 ourselves giving ground; like Christian, we may be 
 almost spent, almost pressed to death, so as to despair of 
 life, and notwithstanding all we can do, be wounded in 
 the head, hand, and foot ; may get a dreadful fall ; yet is 
 his grace made sufficient for us. No battle can be so ter- 
 rible as that which the believer does thus sustain against 
 the powers of darkness. With thankfulness do we find 
 hour after hour, and day after day, passing by, and our 
 position yet held against this surging host of deadly foes. 
 Now and then will there be a lull in the conflict, and 
 grace Avill refresh us with cordials from heaven; but the 
 battle will cease only with the setting of the sun, when 
 around us gathers the nightfall of the grave. But though 
 it be a hard fought clay, the sun, like that of Waterloo, 
 will go down on victory. Bunyan understood the spirit- 
 ual conflict, and has in a few words sketched it with mar- 
 vellous vigour and truth. When the world see the saint 
 thus enduring "a great fight of afflictions;" see him 
 under fire in the heat of the battle; they, and too often 
 nominal Christians with them, are ready to judge hastily ;" 
 to censure him for his conduct; to impute to his own love 
 of sin wounds he has got in his desperate and uncompro- 
 mising resistance against sin; and congratulate them- 
 selves on being perhaps better than he, because they have 
 escaped wounds incurred by him, when, had they been 
 exposed in conflicts through which he has passed, their 
 courage might have failed, and their souls perished. 
 
280 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Every believer who knows his own heart, will adopt the 
 words of Mr. Great-heart concerning Christian's conflict 
 with Apollyon: "No disparagement to Christian, more 
 than to any others whose hap and lot it was. But we 
 will leave the good man, he is at rest, he also had a brave 
 victory over his enemy: let Him grant that dwelleth 
 above, that we fare not worse, when we come to be tried, 
 than he." 
 
 "Through all stations human life abounds 
 With mysteries; — for, if Faith were left untried, 
 How could the might, that lurks within her, then 
 Be shown? her glorious excellence — that ranks 
 Among the first of powers and virtues — proved ?" 
 
 So necessary are conflicts for ripening the excellences of 
 character, and attaining noble rewards and enduring 
 fame, that poetry has made the illustration of this the 
 theme of some of its noblest efforts. Such is the tenor 
 of Spenser's Faery Queen. And in the poem of King 
 Arthur, "The hero thus purified and enlightened by sor- 
 row, is ready to seek the sword, the possession of which 
 confers immortal renown, and could not be won unless by 
 a champion, who, through resistance of strong tempta- 
 tions, had been proved to possess noble moral endow- 
 ments. The shield is next to be won by heroic valour 
 shown in desperate combat against appalling enemies ; not 
 by the valour of the knight, but by the mora] greatness 
 of the man; not by watlike deeds, but by resistance to 
 Btrong temptations, and by clear perception of the rela- 
 tive importance of conflicting duties."* Tims the Scrip- 
 tures, "Blessed is the man thai endureth temptation, for 
 »hen he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which 
 the Lord hath promised I<> them that love him. das. i. 12. 
 
 ■^yj t * King Arthur, by Sir E. Bolwer Lytton. Ed. Kev. No. 181. 
 
CHAPTER III. 3. 281 
 
 Vr.R. 8. — The watchmen that go about tho city found me, to whom I 
 Baid, Saw ye him whom niy soul loveth? 
 
 The loneliness and gloom of the spouse wandering at 
 night through the streets, deserted by all save the watch- 
 men, sets forth the darkness and desolation of the soul 
 searching for Christ in these times of desertion and trial. 
 The final state of the Church in glory is represented by 
 the beauty of a city, as in Heb. xii. 22, and Rev. xxi. 
 Now the Church is the city of the living God, but 
 like Israel in the camp in the wilderness, rather than 
 when established in the palaces on Mount Zion. The 
 watchmen above are angels, Rev. xxi. 12 ; here they are 
 men. Isa. lxii. 6. This class of men have the important 
 trust of guarding the interests of the Church, warning 
 of danger, instructing and comforting troubled souls. 
 "They watch for souls as they that must give account." 
 Heb. xiii. 17. They are stars in the right hand of Christ. 
 Their aid must we seek in times of darkness and sorrow.* 
 They are expected to know more than others about 
 experimental religion; their duty is to study this as the 
 end of all their investigations. If it was necessary that 
 Jesus should be made in all things like unto his brethren, 
 ministers of the word should be led by the Holy Spirit 
 
 * "It is most advisable for tempted persons to consult some able, 
 judicious minister, or compassionate and established Christian, whose 
 1 ami prayers may be singularly useful in this case; observing 
 the assistance which (neat heart gave to the Pilgrims, in passing through 
 the valley. Sometimes temptations may be so multiplied and varied, 
 that it may seem impossible to proceed any further; and the mind of 
 the harassed believer is enveloped in confusion and dismay, as if an 
 horrible pit were about to swallow him up, or the prince of darkness to 
 seize upon him. But the counsel of some experienced friend or minis- 
 ter, exciting confidence in the power, mercy, ami faithfulness of God, 
 and encouraging him to 'pray without ceasing,' will at length make 
 way tor deliverance." — Scolt's Aotcs on the I'ilj rims Progreta. 
 
282 COMMENTARY. 
 
 through these exercises of the heart wherein they are to 
 lead and comfort others. 
 
 Ver. 4. — It wn< but a little that I passed from them, but I found him 
 whom my soul loveth : I held him, and would not let him go, until I 
 had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her 
 that conceived me. 
 
 Very shortly after leaving them she finds the beloved. 
 Jesus is always to be found near the watchmen, the min- 
 istry, the means of grace. How often when we have been 
 seeking Jesus without any comforting sense of his pres- 
 ence, have some bright views of his glory burst upon the 
 soul. Some truth shines forth adapted to our need, some 
 promise precisely suited to our want, some warning that 
 may arouse us from danger. He appears to us as unex- 
 pectedly as to the disciples on the way to Emmaus ; 
 and like the Avise men from the East, on seeing the infant 
 Jesus, we rejoice with exceeding great joy. 
 
 "I held him, and would not let him go." With eager- 
 ness does the soul then lay hold on our Lord. By night 
 had those holy women been seeking Jesus, at early dawn 
 while it was yet dark on the morning of his resurrection, 
 sorrowful and in tears, when he "met them saying, All 
 hail, and they came and held him by the feet and wor- 
 shipped him:" this is the manifestation, in a different 
 way, of the feeling now had by us on finding again our 
 Lord. They did in form precisely what we now do by 
 faith. Among the emblematical representations of truth 
 in the Old Testament, this has its illustration in the wrest- 
 ling of Jacob with the angel. It was night, he was alone, 
 in a lonely place, and about to encounter a dangerous 
 enemy in Esau. Convinced that this being in human 
 form had power to deliver, he laid hold on him and 
 refused to let him go without a blessing. His importunity 
 prevailed, and in that person he found the Lord Jesus. 
 
CHAPTER III. 4. 283 
 
 "I brought him into, &c." Speaking of oriental 
 houses, Dr. Shaw says, " Their chambers are large and 
 spacious, one of them frequently serving a whole family. 
 At one end of each chamber there is a little gallery 
 raised four or five feet, with a balustrade and doubtless 
 a veil to draw in the front of it. Here they place their 
 beds." Hence we have no difficulty in understanding 
 why the bride speaks of her own apartment as connected 
 with her mother's chambers. In this and in the other 
 passage where reference is made to the mother and the 
 mother's apartments, see chap. viii. 2, this is evidently 
 for guarding against the idea of anything improper in 
 this love. In the house and under the eye of a mother, 
 a virgin must be supposed under the very best safeguard 
 against anything like impropriety. The love here con- 
 templated is that chaste, ideal affection, not entirely like 
 anything known on earth, which combines the ardent 
 affection of the marriage relation with the devotion of a 
 brother's and sister's heart, without any unhallowed 
 feeling associated therewith. Hence the expression so 
 frequently used, "my sister- spouse." 
 
 Thus finding Jesus, we are anxious to commune with 
 him in secret. In chap. i. 4, he is represented as bring- 
 ing us into his chambers, drawing us into secret commu- 
 nion with him; here we are set forth as spontaneously 
 drawing him into private communion, seeking intercourse 
 with him by prayer. Though ever dependent on the 
 Holy Spirit as our strength, and as the originating 
 spring of every holy emotion and holy action, there are 
 times when grace seems to visit, enliven, and draw us 
 again to Christ, and there are periods when we feel that 
 reviving grace cannot be expected without offering up 
 supplications with strong cries and tears. Delightful as 
 are ordinances and public duties, we wish, after deliver- 
 
284 C M M E N T A R'Y. 
 
 ance from spiritual desertion, to have Jesus much to 
 ourselves in study of the Scriptures, in meditation, in 
 contrition, and in secret prayer. Seeking thus to enjoy 
 confidential fellowship with Jesus where there may be no 
 intrusion, the soul again expresses anxiety to guard against 
 anything likely to make him withdraw: "I charge you, 
 ye daughters of Jerusalem, &c." ver 5. See chap. ii. 7. 
 
 Ver. 6. — Who is this that cometh out of the 'wilderness like pillars of 
 smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of 
 the merchant. 
 
 The first grand motive in the series here brought to 
 bear on the heart, is the desirableness of heaven as a 
 place. Chap. ii. 10. After a season of heavenly delight, 
 and glimpses of heavenly glory, we are exposed to 
 spiritual desertion and assaults of the devil, that the 
 power of these motives may be put to test. When we 
 are restored to the joy of his salvation, he allures by 
 assurance of the security and grandeur of our conveyance 
 thither. Dejected because he left us, as in ver. 1, we 
 are told that however we may seem forsaken, we may be 
 sure our souls are during the darkest hours in a chariot 
 paved with love. As though he says to us, 1. Be not 
 discouraged by these withdrawals of Jesus, for there is a 
 state of glory awaiting you in heaven ; 2. Do not despond 
 under the heaviest trials, for you are on your road to 
 glory in a conveyance guarded by angels, encompassed 
 with the intercession of Christ, and made of materials 
 precious as love ; 3. Though Jesus may at times hide his 
 face and expose us to trials, he loves us even more 
 strongly than is shown in chap. iv. 
 
 The Scriptures speak of God's dwelling in heaven, yet 
 
 refus8 omm & down to us on earth; of his being continually 
 
 prevaileo 111 ^ us ' 3^ drawing near to us by his Spirit. Persons 
 
 "> "absent in body but present in spirit," 1 Cor. v. 3; 
 
CHAPTER III. G. 285 
 
 may be near each other, yet effectually separated by 
 difference of disposition and by enmity. Thus God may 
 be near us in one sense and afar off in another. Hence 
 there is a spiritual coming to Christ, and there is also a 
 bodily coining to him. The former is by exercising the 
 holy affections now wrought by the Spirit ; the latter is 
 by our having a spiritual body and going to be with him 
 in glory. Phil. iii. 21 ; 1 John iii. 2. Redemption ex- 
 tends to both body and soul — first to the soul, then to the 
 body. All the decay of our bodily system began with 
 spiritual death working in the soul. The condition of 
 the body is determined by the foregoing condition of the 
 soul, of which it is the earthly tabernacle. Spiritual 
 death, when not arrested by redemption, has its consum- 
 mation in the dissolution of the body in the grave. Now 
 spiritual life follows the same order; first a new life is 
 imparted to the soul, as in regeneration and sanctifi- 
 cation, and then, when the soul has been thus renewed, 
 God gives us a new body, a body adapted to the nature 
 of the soul thus restored to newness of spiritual life, and 
 hence characterized as a spiritual body. These two 
 things are here distinguished: the seeking of our Lord 
 mentioned in the former part of this chapter, is the 
 seeking of him with our spirits, but in the mean time we 
 are in our way to meet him in his glorified body, when 
 we shall be made like him by having a spiritual body. 
 
 In ver. 6 — 11, wc have, 1. The splendid appearance, 
 ver. 6. 2. What that cortege consists of, viz. his palan- 
 quin and its guard, ver. 7, 8. 3. A description of the 
 palanquin, ver. 9, 10. 4. The king awaiting the arrival 
 of this company, ver. 11. 
 
 As the leading of Israel through the wilderness was a 
 representation of the progress of the saints towards 
 glory, and as this book sets forth the love of Christ and 
 95 
 
286 COMMENTARY. 
 
 his people, the words of ver. G may find their illustration 
 in the camp in the desert. The object in bringing 
 Balaam up to the high places, &c., Num. xxii. 41, was to 
 have patriarchism pronounce an excommunication on the 
 Jewish church. The patriarchal religion had been super- 
 seded by this ; but it would not die without an effort, as 
 was afterwards the case with Judaism in reference to 
 Christianity. How imposing was the sight, when from 
 one of the mountain-tops near Pisgah, he beheld the 
 goodly tents of the host of Jacob and Israel coming up 
 from the wilderness, Num. xxiv. 5, 6, beautiful as gar- 
 dens by the river's side, as the trees of lign-aloes which 
 the Lord hath planted, as cedar-trees beside the waters, 
 the pillar of cloud and of fire overshadowing the whole, 
 with the tabernacle in the midst, and with these, com- 
 bined the idea of a nuptial procession, as in Homer — 
 
 When from her halls through evening streets they lead 
 
 The bride, with blazing torches, and the sound 
 
 Of hymeneal gladness; rings of youth 
 
 Dance to the melody of flutes and harps ; 
 
 And matrons standing in their doors, behold 
 
 The joyous tumult with a wondering smile.* 
 
 The region lying between this world and the world 
 where Jesus glorified is awaiting his saints, is as certainly 
 a lonely wilderness as the desert lying between Egypt 
 and Canaan. The angels standing at the gates and on 
 the battlements of the New Jerusalem, see this procession 
 coming up towards the Holy City, and are filled with 
 wonder. As the metropolis of the universe, that city 
 had been heretofore visited by various companies from 
 different quarters of the dominions of the King of kings, 
 but by none presenting an appearance so unusual. Those 
 hitherto have come in a different way ; these are drawing 
 
 * Iliad, book xviii. 
 
CHAPTER III. G. 287 
 
 near by "a new and living way." Hence the inquiry, 
 "Who is this that cometh out of the ■wilderness?" 
 
 "Like pillars of smoke, &c."* There is not here 
 one pillar, as in the Jewish camp, but pillars, many rising 
 and towering on every side, and spreading into a canopy 
 — or, according to the suggestions of the original word, 
 going up like a palm-tree, straight upward for a distance, 
 and then spreading out like the branches. Perfumes 
 were used in great profusion at eastern marriages; the 
 garments were made to smell richly of myrrh, aloes, and 
 cassia; as they came forth from the ivory palaces, per- 
 sons led the procession with silver-gilt pots of perfume, 
 and the air was rendered fragrant by burning aromatics 
 in the windows of all the houses in the streets through 
 which the procession was to pass. Here these perfumes 
 were burnt so freely, that they rose in pillars, and com- 
 bined all possible richness capable of being furnished by 
 the perfumer with all the variety of his spices. If one 
 pillar was such a protection against the Egyptians, and 
 
 * "Oily liquids might be burnt as well as powdered gums, in their 
 censers ; and it is by no means impossible that the lamps that were 
 carried before her, might be fed with odoriferous oils, and make an 
 agreeable addition to the other precious smoke. So D'Herbelot tells 
 us, the Eastern princes are wont to burn camphor, a precious and 
 odoriferous gum, mingled with wax, to light their palaces in the night; 
 and giving an account of the rich booty the Arabs found at Madain, in 
 pillaging the palace of the Fersian monarchs there, he tells us they 
 found magazines of odoriferous camphor, which was wont to be burnt 
 there, at once to light and perfume that palace: not to take notice of 
 the frequent mention of tapers in the Arabian Nights Entertainments, 
 mixed with aloes and ambergris, which gave an agreeable scent, as 
 well as delicate light. As for the clause, "all the chief spices," it is 
 visible that plants, whose flowers or leaves were fragrant, are meant by 
 the word spices, as we may learn from the use of that word in tin' 16th 
 verse; and the chief spices, therefore, must intend the principal aro- 
 matic plants that were known and esteemed in those days." — Ilar- 
 mcr, 2 ( J7. 
 
288 COMMENTARY. 
 
 such a glory to Israel in the desert, Exod. xiv. 20, what 
 must be the grandeur and security of these many pillars 
 of incense around the individuals of the host passing 
 onward to glory. Those pillars are the righteousness of 
 Christ, a righteousness glorious to the contemplation, 
 mighty to save. In his righteousness is included all that 
 he did and suffered for us in obtaining salvation; "his 
 intercession is the continued efficacy of his expiatory 
 merit, and has hence been spoken of by some as a per- 
 petual oblation." We would understand by these pillars 
 of incense, both what he did on earth, his righteousness, 
 and what he is now doing in heaven, his intercession. The 
 saint is passing onward to glory, encompassed and pro- 
 tected by both these. As the Jewish high-priest went 
 into the most holy place, amid a cloud of incense from the 
 golden censer, so did Jesus enter heaven, and thus does 
 he there remain amid the cloud of glorious incense of his 
 intercession ; and thus must his saints enter there, encom- 
 passed with the incense of his prayers in our behalf. 
 His intercession for us is continual in our progress 
 through this world towards heaven. Hence we have 
 always an answer in the heavenly sanctuary to the calum- 
 nies of Satan, and may be assured of acceptance with 
 God through him whose offering is unto the Father of a 
 sweet-smelling savour. As the phoenix was fabled to rise 
 from the midst of the fires and sweet odours in which the 
 parent bird had died in the temple of the sun in Egypt, 
 and spread its wings toward heaven, as thus beginning an 
 existence running through centuries; so do our renovated 
 souls rise from amid the richer than aromatic fires and 
 incense in which Jesus perished, and mount upward on 
 wings as eagles, covered with feathers more beautiful 
 than ruby and gold, on the cycle of a life running 
 through ages of ages, carrying with us the memorials of 
 
CHAPTER in. 7. 289 
 
 the death of him through whom we live, and bearing 
 thTskie? 7 WiUl ^ t0 ° Ur etGrnal reP ° Se ln the temple of 
 
 Vs*. 7.-Behold his bed, which is Solomon's, &c. 
 
 These words are the answer to the question in the fore- 
 going verse, «Lo, it is the palanquin of Solomon." The 
 word "bed" here means a kind of sedan chair or open 
 vehicle, m which persons in the East are carried on men's 
 shoulders. Such was the means of conveying the bride 
 to the house of the bridegroom. When Jesus was 
 received up into heaven, it was by a cloud; when he 
 appears the second time, "behold, he cometh with 
 clouds ; "he maketh the clouds his chariot," and not to 
 mention other places, the appearance in Ezek. i, was 
 with a conveyance or chariot of glory beyond descrip- 
 tion. Ihus, the saint is here represented as passing 
 onward in a conveyance, chariot, or whatever called! 
 towards heaven. When God would represent the glory 
 of the way in which Elijah was taken up, he made visible 
 a chariot and horses of fire-as light is the best symbol 
 of what is pure and glorious. Every saint has a convey- 
 ance as real, though not visible to bodily eyes. As it is 
 a chariot for the soul, this cannot be seen any more than 
 the soul. In the case of Elijah, the conveyance was 
 seen, because God was taking up body as well as soul. 
 U hen by withdrawing at death the film of mortality now 
 over them, our eyes are opened like those of the young 
 man of the prophet, 2 Kings vi. IT, we shall find our 
 souls in a bridal chariot, in which, from the moment of 
 regeneration, we have been moving onward to the arms 
 of our beloved Lord. While perfectly free in working 
 out our salvation, on him we are dependent; "in him we 
 live, and move, and have our being;" he gathers us in 
 
290 COMMENTARY. 
 
 his arm, and carries us in his bosom ; yet all this he does 
 through means, by the chariot of salvation, and through 
 the agency of those who are "ministering spirits." Ileb. 
 i. 14. 
 
 Hence, around this bed, litter, palanquin of the saint, 
 "are threescore valiant men, of the valiant of Israel. 
 They all hold swords, being expert in war; every man 
 hath his sword on his thigh, because of fear in the night." 
 ver. 8.* On account of the audacity of the Arabs, wed- 
 dings were often turned into mourning by enemies lying 
 in ambush. See 1 Maccabees ix. 37 — 41. "They went 
 up and hid themselves under the covert of the mountain ; 
 where they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold 
 there was much ado and great carriage ; and the bride- 
 groom came forth and his friends and brethren to meet 
 them, with drums and instruments of music and many 
 weapons: Then Jonathan and those that were with him 
 rose up against them from the place where they lay in 
 ambush, and made a slaughter of them in such sort as 
 many fell down dead, and the remnant fled into the 
 mountains; and they took all their spoils. Thus was the 
 marriage turned into mourning and their noise of their 
 melody into lamentation." 
 
 "It was the custom then to bring away 
 The bride from home at blushing shut of day, 
 Veiled, in a chariot, heralded along 
 By strewn flowers, torches, and a marriage song 
 With other pageants." 
 
 Around the saint are enemies lying in ambush amid the 
 gloom shrouding from us the invisible world, and anxious 
 to do us every possible injury. The holy angels are our 
 guard against these. "The angel of the Lord encampcth 
 
 * "With the exception of occasional alarms in the night, caused by 
 thieves attempting to steal our horses, we were not disturbed during our 
 visit." — Lnyanl, i. 105. 
 
CHAPTER III. 9, 10. 291 
 
 round about them that fear him." They are sent from 
 heaven as a guard, an escort for us during our passage 
 through this wilderness to heaven. 
 
 o 
 
 "Millions of spiritual beings walk the earth 
 Both when we wake and when we sleep; the soul 
 Made in this wilderness the Spirit's shrine, 
 A thousand liveried angels lacky her 
 Driving for off each thing of sin amd guilt."* 
 
 And when at death the believer finds his eye opening on 
 the mysteries of the unseen world, hitherto around him, but 
 invisible to llesh, he sees battalions of angels waiting as a 
 triumphant guard, and they close their shining ranks 
 around the heir of heaven, and with the proud tread of 
 victory, escort him safe through the regions of the dead; 
 and the prince of darkness from afar looks with dismay 
 on another soul wrested from his grasp; and the exult- 
 ing band appproach the New Jerusalem with strains of 
 triumphal music; and they enter in through the gates 
 into the city. In the text, the number of sixty is men- 
 tioned, a definite for an indefinite number, a sufficiency 
 for any possible emergencies; and they are called "the 
 valiant of Israel," not a band of mercenaries who cannot 
 be relied on, but native-born soldiers, faithful to their 
 sovereign and his interests, from patriotic attachment; 
 thus we may feel this angelic guard is sufficient for 
 repelling any foes, and will ever be steadfast to us 
 through their devotion to our king. 
 
 o o 
 
 Yi'.ti. '.) ; 10. — King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Leba- 
 non. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of 
 gold, the covering of it of purple; the midst thereof being paved with 
 love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 The word "chariot" here is explanatory of "bed" in 
 vcr. 7, and means a sedan, a portable couch, or palan- 
 
 * Milton. 
 
292 COMMENTARY. 
 
 quin. The object of these verses is to set before us the 
 remarkable beauty and excellence of the conveyance pro- 
 vided by Solomon for his bride. Such vehicles are even 
 yet in use in the East, and are of equal magnificence. 
 In the year 1796, the British government presented the 
 Nabob of the Carnatic with a carriage of this kind, thus 
 described at the time: "The beams are solid gold, the 
 inside beautifully decorated with silver lining and fringe 
 throughout: the panels arc painted in the highest style 
 of finishing, and represent various groups and heads of 
 animals, after the manner of Asia, beaded with gold 
 richly raised above the surface, and engraved. The 
 stays and different other ornaments are f embossed 
 silver." Such litters were in use among the Egyptians. 
 Wilkinson gives a copy of a representation of a person of 
 distinction carried in an open palanquin by four bearers, 
 followed by an attendant with a sort of parasol. Those 
 yet in use in the East are couches with a canopy sup- 
 ported by pillars at the four corners, and hung round 
 with curtains, to protect the person within from the sun, 
 and carried on men's shoulders, or in their hands, by 
 means of poles by which they are supported. They are 
 long enough for the rider to lie down at length, and 
 about three feet broad, though varying in size and 
 richness according to the wealth of the owner.* In this 
 
 * Robert Fitch, in Ins voyage to the kingdom of Pegu, in 1591, 
 speaking of its sovereign, says, "The king keepeth great state. Winn 
 he rideth abroad, he rideth -with a great guard, and many noblemen ; 
 oftentimes upon an elephant with a fine castle upon him, very fairly 
 gilded with gold ; and sometimes upon a great frame like a horse-litter, 
 which hath a little house upon it, covered overhead, but open on the 
 Bides, which is all gilded with gold, and set with many rabies and 
 sapphires, whereof he hath infinite .'-tore in his country, and is carried 
 upon sixteen or (Jjditeen men's shoulders." 
 
CHAPTER III. 9, 10. 293 
 
 of Solomon, "the pillars" were silver; "the bottom" as 
 in our version, or more correctly, "the railing" around it, 
 was gold; the seat— English version, "covering" — was 
 purple; the midst thereof being checkered or tesselated 
 with love, "for the daughters of Jerusalem." Among 
 the different interpretations of these words, this seems the 
 best, and in accordance with the Hebrew; this chariot 
 was made thus rich and beautiful for their benefit ; the 
 last clause being thus understood as referring not merely 
 to the midst paved with love, but to the whole structure 
 of the vehicle. 
 
 It seems no part of the mind of the Spirit that we 
 should take this description to pieces, and try to alle- 
 gorize the several parts. The intention is to represent 
 to us the fact that the believer is carried onward to 
 heaven in a conveyance as costly and glorious as that 
 here described ; that the materials are of the richest, 
 choicest, most durable character ; that the midst is paved 
 or tesselated with love. The provision made, the means 
 provided for bringing us to glory, are of a rare and 
 splendid nature. After exhausting the things most 
 valuable among men, making the pillars silver, the rail- 
 ing gold, the seat or couch purple, he adopts a feature in 
 the description entirely new, and says the midst is 
 curiously wrought with something more precious than silver 
 or gold, even with love itself — showing that the saint, 
 while thus passing through the wilderness between this 
 world and heaven, between our state of guilt and our 
 state of glory, is in a palanquin of the most costly make, 
 borne up in the hands of angels, surrounded by an 
 armed angelic guard, and reclining on a soft couch 
 beautiful as purple, the most costly colour, with the 
 midst of the litter formed of love — the many acts of 
 
294 COMMENTARY. 
 
 divine love from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there 
 combining underneath us like the different pieces in a 
 beautiful mosaic, tesselated pavement. In the spirit of 
 this passage, those who wait on the Lord are said to 
 renew their strength ; and he will give his angels charge 
 concerning such, to bear them up in their hands, lest at 
 any time they dash their foot against a stone. Isa. xl. 31, 
 Ps. xci. 12. With the author of our faith finishing his 
 temptation in the wilderness, it may be said of every 
 saint passed away to glory : 
 
 "A fiery globe 
 Of angels on full sail of wing flew nigh, 
 Who on their plumy vans received him soft 
 From his uneasy station, and upbore 
 As on a floating couch through the blithe air; 
 Then in a flowery valley set him down 
 On a green bank, and set before him spread 
 A table of celestial food, divine 
 Ambrosial fruits, fetch'd from the tree of life, 
 And from the fount of life ambrosial drink."* 
 
 The redeemed soul is a "peculiar treasure," Ps. cxxxv. 
 4 ; this litter is the casket, the conveyance, in which it 
 is carried towards heaven by the hands of angels, sent 
 by Jesus, our elder brother, gone away to prepare a 
 place for us in a better land than Egypt, and more 
 fitted to cheer our fainting spirits than the wagons sent 
 by Joseph, which so revived the heart of Jacob. f To 
 
 * Paradise Regained, book iv. 581. 
 
 f With this representation we may compare the following from 
 Pindar, where, in the ninth Fythian Ode, he is speaking of Cyrene: 
 " Whom the long-haired son of Latona snatched away from the re- 
 cesses of Pelion echoing with the wind, and in his golden chariot 
 brought the virgin huntress, where he constituted her sovereign of the 
 realms teeming with flocks and transcendeutly fertile. And the silver- 
 
CHAPTER III. 9, 10. 295 
 
 human appearance, we are in the condition of the pro- 
 phet who ran by the side, while Ahab was within the 
 chariot; yet as the hand of the Lord was on Elijah for 
 enabling him to glide along before the swift-rolling 
 vehicle of the king ; and to angels' eyes he was in a 
 chariot far more glorious, unseen by flesh, of a spiritual 
 fabric ; thus are we in reality moving towards heaven, 
 while around us, amid the darkness of our present state, 
 angels and the spirits of just men made perfect see " the 
 shining of a flaming fire," Isa. iv. G, even the splendour 
 of the righteousness of Jesus. The angel of the covenant 
 who appeared to Manoah, when the flame of the sacrifice 
 offered on the rock went up toward heaven, ascended in 
 the flame of the altar, "as in a chariot," waTiep uyr^w-o^- 
 says Josephus ; and like him, the souls of the redeemed 
 pass up towards glory in this precious chariot of salva- 
 tion, pillowed on love, surrounded by an escort of angels, 
 amid pillars of incense of the intercession of our divine 
 Redeemer, and wrapped in the splendour of the righteous- 
 ness of the sacrifice offered for us on the altar of the 
 divine nature of Christ, even "the Rock of ages." 
 
 footed Venus, gently touching -with her band, received the Delian 
 stranger, as he alighted from his heaven-built car." 
 
 Thus, in the Iliad, Dolon says of the chariot of Rhesus, 
 " With gold and silver all his chariot burns." 
 And the same poet thus describes the chariot of Juno : 
 " Hebe to the chariot roll'd 
 The brazen wheels, and joined them to the smooth 
 Steel axle ; twice four spokes divided each, 
 Shot from the centre to the verge. The verge 
 Was gold, by fellies of eternal brass 
 Guarded, a dazzling show! The shining naves 
 Were silver; silver cords, and cords of gold, 
 The seat upbore ; two crescents blazed in front. 
 The pole was argent all, to which she bound 
 The golden yoke with its appendant charge 
 Inserted braces, straps and bands of gold." — Iliad, v. 719. 
 
29G COMMENTARY. 
 
 Ver. 11. — Go forth, ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon 
 with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his 
 espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. 
 
 These words show the reception awaiting us on our 
 arrival in heaven. While the magnificent cortege just 
 noticed are coming up through the wilderness, that greater 
 than Solomon, the Prince of Peace, is standing ready to 
 receive us with all the gladness of a marriage festivity. 
 The daughters of Zion, a general expression for the 
 inmates of heaven, while gazing on this sight, are called 
 on to behold the splendour of the appearance of Jesus 
 and of his retinue as awaiting his redeemed in glory. The 
 Jews knew nothing richer than the attire of a bridegroom ; 
 hence even of the sun, "He cometh forth as a bride- 
 groom out of his chamber." It was here sufficient to 
 mention merely the nuptial crown. The use of nuptial 
 crowns was very ancient and very general.* Selden has 
 gathered the information on this subject in his Uxor Heb. 
 lib. 2. Among the Greeks and Romans, these crowns 
 were usually chaplcts of flowers. The Talmud states that 
 
 * "It was usual with many nations to put crowns or garlands on the 
 heads of new-married persons. The Mishna informs us that this cus- 
 tom prevailed among the Jews; and it should seem from the passago 
 before us, that the ceremony of putting it on was performed by one of 
 Die parents. Among the Greeks the bride was crowned by her mother, 
 as appears from the instance of Iphigenia in Euripides, v. 908. Bochart 
 supposes this the nuptial crown and other ornaments of a bride, alluded 
 to in Ezekiel xvi. 8 — 12. Geogr. Sacr. p. 2, c. 25. The nuptial crowns 
 used among the Greeks and Romans were only chaplcts of leaves or 
 flowers. Among the Hebrews they were not only of these, but also 
 occasionally of richer materials, as gold or silver, according to the rank 
 or wealth of the parties. The original word used in the text is the 
 same used to express a kingly crown in 2 Sam. xii. 80; 1 Chron. xxii. 
 2; and is often described to be of gold, Esth. viii. 1">; ]'s. xxi. 4; but 
 appears to have been worn by those who were no kings, .lob xix. ( J, and 
 a\;i- probably often composed of less valuable materials; as of enamelled 
 work, also of roses, myrtle, and olive-leaves." — Bishop Percy. 
 
CHAPTER III. 11. 297 
 
 the crown of the bridegroom -was of gold or silver, or 
 else a wreath of roses, olives, or myrtle ; that the bride's 
 crown was of gold or silver, in the shape of a tower, like 
 those represented on the head of the heathen goddess 
 Cybele. Jesus is crowned with many crowns. Rev. xix. 
 12. There was no crown given by the ancients for dis- 
 tinguished conduct, which is not merited by our Lord. 
 But on the reception of his ransomed ones, here referred 
 to, there is peculiar propriety in mentioning only the 
 nuptial crown. 
 
 We naturally inquire, How will Jesus receive me on my 
 approach to heaven? The answer is here. He is await- 
 ing us, not as he appeared when discoursing on the mount, 
 when sitting at Jacob's well, when weeping over Jerusa- 
 lem, when ascending from Olivet, or even as when appear- 
 ing to John at Patmos; but invested with all the glory of 
 heaven, and with the affection of the bridegroom receiving 
 the bride. For "as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the 
 bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." Isa. lxii. 5. 
 That time will be a day not of trouble and war, but of 
 marriage festivity; the conflict over; his soul not exceed- 
 ing sorrowful unto death, as in Gethsemane, but exulting 
 in having finished the work of redemption by the destruc- 
 tion of even the last enemy death, and in having nothing 
 henceforth, but the uninterrupted enjoyment of the society 
 of the bride, the wife of the Lamb. To this period had 
 he reference continually in his humiliation. "For the 
 joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despis- 
 ing the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the 
 throne of God." Heb. xii. 2. "The Lord shall rejoice 
 in his works." Ps. civ. 31; especially shall he rejoice in 
 the completion of redemption, and in the finishing stroke 
 of the bringing of many sons unto glory. Amid the dis- 
 couragements, the conflicts, the gloom of earth, with our 
 26 
 
298 COMMENTARY. 
 
 souls passing onward to heaven in a chariot paved with 
 love, borne in the hands of angels, and with Jesus crowned 
 with glory and honour, crowned with a nuptial crown, 
 awaiting us, well may w T e rejoice even in tribulation, and 
 sing, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be 
 joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the gar- 
 ments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of 
 righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with orna- 
 ments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." 
 Isa. lxi. 10. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The soul, thus conveyed to the bosom of Jesus, is op- 
 pressed with a deepening sense of un worthiness, and finds 
 difficulty in believing there can be so glorious a destiny 
 awaiting us; conscious of our corruptions and short-com- 
 ings, we cannot understand how the pure eyes of Jesus 
 can see anything in us attractive. Hence, he takes spe- 
 cial pains to enlarge on this point, and assure us how 
 greatly he delights in beholding our ripening graces. This 
 is the portion of the Scriptures wdiich sets forth what is 
 thought by Christ, the King of glory, concerning those 
 who are despised and offcast by the world. 
 
 When Zeuxis would paint Helen the most beautiful of 
 women, he copied the beauties from several different per- 
 sons, and by concentrating these in an individual, repre- 
 sented a beau ideal of feminine grace.* In these following 
 
 * These principles have been laid down by Cicero for elucidating 
 another subject. "We can conceive of something more beautiful than 
 even the statues of Phidias and the pictures 1 have mentioned, than 
 
CHAPTER IV. 299 
 
 descriptions of both the bride and the beloved, the same 
 course is pursued by the Holy Spirit, save that the beau- 
 ties are here embodied in words instead of colours, and 
 are represented by comparisons drawn from the beauties 
 of nature. Yet it is entirely according to the rules of 
 poetry and the laws of nature, that the beauty of a per- 
 son be illustrated by the beauty of natural objects. Lord 
 Jeffrey says, " Our sense of beauty depends entirely on 
 our previous experience of simpler pleasures or emotions, 
 and consists in the suggestion of agreeable or interesting 
 sensations with which we had formerly been made familiar 
 by the direct and intelligible agency of our common sen- 
 sibilities; and that vast variety of objects to which we 
 give the common name of beautiful, become entitled to 
 that appellation, merely because they all possess the 
 power of recalling or reflecting those sensations of which 
 they have been the accompaniments, or with which they 
 have been associated in our imagination by any other more 
 casual bond of connection." The same, or very similar 
 effects may be produced on the mind from different sources 
 and by different causes. A picture may make impres- 
 sions of beauty very like those raised by a landscape of 
 which it is the copy; music may be so composed as to 
 start feelings of the same kind; a relic, a memento, may 
 be the occasion of reviving a whole cloud of remembran- 
 ces; things very unlike in point of fact may awaken the 
 same sensations in the breast, by suggesting analogies: 
 as when Ossian says, " The music of Carry 1 was like the 
 
 ■which we can think of nothing more perfect in their kind. Yet that 
 artist when about to make the statue of Jupiter and of Minerva, did 
 not thaw his representation from any visible thing, but there "was 
 abiding in his mind an imaginary form of beauty, and studying this 
 attentively, he fashioned his representations after this image." — Cicero, 
 Orator, 2. 
 
300 COMMENTARY. 
 
 memory of joys that are past, pleasant and mournful to 
 the soul." The grounds or causes of beauty, while the 
 result or internal emotion is always identical in its nature, 
 are multiplied and various. In other words, beauty in 
 the mind is one, while outward beauty, or rather the 
 causes of beauty in outward objects, is many." 
 
 Now, in these descriptions, Jesus wishes to give us an 
 idea of the impressions of beauty and pleasure he has in 
 contemplating the souls of the saints. Hence, he must 
 use resemblances, and those of things we can see and 
 enjoy. He might have used comparisons drawn from the 
 angelic host and superior beings; but such illustrations 
 could not have done us any good, for they could not con- 
 vey to us any idea. Nor would it answer to use refer- 
 ences to others of the human race ; for there is no per- 
 fection on earth, and the Scriptures are for the benefit of 
 mankind at large in all ages ; so that the reference should 
 be to things which may be essentially lasting. Here we 
 find an unbounded field opened in the beauties of nature. 
 The resemblance in these comparisons consists not in any 
 outward likeness, but lies in the views and effects pro- 
 duced in the views and sensations of the soul, in the plea- 
 sure had in contemplating these natural objects. Here is 
 light combining seven different colours; how would the 
 philosopher represent what he sees in it, to an ignorant 
 man? He would say, one of these is like the violet, 
 another blue like the sky, a third like the verdure, another 
 like the rose. In these comparisons, the only resemblance 
 is in the effect produced on the mind by the colours. 
 These natural objects and the rainbow, so unlike in other 
 respects, agree in this — in making certain impressions on 
 us which are expressed by our words for those colours. 
 Now the pure in heart are growing like God, who is light ; 
 and Jesus, in pointing out what hidden beauty he sees in 
 
CHAPTER IV. 1. 301 
 
 the soul, says, those graces of the Christian life produce 
 on him impressions more pleasing than those made on us 
 by the lovely objects there specified in nature. And the 
 mode of some interpreters in explaining these, is as unrea- 
 sonable as it would be to run the parallel farther than the 
 mere colour, out into the most minute particulars ; between 
 the tints of the rainbow and the objects by which they 
 mierht be illustrated. 
 
 This is exactly what might be expected in cases like 
 the present. Christ is a spiritual being; and though 
 invested with a body, that is a spiritual body. There can 
 therefore be no outward resemblance between him and 
 these material objects; nor between these and the re- 
 newed soul as it appears in his eyes. That likeness must 
 therefore exist in the emotions and impressions made on 
 the soul. 
 
 Ver. 1. — Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou 
 hast doves' eyes within thy locks. 
 
 See notes on chap. i. 15.* The large beautiful eye of 
 
 * "It was pleasant, now and then, to look up from one's book, as the 
 window was darkened by a slight turban from which rich tresses hung 
 over the shoulder, and dark but gentle eyes shone beneath it. The bosom 
 was generally open, or but partially enclosed by the crape garment 
 within; a light turban, or a handkerchief of Damascus silk, covered 
 the head, from which the rich hair flowed free, or was plaited into two 
 long braids. Suddenly the door opened, the tapestry that hung over it 
 was moved aside by a beautifully rounded arm, on which jewels gleamed, 
 and there stepped forth a female form which fascinated my attention as 
 if it had been a vision. She had a light gauzy turban, with a glittering 
 fringe falling gracefully over the shoulder; masses of black and shining 
 hah - , that made the forehead and delicately browned cheek look as fair 
 as a Circassian's; if a thought of luxury hovered upon the richly rosy 
 mouth, it was awed into admiration by the large dark eyes, so fearless, 
 yet so modest, glancing round as if they read a meaning in everything, 
 and everywhere, yet calm and self-possessed in their consciousness of 
 power." — Warburtoii's Crescent and Cross, ii. 132. 
 
 26* 
 
302 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the Syrian dove appears even more beautiful when seen 
 amid its native groves of noble trees and rich foliage; and 
 hence the eyes of the saint are spoken of as embowered 
 within her locks.* The point of the words does there- 
 fore seem to be this, that Jesus contemplates the expres- 
 sion of love beaming from the soul of the pure in heart, 
 with a pleasure greater than what is felt by us in gazing 
 on the large, sparkling, melting eyes of the Syrian dove, 
 amid the wild beauty of its native groves. 
 
 Thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from mount Gilead. 
 
 The Hebrew here reads, "Thy hair is as a flock of 
 goats that lie down from mount Gilead;" that is, like a 
 flock of goats lying along the sides of mount Gilead from 
 the top towards the bottom, so that they seem to hang 
 from it. The hair of the oriental goat has the fineness 
 of silk, and is observed by an ancient naturalist to bear 
 a great resemblance to the fine ringlets of a woman's 
 hair. The Angora species of goat is probably meant 
 here. The country of Gilead was most beautiful and 
 fertile, and abounding in rich pastures and aromatic 
 growths, among which was the celebrated balsam. The 
 whole region is covered with groups of limestone moun- 
 tains, intersected by fertile valleys, and includes the ter- 
 ritory east of Jordan, as far south as the Jabbok. Hills 
 rising behind hills in pleasing elevations, clothed with 
 luxuriant verdure; the finest trees and noblest oaks; 
 lovely slopes opening in the forest, and affording the best 
 pastures and most lovely flowers; valleys murmuring with 
 
 * We retain the rendering "within thy locks," rather than "within 
 thy veil." 1. The same Hebrew word is translated "locks," in Isa. 
 xlvii. 2. 2. The Arabic root, as given in Gesenius and Winer, favours 
 this. 3. The connection requires this meaning. 4. Locks adds to the 
 consistency of the portrait; and the Jewish females carefully cultivated 
 a luxuriant growth of hair. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 2. 303 
 
 limpid rills ; and the romantic wildness softened by lovely 
 park-like scenes; all combined to form a landscape so 
 delightful that the beholder could hardly persuade him- 
 self it was real. Such mountain scenes were more beau- 
 tiful when on their slopes might have been seen a flock of 
 these beautiful goats lying down. The comparison of a 
 fine head of hair to the long, silk-like fleece of such 
 goats in such a scene, was natural. Few things could be 
 more beautiful than the sight of such a flock reclining 
 on the verdant, balmy slopes of Gilead, on a clear, calm 
 day. Now in conveying to us an idea of the satisfaction 
 Jesus has in dwelling on his saints, he here gives an addi- 
 tional particular, and says, that in contemplating us, 
 another group of delightful impressions is gathered into 
 his heart, like that felt in gazing on a flock of those 
 goats, with long, silky hair, amid the richness, beauty, 
 and grandeur of Gilead. 
 
 Ver. 2.— Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn,* 
 which came up from the washing ; whereof every one bear twins, and 
 none is barren among them. 
 
 Rather, "thy teeth are like a flock of sheep all of the 
 same size." The word rendered "bear twins" is in 
 
 * The word "even shorn," means of an equal size. 1. This is not 
 the common word for shorn in the Hebrew. 2. The word, in other 
 places, has a meaning in accordance with what we here give. 1 Kings 
 vi. 25, "were of one size;" also, 1 Kings vii. 37, "one size." "This 
 expression," says Rosenmuller, "embodies the idea, that two or more 
 things, whether of wood or stone, had been so wrought that the samo 
 relative proportion was preserved among them. By a metaphor thence 
 derived, this Hebrew word is applied to sheep, for showing that through- 
 out the flock they were as much alike as if they had been fashioned 
 from wood or metal, after the same pattern." 3. The design of the 
 comparison requires it, as applying to the teeth, to mean they were of 
 equal size. 4. The idea of perfection is intended ; this is not asso- 
 ciated with sheep shorn; their being of equal size, and coming up from 
 the washing.pool immediately before shearing, represents them as in 
 all respects perfect. 
 
304 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Exod. xxvi. 24, "coupled together," speaking of the 
 boards of the tabernacle, and may refer to the flocks 
 standing close together; as "none is barren" expresses 
 the perfection of the flock. Coming up from the place 
 of washing, they had fleeces in perfection of growth as 
 well as whiteness. The beauty of the teeth is spoken of 
 byLucian: "When laughing, she showed her teeth ; in 
 what way shall I express how white they are, how sym- 
 metrical, how perfectly fitted together? They are like a 
 very beautiful necklace of pearls glistening and of the 
 same size, thus ranged in regular order. They received 
 additional beauty from the redness of the lips ; for they 
 appeared between them, like the cut ivory in Homer, not 
 some broader, some larger than others, or separated, as 
 is very frequently the case, but with a perfect uniformity 
 of all in colour, size, and arrangement."* This is but 
 another mode of illustratiug the same idea, which, to a 
 pastoral people like the Jews, was more beautifully repre- 
 sented in the comparison in the text. The illustration of 
 this verse pours into the mind a flood of delightful ideas, 
 and this goes a step farther in showing the aggregate of 
 pleasing feelings had by Jesus in contemplating the 
 saint. 
 
 Vek. 3. — Thy lij>s are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is 
 comely. 
 
 The colour here meant seems to be a deep red, bright 
 rich crimson: this was the meaning of the word "scar- 
 let," in the time of James I. The colour now known as 
 such, was then unknown. According to Wilkinson, the 
 colour was imparted to the thread before woven into the 
 cloth. The force of the comparison here lies in the 
 
 * Luciau, Imagines, vol. vi. p. 11. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 3. 305 
 
 colour; the lips were delicately free from undue thick- 
 ness, and of the most beautiful deep red. The Jews 
 knew no more beautiful red than the bright rich crimson 
 here noticed as appearing in a skein of thread carefully 
 dyed. 
 
 "Thy speech," or, as we should read, by a common 
 figure of rhetoric, thy 'mouth is beautiful.'* While the 
 colour of the lips is thus beautiful, the whole mouth is 
 equally perfect. 
 
 Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate -within thy locks. 
 
 This simile is still common in the East. Thus, in an 
 anonymous Persian ode, cited by Sir William Jones, 
 "The pomegranate brings to my mind the blushes of 
 my beloved, when her cheeks are coloured with a modest 
 resentment." The word temples is used for the upper 
 part of the cheeks near them, and the design of this 
 passage is to express the peculiar freshness, beauty, and 
 ruddy colour of the cheeks. Some would make allusion 
 here to the flower of the "pomegranate, rich with its 
 bright green leaves, and its blossoms of that beautiful 
 and vivid red which is excelled by few even of the most 
 brilliant flowers of the East." We suppose the reference 
 is however to a piece of the pomegranate, which is about 
 the size of an orange, and contains within its hard, 
 brown rind, a number of cells divided by membraneous 
 partitions, in which lie in rows the seeds or grains, pel- 
 lucid, tinged with red, and shining like crystal. When 
 cut up, or bursting and displaying its seeds, this fruit 
 
 * " Both ancient and modern writers of the East agree in describing 
 the mouth with simplicity, ' Her mouth small and vermilion,' says the 
 writer of the Arabian Nights Entertainments. 'Her lips are like a 
 thread of scarlet,' says the Jewish root," — /farmer, 289. 
 
306 COMMENTARY. 
 
 was of the richest vermilion. Hence the Portuguese 
 poet, as quoted by Good, 
 
 " The pomegranate of orange hue, 
 Whose open heart a brighter red displays 
 Than that which sparkles in the ruby's blaze." 
 
 Araono; the ladies of Persia the hair is still suffered to 
 fall loosely over the forehead and cheeks, and is generally 
 perfumed with the most exquisite essences. An oriental 
 poet, quoted by Good, says, "0 thou, whose lips, which 
 outshine the grains of the pomegranate, are embellished, 
 when thou speakest, by the brightness of thy teeth!" 
 And in the spirit of the foregoing illustrations, is the 
 following : " Thy lips, thou most beautiful among 
 women ! are a bandhujiva flower ; the lustre of the mad- 
 huca beams on thy cheek ; thine eye outshines the blue 
 lotos; thy nose is a bud of the tila; the cunda-blossom 
 yields to thy teeth." 
 
 Ver. 4. — Thy neck is like the tower of David, builded for an ar- 
 moury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of 
 mighty men. 
 
 This tower of David was probably the noblest of the 
 towers built by him, of white marble, on a summit of 
 Zion. Sandys says, "Aloft on the uttermost angle of 
 mount Zion, stood the toAver of David, whose ruins are 
 yet extant, of a wonderful strength and admirable beauty, 
 adorned with shields and the arms of the mighty." 
 Speaking of Tyre, the prophet says, "They hang their 
 shields upon thy walls round about ; they have made thy 
 beauty perfect." Ezek. xxvii. 11. Thus Pausanias, con- 
 cerning the temple of Jupiter at Olympia: "On each 
 corner of the roof is placed a gilded vase, and on the 
 top of the pediment a statue of Victory, gilded likewise, 
 under which is hung up a golden shield, with a figure of 
 
CHAPTER IV. 4. 307 
 
 the gorgon Medusa carved upon it. The inscription on 
 the shield imports it to have been a gift of the Tana- 
 greans for a victory gained over the Argives and 
 Athenians. On the cornice, which runs round the 
 temple on the outside over the columns, are hung one 
 and twenty gilt shields, a present from Mummius, the 
 Roman general, who took and destroyed Corinth." 
 According to Layard, "The castles of the maritime 
 people, whose conquest is recorded by the Kouyunjik 
 bas-reliefs, are distinguished by the shields hung round 
 the walls. Around the sides of the vessels were also 
 suspended the shields of the warriors."* The ancients 
 bestowed great care on their shields, adorning them with 
 precious metals and elaborate engraving, as may be seen 
 from the description of the shield of Achilles in the 
 Iliad. " King Solomon made two hundred targets of 
 beaten' gold. And he made three hundred shields of 
 beaten gold ; three pounds of gold went to one shield ; 
 and the king put them in the house of the forest of 
 Lebanon." 1 Kings x. 16. When the text says, "all 
 shields of mighty men," it means simply all were shields 
 the most costly and beautiful. As the Jews built their 
 nobler edifices of white marble, a tower of this kind 
 rising on the summit of mount Zion, hung around with 
 shields of gold like those of Solomon, would furnish an 
 exquisite simile for illustrating the beauty of the graceful 
 neck of the bride, adorned with the rich ornaments and 
 necklace of those bygone ages. We can conceive of 
 nothing more appropriate and beautiful. The shields of 
 the warriors associate with the beauty of the tower the 
 recollection of the noble deeds and triumphs in which 
 those shields had been borne; as the pleasure had by 
 
 * Layard's Nineveh, vol. ii. 290. 
 
308 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Jesus in contemplating his saints is increased by the 
 remembrance of his sufferings and victories in working 
 out their salvation. 
 
 Ver. 5. — Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, 
 which feed among the lilies. 
 
 All the monuments and pictures of ancient Egypt 
 show us that the ancient oriental ladies dressed so as to 
 leave the busts fully open to view, and of course there 
 could then be no impropriety in alluding to, or describing 
 that part of the person. It may be added, that this is 
 the custom of modern oriental,* as well as of ancient 
 oriental dress. Lilies abounded in their pasture-grounds ; 
 and the young twin roes, with eyes uncommonly black 
 and large, creatures so exquisitely beautiful, that their 
 name, as here used, signifies loveliness in general, would 
 present a scene of the greatest pastoral beauty, while 
 feeding in meadows overspread with those delightful 
 flowers. In Proverbs there is a like allusion, " Rejoice 
 with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving 
 hind and pleasant roe ; let her breasts satisfy thee at all 
 times, and be thou ravished always with her love." Chap, 
 v. 19. 
 
 Now, in the comparisons of the foregoing verses, the 
 thing to be illustrated is the general beauty of the pious 
 soul in the eyes of Jesus. The point around which they 
 
 * " The virgins wore their hair floating in exuberant curls over 
 their shoulders ; their dress is indescribable by male lips ; all I can 
 say of it is, that it is very graceful and pretty, and lavishly open at 
 the bosom." — Warburton. 
 
 Theocritus puts the following into the mouth of Grecian virgins, 
 on a nuptial occasion: 
 
 "While we, descending to the city gate, 
 Arrayed in decent robes that sweep the ground, 
 With naked bosoms, and with hair unbound." — Idyl. xv. 184. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 5. 309 
 
 are all clustered is stated in ver. 1, "Thou art fair;" this 
 is repeated in ver. 7, "Thou art all fair." This is the 
 golden thread which runs through this part of the alle- 
 gory, and unites these poetical allusions in one string of 
 unearthly pearls. Losing sight of this, most commen- 
 tators have marred the passage by separating these 
 emblems from one another, and appropriating them to 
 other uses than the one intended by the Holy Spirit. 
 What would be thought of a person who, under the plea 
 of heightening the effect of a beautiful picture by a great 
 artist, could cut out the several figures, the trees, the 
 waters, the tinted clouds, and exhibit them apart in every 
 imaginable variety of light and position? This would 
 show something more than want of judgment. No 
 argument would be necessary for making us feel such was 
 never the mind of the artist. The common method of 
 expounding this and the other kindred passages in the 
 Song, seems no less unreasonable. The Apollo Belvidere 
 can be appreciated, not by breaking off and examining 
 severally an arm, a leg, or any other part detached, but 
 by studying the whole, uninjured and untouched. These 
 exquisite portraitures by the Holy Spirit must be viewed 
 in the same way, as they are set constituting a group, a 
 whole ; and the various ideas of beauty radiating from 
 them, must be gathered into a focus on the mind. How 
 beautiful the scenes, how rich the pleasure, in contem- 
 plating the flock of silken-haired goats on beautiful, 
 verdant Gilead; the even-sized, purely white, in all 
 points perfect, flock of sheep coming up amid the beauties 
 of early spring, from groves beside the pure waters ; the 
 deep, rich crimson of the scarlet thread ; the vermilion 
 blush of the slice of pomegranate ; the tower of David, of 
 white marble, hung round with costly shields, the me- 
 mentos of noble achievements, rising in delicate ma'estv 
 27 " J 
 
310 COMMENTARY. 
 
 on mount Zion ; the twin gazelles feeding among the 
 fresh-blown lilies ; — what a strong impression of beauty is 
 made on the mind by viewing any one of those scenes at 
 a time; how overpowering the sense of the beautiful, 
 could the heart receive at the same time all the delightful 
 impressions from these different sources, combined in one 
 luxurious, glorious flood. Yet even that, however over- 
 whelming and perhaps impossible for us, could give but a 
 faint representation of the beauty seen by Jesus in the 
 humblest of his saints, and the pleasure had by him in 
 dwelling on their beauties of holiness. We are justified 
 in saying, that the perfection of the nature of the 
 redeemed will be the crowning beauty of all the works of 
 God, the full-blown flower of which universal creation 
 may be called the trunk and stem. Surely the glorified 
 humanity of the Son of God, the nature which is taken 
 into union with the Godhead, must surpass every other 
 manifestation of creative power. That nature, when fully 
 glorified, will differ infinitely more from the same nature 
 seen in its germ in the babe of Bethlehem, than the 
 beauteous flower differs from the humble seed. It is 
 reasonable, it is right, that Jesus should thus honour the 
 nature taken into oneness with his divinity, by making 
 it the highest possible development of created beauty, 
 splendour, and glory. But to this glorified nature of the 
 man Christ Jesus, the nature of his redeemed people shall 
 be made like. "Who shall change our vile body that it 
 may be fashioned like unto his glorious body," Phil. iii. 
 21; "When he shall appear, we shall be like him," 
 1 John iii. 2. And with him there is no succession, all is 
 present, so that he now sees in his saints all the glory 
 w T hich shall ever invest them, and which we may be years 
 or ages in beholding ; and thus contemplating it, he 
 would give us an idea of his pleasure therein by such 
 
CHAPTER IV. C. 3U 
 
 language as in the text, by referring us to our delight in 
 gazing on whatever is most beautiful in the present 
 world. The rich, the great, the noble of earth, look 
 on the humble believer, only as Dives looked on Lazarus, 
 to pity or despise ; as the Jews looked on him who was in 
 their eyes as a root out of a dry ground, with no form, 
 nor comeliness, nor beauty, Isa, liii. 2 ; yet as certainly 
 as the human nature of Jesus has been glorified and 
 exalted far above all principality, and power, and might, 
 and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in 
 this world, but also in that which is to come, Eph. i. 21, 
 so certainly shall these despised ones of Jesus be glorified 
 with him, and be with him where he is, that they may 
 behold his glory. John xvii. 24. Why should we heed 
 the censure or praise of the world, when we are thus 
 esteemed by the King of kings ? 
 
 Ver. 6.— Until tbe day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me 
 to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 
 
 While in this world preparing for the day of our 
 espousals, we are not cut off from communication with 
 Jesus. ^ He who views us with the delight set forth in the 
 foregoing verses, has appointed a place where he may 
 always be found by us at present. That place is desig- 
 nated in this verse. For an explanation of the first 
 clause, see chap. ii. 17. When passing over Lebanon 
 and by Damascus, Pompcy the Great is said to have 
 passed through sweet smelling groves and woods of frank- 
 incense and balsam. "The approach to Lebanon is 
 adorned with olive-plantations, vineyards, and luxuriant 
 fields; and its lower regions, besides the olive and the 
 vine, are beautified with the myrtle, the styrax, and other 
 odoriferous shrubs; and the perfume which exhales from 
 these plants is increased by the fragrance of the cedars 
 
312 COMMENTARY. 
 
 which crown its summits, or garnish its declivities. The 
 great rupture which runs a long way up into the moun- 
 tain, and is on both sides exceedingly steep and high, is 
 clothed from the top to the bottom with fragrant ever- 
 greens, and everywhere refreshed with streams descend- 
 ing from the rocks in beautiful cascades. The cedar- 
 apples growing on the famous cedars must be classed 
 with the scented fruits of the oriental regions ; and have 
 perhaps contributed greatly to the fragrance for which 
 the sacred writers so frequently celebrate the mountains 
 of Lebanon."* 
 
 The mountain of frankincense is the place where Jesus 
 has established the mercy-seat. Zion, where our Lord 
 dwelt amid the Shcchinah, was a mountain of incense 
 gushing from the censer and the golden altar; but the 
 place where Jesus now dwells by his Spirit and meets 
 with his saints, he would represent as fragrant with richer 
 dews, so rich that here the odours come not from one 
 altar or censer, but from groves crowded with trees of 
 incense, every one of which is an altar, and with flowers 
 every one of which is a censer, pouring upon the dewy 
 air unearthly fragrance. Here, too, the point of the com- 
 parison is in the pleasing effect produced on the soul: the 
 person who might go up into a hill of myrrh and frankin- 
 cense at dewy eve, could not have emotions so pleasant 
 as those arising in the heart drawing near unto the pre- 
 sence of Jesus and the sacred atmosphere spread by the 
 Holy Spirit around the throne of grace. Fragrant odours 
 are a favourite emblem in the Scriptures for expressing 
 the gracious influences of the Spirit. 
 
 How delightful arc the spiritual odours diffused around 
 the heart at the mercy-seat, (.-ailed a mountain, because 
 apart from the busy scenes of the world; because the 
 * Taxtoii's Illustrations. 
 
CHAPTER IV. G. 313 
 
 appointed place of God's meeting with his ancient people 
 was on mount Moriah; and because, when Jesus wished 
 to pray, he went apart into a mountain, Matt. xiv. 23; 
 Luke ix. 2. As we come to the mercy- seat with our spi- 
 ritual apprehensions enlivened by grace, we feel ourselves 
 entering an atmosphere different from that of the world, 
 and breathing an air so pure, so rich, so calm, that it 
 must be a foretaste of heaven. At times of special mani- 
 festations of the Holy Spirit, the believer may sometimes 
 feel as though in an atmosphere of calmness, purity, 
 peace, and softened delight, around the soul, different 
 from anything of this world — something which is to the 
 heart what the air of heaven must be to the spiritual body, 
 than which the air of the Holy City could hardly be more 
 pure, refreshing, and pleasant. This is the Holy Spirit 
 diffusing around us more and more of the amosphere 
 which the soul will breathe in heaven ; and at the same 
 time making us feel how appropriately the place where 
 such blessedness is enjoyed, is called the mountain of 
 myrrh and hill of frankincense. 
 
 " In the centre of a world whose soil 
 Is rank with all unkindness, compassed round 
 With such memorials, I have sometimes felt 
 It was no momentary happiness 
 To have one Enclosure where the voice that speaks 
 In envy or detraction is not heard ; 
 Which malice may not enter; where the traces 
 Of evil inclinations are unknown; 
 Where love and pity tenderly unite 
 With resignation ; and no jarring tone 
 Intrudes, the peaceful concert to disturb 
 Of amity and gratitude." 
 
 To this place will Jesus get till the day break and the 
 shadows flee away; till we pass into the final state of 
 glory where all these former things are done away, and 
 
 27* 
 
314 COMMENTARY. 
 
 there shall be no night there. The rncrcy-seat is the 
 appointed place of meeting with him till that time. Not 
 only will he come to that place occasionally in answer 
 to prayer, as in chap. ii. 17 ; he may always be found 
 there. Whenever we wish to meet with Jesus, we have 
 only to betake ourselves to the place of prayer. After 
 the day breaks, he will be found by us in the heavenly 
 Jerusalem, where we shall no longer enjoy his society 
 dimly, as in a grove of frankincense, amid the shadows 
 of night, but clearly, perfectly, knowing even as we are 
 known. 1 Cor. xiii. 10. 
 
 Ver. 7. — Thou art all fair, my love ; there is no spot in thee. 
 
 This verse is the first of eight reasons he gives for 
 encouraging us to meet him on the hill of frankincense, 
 at the throne of grace. See chap. i. 15, 16. There, he 
 speaks of the saint as being fair in his eyes; here, as 
 being all fair, "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such 
 thing." Eph. v. 27. How fair were Moses and Elijah 
 when on the mount they appeared with Jesus in glory, 
 being made like him ; and his face did shine as the sun, 
 and his raiment was white as the light. Luke ix. 29. 
 Now, with Jesus there is no such thing as time; he 
 inhabiteth eternity; with him there is no succession, all 
 is present ; and we are in his eyes attired with his glo- 
 rious righteousness and luminous with the splendours of 
 his Spirit; we are viewed by him precisely as we arc 
 when our sanctification is finished. 
 
 How kind, therefore, are these words, and how fitted 
 for encouraging us to frequent the throne of grace. 
 They express what is precisely the first encouragement 
 necessary for us in coining to him in prayer. The more 
 fervent our love, and the stronger our apprehension of 
 his glory, the deeper is the sense of our vilencss, unwor- 
 
CHAPTER IV. 8. 315 
 
 thiness, and guilt, often so strong as to make us hesitate, 
 under the impression that he cannot receive such sinners 
 as ourselves. But he cheers us to come, assuring us 
 that he has blotted out all our iniquities; that his blood 
 cleanseth from all sin ; that he will purge us with hyssop, 
 and we shall be clean; he will wash us and make us 
 whiter than snow. Ps. li. 7. 
 
 Ver. 8. — Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Leb- 
 anon : look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and 
 Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 
 
 Lebanon is well known as the noble range on the north 
 of the land of promise, "that goodly mountain" which 
 Moses so desired to visit. Amana was probably the 
 southern part of Anti-Libanus, and was so named, per- 
 haps, from the river which had its sources at its foot, 
 called in 2 Kings v. 12, Abana, but in the margin, 
 Amana. Shenir and Hermon were names for the same 
 mountain; Hermon perhaps the name for the whole 
 mountain ; and Sirion the name for the part of it belong- 
 ing to the Sidonians; Shenir for that belonging to the 
 Amorites. All these lay in the same region in the 
 northern borders of Palestine, and while abounding in 
 the grandest and most attractive mountain scenery, were 
 infested with leopards and lions, no less than with rob- 
 bers, so that they might truly be called " the mountains 
 of prey." Ps. lxxvi. 4. The view from these summits 
 was extensive and unsurpassed.* 
 
 * "The lofty summits of Lebanon were the chosen haunts of various 
 beasts of prey, the print of whose feet Maundrell and his party ob- 
 served in the snow. But they are not confined to these situations ; a 
 recent traveller continued descending several hours, through varied 
 scenery, presenting at every turn some new feature, distinguished 
 either by its picturesque beauty or awful sublimity. On arriving at 
 one of the lower swells, which form the base of the mountain, he and 
 
31G COMMENTARY. 
 
 Now these mountains, thus beautiful but dangerous, 
 are put in contrast with the mountain of myrrh and hill 
 of frankincense. The beloved would have his spouse 
 leave the former, and seek his society in the retreats of 
 the latter. The verse does then give a second reason for 
 dwelling with Jesus at the mercy-seat. Those mountains 
 are like the world, with its high places and pleasures, 
 attractive but dangerous, beautiful to the eye, but filled 
 with lurking places of the most stealthy and deadly foes. 
 "The mountain of the Lord's house," Isa. ii. 2, Moriah, 
 was more glorious and excellent, or, as it may better be 
 read, brighter, more glorious, than the mountains of prey, 
 Lebanon, Amana, Hermon, and Shenir; because, how- 
 ever rich the natural scenery of these latter, they were 
 infested with beasts of prey, while the former was the 
 place where Jehovah had in Salem his tabernacle, and 
 his dwelling-place in Zion; where was the word of life, 
 the emblems of heaven, the divine oracle, the cloud of 
 glory overshadowing the mercy-seat. 
 
 The world is attractive and beautiful, but dangerous 
 and deadly. Amid its specious scenes are lurking 
 enemies, like the lion, powerful, 1 Pet. v. 8, and like the 
 leopard, stealthy, Eph. vi. 11. In circumstances of the 
 greatest prosperity, our adversary, the devil, with his 
 agents, wicked men, "lieth in wait, secretly, as a lion in 
 his den, that they may privily shoot at the upright in 
 heart." From all these dangers and snares, the throne 
 of grace is a refuge. This is established, not among the 
 
 his party broke rather abruptly into a deep and thick forest. As they 
 traversed the bocage, the bowlings of wild animals were distinctly 
 heard from the recesses." — Paxton. 
 
 " We lodged this night on the very top of Libanus. We saw in the 
 snow, prints of the feet of several wild beasts, which are the sole pro- 
 prietors of these parts of the mountains." — Maundrell, 140. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 9. 317 
 
 mountains of prey, but on the hill of frankincense, on 
 Zion, where is Jehovah's dwelling-place amid the innu- 
 merable company of angels: "No lion shall be there, nor 
 any ravenous beast shall go up thereon ; it shall not be 
 found there; but the redeemed shall walk there." Isa. 
 xxxv. 9. There, we do indeed dwell in the secret place 
 of the Most High, and abide under the shadow of the 
 Almighty. There is no place of safety on earth, save in 
 that sacred refuge, under that heavenly shade. And 
 while those who are enjoying the world are continually 
 in greater danger than those wandering among dens of 
 ravenous beasts ; they who are in the company of Jesus 
 have not only a perfect security against every possible 
 evil, but are breathing an air richer than frankincense, 
 and enjoying confidential friendship with the King of 
 kings. Well may we, therefore, say with the Psalmist, 
 "Because the Lord hath chosen Zion, because he hath 
 desired it for his habitation ; this is my rest for ever, here 
 will I dwell, for I have desired it." Ps. cxxxii. 13. 
 
 Ver. 9. — Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou 
 hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy 
 neck. 
 
 After all the attempts to alter the shade of meaning 
 by another translation and emendation of the text, the 
 common version seems the best. The idea is, that even a 
 partial glimpse of the beauties and ornaments of the 
 bride, had so filled the heart of the beloved with intense 
 affection, as to unheart, unman him; and the ardour of 
 love thus felt, he gives as another reason for her coming 
 away to meet him at the appointed place, on the moun- 
 tain of myrrh. He calls her "my sister, my spouse," or, 
 as it might be, "my sister-spouse." The word sister is 
 applied to the wife in Tobit vii. 4, 16. Yet, keeping in 
 mind this book is an allegory, as stated in the Introduc- 
 
318 COMMENTARY. 
 
 tion, we imagine the appellation of "sister" is here used 
 for expressing more perfectly than "spouse" alone would 
 do, the relation of Jesus and his people. Language can 
 at best give us only a very imperfect expression of spirit- 
 ual and heavenly things. Hence the necessity for multi- 
 plying types, illustrations, and epithets, in the Scriptures. 
 So, while the relation between Jesus and the redeemed 
 soul may in many respects be represented by that existing 
 between husband and bride, it is in some essential points 
 different ; and that difference may be marked by the rela- 
 tion of brother and sister, for separating therefrom all 
 unhallowed and carnal ideas. The union between Christ 
 and his people is one combining the purest and noblest 
 characteristics of both the unions just mentioned, sepa- 
 rated from everything earthly and sensual, having the 
 ardour of affection and the oneness of the marriage rela- 
 tion, with the purity and sacredness of a brother's and 
 sister's love. This j^ a distinction of very great impor- 
 tance for understanding rightly the Song. Hence the 
 Holy Spirit is so careful to repeat the appellation "my 
 sister," as well as spouse. See chaps, iv. 12; v. 1, 2. 
 This repetition has not been made without design by that 
 pen of inspiration which never uses a superfluous word ; 
 and the many pitiable interpretations put by excellent 
 men on some passages, show the necessity there was for 
 closing the door against those unfortunate misapprehen- 
 sions Avhich this single word "sister" thus introduced and 
 thus repeated was intended to prevent. The delicacy and 
 emphasis with which this is here done by the Holy Spirit, 
 is worthy of all admiration. 
 
 Like the Queen of Shcba, of whom it is recorded that 
 on seeing the glory of Solomon " there was no more spirit 
 in her," 1 Kings x. 5, the beloved says his heart was car- 
 ried away with one of her eyes, with one chain of her 
 
CIIAPTER IV. 9. 319 
 
 nec k — a most delicate and forcible way of expressing the 
 very great intensity of bis affection. It is not intimated 
 that he was not acquainted with the full effect of all her 
 charms ; he seems to use this language as the best mode 
 of setting forth the delight had in her beauty. The 
 heart was ravished by merely a partial view of her loveli- 
 ness ; what shall then be said of the effect produced by 
 the full disclosure of her beauty ! Oriental poets often 
 use the same language: "I meditate on the ravishing 
 glances darted from her eye." And again, "Bring 
 speedily to my presence her who has stolen the heart of 
 Mejnun with a glance."* Theocritus speaks of "A most 
 bitter wound inflicted on the breast by the dart of power- 
 ful Venus." And speaking of a beauty, Horace men- 
 tions the graceful turn of her neck. Wilkinson says 
 of the Egyptians, "Handsome and richly ornamented 
 necklaces were a principal part of the dress both of men 
 and women. They consisted of gold, or of beads of vari- 
 ous qualities and shapes, disposed according to fancy, 
 generally with a large drop or figure in the centre. Some 
 wore simple gold chains, in imitation of string, to which 
 a stone scarabteus, set in the same precious metal, was 
 appended. A set of small cups, or covered saucers, of 
 bronze gilt, hanging from a chain of the same materials, 
 were sometimes worn by women; a necklace of which has 
 been found belonging to a Theban lady, offering a striking 
 contrast in their simplicity to the gold leaves inlaid with 
 lapis lazuli, red and green stones, of another she wore; 
 which served, with many more in her possession, to excite 
 the admiration of her friends, "f Withdrawing from the 
 
 * A Persian poem quoted by Sir William Jones. 
 
 f Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 375. In the Hecuba of Euripides, 
 the chorus speak of the daughter of Priam, slain at the tomb of Achil- 
 les, dyed in blood gushing in a dark stream from her neck adorned with 
 
320 COMMENTARY. 
 
 spouse for the mountain of myrrh, the beloved has a 
 glimpse of her beautiful necklace and melting eye, as bid- 
 ding him adieu; and then in this verse assures her she 
 ■would not fail to meet him on the hill of frankincense, 
 did she know the ardour and intensity of his love. After 
 the farewell spoken, while casting a longing, lingering 
 look behind, he found a single glance of her eye and view 
 of the golden chain of her neck causing his affection to 
 burst forth afresh, in a vehement flame; from this she 
 might judge with what delight he would receive her in 
 the balmy retreats of their appointed place of meeting. 
 AndJ'rom this we may understand with what a heart- 
 warm welcome Jesus will gather us to his bosom, when we 
 withdraw to meet him at the throne of grace. In coming 
 to the mercy-seat we are apt to draw near rather with a 
 feeling that our Lord permits it, than with the impression 
 he is deeply anxious to receive us, and meets us with 
 delight. Through lingering unbelief, the sense of unwor- 
 thiness makes us think he can hardly rejoice to meet us. 
 But, "Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh right- 
 eousness, those that remember thee in thy ways." Isa. 
 lxiv. 5. Our besetting sin, the desire for merit, makes 
 us hesitate. Jesus will love us no better in heaven than 
 he loves us now. Merit in us, personal excellence, has 
 nothing to do with his love. This will be no stronger 
 towards us when invested with the spiritual body in glory, 
 
 gold. And Homer mentions Amphimachus coming, like a girl, to tho 
 war, arrayed in gold. And in the Homeric Hymns we have the same 
 
 idea, — 
 
 "When he the goddess viewed without disguise, 
 
 Her shining neck beheld, and radiant eyes, — 
 Awed and abashed, he turned liis head .".side, 
 Attempting with his robe his face to hide, 
 Confused with wonder and with fear oppressed." 
 
 Hymn to Venus, 182. 
 Sec also notes on chap. vii. 2. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 10. 3ll 
 
 than it is at present, amid our infirmities and imperfect 
 sanctification. The spring and strength of his affection 
 is entirely apart from us, and independent of anything 
 like goodness in ourselves. His love cannot know in- 
 crease nor diminution. lie cannot welcome us with any 
 stronger affection to heaven, than that with which he now 
 welcomes us to the throne of grace. The words of this 
 verse arc but another mode of expressing the greatness 
 of the love of Christ, and his readiness to receive us, as 
 a motive for our coming with "boldness to the throne of 
 grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help 
 in time of need." Heb. iv. 16. That love is represented 
 as passing knowledge. Eph. iii. 19. If it passeth know- 
 ledge, it must pass expression; and therefore such lan- 
 guage as this must be viewed as an effort for conveying, 
 though vet in a very dim way, all that can now be known 
 of this glorious and incomprehensible truth. The person 
 whose heart has been completely carried away with the 
 loveliness of a loved one, cannot be so delighted to wel- 
 come her, as Jesus is to welcome us to his bosom in 
 prayer. He would therefore have us to leave the attrac- 
 tions of this dangerous and ensnaring world, for enjoying 
 his society at the mercy-seat; and to come not with the 
 hesitancy of Esther, but with the feeling that he loves us 
 thus intensely. 
 
 Vbr. 10. — How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! bow much bel- 
 ter is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments th:tn all 
 spices! 
 
 The words give a fourth reason for encouraging us to 
 come to Jesus in prayer — the beauty and delightfulness 
 to him of the graces of piety in the believer's heart. 
 Among these excellences, the first mentioned is love. 
 The reason of this may be readily understood from 1 Cor. 
 xiii. Moral beauty is more glorious and admirable than 
 28 
 
822 COilMENTA R Y. 
 
 material beauty. The former is the life, the perfection 
 of the latter. Of moral excellence, love is the crown. 
 Love is the glory of the character of God, the sum of his 
 perfections. Love in the believing soul is the image of 
 the love of God, new-forming there by the Holy Spirit. 
 Well might Jesus therefore say, that to him this love is 
 beautiful. This is the beauty of all other beauties, the 
 reflection of his own divine image. The gem is none the 
 less beautiful, none the less valuable, though not set, 
 though in the mine; and this love may be still in its 
 incipient state in the heart, imbedded amid the corruption 
 of our many infirmities, not yet set in the spiritual body, 
 and nevertheless be beautiful in the eyes of Jesus. This 
 love will not be more beautiful hereafter, even in heaven, 
 than it is now. It may there shine with greater bril- 
 liancy, not with greater attractiveness. Overwhelmed 
 with the sense of unworthiness, we feel that in us, that is, 
 in our flesh, dwelleth no good thing, Rom. vii. 18; and 
 can only say that amid these corruptions, we see nothing 
 of a redeeming character but love to Christ, while even 
 this is frail and inconstant, borne down too often by pre- 
 dominating infirmities. "Lord, thou knowest all things: 
 thou knowest that I love thee." But on this love, even 
 thus in its incipient state, Jesus looks with delight. This 
 makes our society pleasant to him. Even where persons 
 have no bodily beauty, loveliness of heart and manners 
 will make us forget even their ugliness, and cause us to 
 take more pleasure in their company, than we could do, 
 if they had beauty without loveliness. Looking not on 
 the outward appearance, but on the heart, our Lord wel- 
 comes to his presence and companionship all who possess 
 this love. lie says, "How much better is tins love than 
 wine!" that is, 'None can tell how much more delightful 
 to me than the most exquisite enjoyments of sense, is 
 
CHAPTER IV. 11. 323 
 
 this love shed abroad in thy heart by the Holy Spirit.' 
 See chap. i. 2. Not only is our love thus agreeable to 
 him : equally so are all those graces which are the fruit 
 of the Spirit. Gal. v. 22 ; Eph. v. 9. How much better 
 "the smell of thine ointments than all spices !" See chap. 
 i. 3. It is indeed hard for us, oppressed as the pious 
 heart ever is with the sense of deep, deep unworthiness, 
 to realize that Jesus' will receive us with open arms in 
 prayer. But how can we hesitate when he encourages us 
 by such representations as that contained in this verse? 
 The impression produced on him by these graces of holi- 
 ness, is more grateful than to us is the combined fra- 
 grance of all spices. 
 
 Ver. 11. — Thy lips, my spouse, drop as the honey-comb: honey and 
 milk are under thy tongue. 
 
 Here he would encourage us in communion with him 
 by assuring us how pleasant to his heart is our language 
 of prayer and praise. This comparison of agreeable 
 speech to honey is very common in ancient profane 
 authors, as well as in the Scriptures. "Pleasant words 
 are as an honey-comb, sweet to the soul and health to the 
 bones." Prov. xvi. 24; v. 3. "How sweet are thy words 
 unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth." 
 Ps. cxix. 103. "More to be desired are they than gold, 
 yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and 
 the honey- comb." Ps. xix. 10. Hence Xenophon was 
 called the Attic bee ; and in consequence of the beauty 
 of the writings of Plato, a swarm of bees was fabled to 
 have settled on his lips when an infant. Speaking of his 
 ode, Pindar says, towards its conclusion, 
 Amid the .Eolian blasts of flutes, 
 This honey mixed with milk I send. 
 
 Thus Homer says of Nestor, 
 
 Words sweeter from his tongue than honey flowed. 
 
324 COMMENTA R Y. 
 
 An oriental poet mentions, 
 
 " Those ruby lips whence honied sweets distil." 
 
 And again, "0 grant me a draught of honey from the 
 lotos of thy mouth." 
 
 Thus Milton's description of Belial: 
 
 " His tongue 
 Dropped manna, and couid make the worse appear 
 The better reason." 
 
 While the poison of asps is under the lips of the ungodly, 
 Horn. iii. 13, honey and milk are under the tongue of the 
 spouse. So Theocritus, 
 
 "More sweet her lips than milk in luscious rills, 
 Lips, whence pure honey, as she speaks, distils." 
 
 Nothing could express to the ancients more strongly 
 than such comparisons, the idea of speech, sweet, pleas- 
 ant, and captivating. The Holy Spirit would therefore 
 assure us by this verse, that to Jesus no language, not 
 even the highest praise of unfallen angels, is more 
 delightful than the words of repentance, faith, prayer, 
 and praise, offered at the mercy-seat by the contrite 
 heart. Our Lord himself is included when it is said, 
 " Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, 
 more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need 
 no repentance." Luke xv. 7. See Song ii. 14. He sees 
 a fountain of this excellent discourse under the tongue. 
 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh; 
 and this language of holiness from the lips of the re- 
 deemed can never fail, when the Holy Spirit is in tiie 
 heart a well of ■water springing up into everlasting life. 
 No music is richer, none more melodious, none more 
 pleasing, than a chorus of infant voices in Jesus' praise; 
 and we can readily see with what pleasure the hosts of 
 
CHAPTER IV. 11. 325 
 
 heaven, and chief among them, our Lord, must hearken to 
 the pious utterances of those who are now in this world, 
 in the infancy of their spiritual being and eternal life. 
 
 And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 
 
 That is, 'Come without hesitation to meet me in 
 prayer, because thou mayest be assured, that nothing, 
 not even the fragrance of Lebanon, cm be more grateful 
 to the human senses than is thy presence to me.' See 
 ver. 6. Musreus speaks of "the heights of odorous 
 Lebanon." Lebanon abounded in odoriferous trees of 
 various kinds, from which fragrant gums were extracted, 
 especially frankincense. Maundrell says, " It is clothed 
 in fragrant greens from top to bottom." Its wine had a 
 peculiar fragrance: "The scent thereof shall be as the 
 wine of Lebanon." Hos. xiv. 7. On account of its frag- 
 rance, the wood of the cedars of Lebanon was used for 
 making precious pieces of furniture, especially chests, for 
 keeping rich garments. Odoriferous garments are thus 
 mentioned in the Odyssey, lib. xxi. 52; and Calypso 
 gave such to Ulysses, lib. v. 26-4. Speaking of an 
 individual, Moschus says, 
 
 Whose heavenly fragrance e'en afar exceeds 
 The odours breathing from the flowery meads. 
 
 Hence the Psalmist, "All thy garments smell of myrrh, 
 aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces." And the 
 patriarch "smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed 
 him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of 
 a field which the Lord hath blessed."* As in chap. i. 3, 
 
 * The orientals endeavour to perfume their clothes in various ways. 
 They sprinkle them with sweet-scented oils, extracted from spices, they 
 fumigate them with the most valuable incense or scented wood, and 
 also sew the wood of the aloe in their clothes. They are universally 
 fond of having their garments strongly perfumed; so much so, that 
 
320 C M H E N T A R Y. 
 
 the perfume expressed the loveliness of Jesus and the 
 pleasantness of his society to us; in this verse the 
 fragrance of Lebanon, than which they knew nothing of 
 the kind having greater richness, freshness, and excel- 
 lence, sets forth the very great agreeableness of the 
 
 Europeans can scarcely bear the smell. The persons of the Assyrian 
 ladies are elegantly clothed, and scented 'with the richest oils and per- 
 fumes ; and the Jewish females did not yield to them in the elegance of 
 their dress, the beauty of their ornament, and the fragrance of their 
 esseuces. Such is Virgil's account of Venus : 
 
 Thus, as she turned away, with roseate hue 
 Her neck shone beauteous; and her locks bedewed 
 With perfume of ambrosia, richly breathed 
 Odours divine; graceful her flowing robe; 
 And in her gait the goddess true appeared. 
 
 .Eneid, i. -103. 
 With this portraiture of the bride in the Song, we may compare 
 Homer's description of Juno : 
 
 "Self-closed, behind her shut the doors of gold. 
 Here first she bathes; and round her body pours 
 Soft oils of fragrance, and ambrosial showers: 
 The winds perfumed, the balmy gale convey 
 Thro' heaven, thro' earth, and all the aerial way : 
 Thus, while she breathed of heaven, with decent pride 
 Her ardent hands the radiant tresses tied : 
 Part on her head in shining ringlets roll'd, 
 Part o'er her shoulders waved like melted gold. 
 Around her, next, a heavenly mantle tlow'd. 
 That inch with Pallas' labour'd colours glow'd: 
 Large clasps of gold the foldings gather'd round, 
 A golden zone her swelling bosom hound. 
 Far-beaming pendants tremble in her ear, 
 Bach gem illumined with a triple star. 
 Then o'er her head she casts a veil more v. 
 Than new-fall'n snow, and dazzling as the light. 
 Last, her fair feet celestial sandals grace. 
 Thus issuing radiant, with majestic pace, 
 
 Forth from the dome th' imperial goddess moves. 
 
 Iliad, xiv. MS. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 12. 327 
 
 humble-hearted saint to our blessed Lord. How can 
 Ave hesitate in prayer, when Jesus takes as much 
 delight in our society as ever Jew could take in the dewy 
 fragrance of Lebanon. 
 
 How animating are the motives thus set forth for 
 encouraging us to dwell at the throne of grace and to 
 persevere in prayer ! They are touching and tender in 
 the extreme. Urging us to arise and come away from 
 earth, by the greatness of his affection, as illustrated in 
 chap. iv. 1 — 5, he instructs us that in the meanwhile, 
 before the dawning of glory, we may find him by prayer 
 on the hill of frankincense, and encourages us to meet 
 him there as often as possible ; because, though unworthy 
 in our own eyes, he sees in us, as attired in his righteous- 
 ness, no spot, nothing but beauty; because this is the 
 only place of safety amid the dangers and enemies of the 
 world; because his heart is enraptured with affection for 
 us; because our love, with its attending graces, is more 
 beautiful to his contemplation than we can now conceive; 
 because our language, in contrition, prayer, and praise, 
 is his greatest delight; because our presence altogether 
 is more agreeable to him, than to our senses such frag- 
 rance as was wafted from Lebanon. what a welcome 
 does then ever await us at the mercy-seat! 
 
 Vbb. 1-. — A garden inclosed is 1113- sister, my spouse; a spring shut 
 up, a fountain sealed. 
 
 As a seventh reason for encouraging us to meet him 
 
 at the throne of grace, he states that his delights in the 
 
 Boul of the believer is as great as what is felt by us in 
 
 enjoying the most beautiful garden. Yer. 12 — 15. See 
 
 notes, chap. viii. 13. Thus Isaiah says, " Ye shall be 
 
 as a garden that hath no water/' Isa. i. 30; and again, 
 
 " Thou shalt be like a watered garden ; and like a spring 
 
 of water, whose waters fail not." Isa. lviii. 11. So 
 
328 COMMENTAR Y. 
 
 Jeremiah — "Their soul shall be as a watered garden." 
 Jer. xxxi. 12.* In Keats' Ode to Psyche, the spirit of 
 the same illustration is adopted : 
 
 " Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane 
 
 In some untrodden region of my mind, 
 Where branched thoughts, new-grown with pleasant pain, 
 
 Instead of pines shall murmur in the wiud: 
 Far, far around shall those dark-cluster'd trees 
 
 Fledge the wild-ridged mountains steep by steep ; 
 And there by zephyrs, streams, and birds, and bees, 
 
 The moss-lain Dryads shall be lull'd to sleep ; 
 And in the midst of this wide quietness 
 A rosy sanctuary will I dress 
 With the wreathed trellis of a working brain, 
 
 With buds, and bells, and stars without a name, 
 With all the gardener Fancy e'er could feign, 
 
 Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same: 
 And there shall be for thee all soft delight 
 
 That shadowy thought can win, 
 A bright torch, and a casement ope at night 
 
 To let the true love in." 
 
 President Edwards says, " Holiness, as I then wrote 
 down some of my contemplations on it, appeared to me 
 to be of a sweet, pleasant, charming, serene, calm nature ; 
 which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peace- 
 fulness, and ravishment to the soul. In other words, 
 that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with 
 all manner of pleasant flowers; all pleasant, delightful, 
 and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm, and the gentle, 
 vivifying beams of the sun." Speaking of the church as 
 
 * "When a man dwells in love, the eyes of his wife are as fair as 
 the light (if heaven, she is a fountain Bealed, and he can quench his 
 thirst, and ease his cares, and lay his Borrow down upon her hip, 
 and can retire home aa to his Banotuary and refectory, and his gar- 
 dens of sweetness and chaste refreshments." — Jeremy 1'aylor's Sermons 
 on Eph. v. 32, 33. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 12. 329 
 
 a vine, the Psalmist says, "Why hast thou broken down 
 her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do 
 pluck her?" In this passage, chaps, iv. 12 — v. 1, there 
 are four points brought out to view. 1. The holiness of 
 the pious heart as set apart for God, ver. 12. 2. The 
 heart thus hedged around by grace is occupied with the 
 precious, odoriferous virtues of holiness, ver. 13 — 14, and 
 by the Holy Spirit, who is within the soul as a fountain 
 of water, John iv. 14 — vii. 38, and whose influences are 
 the very life and nourishment of these pious graces. Ver. 
 15. 3. The desire of the believer that his soul may be 
 in readiness for the coming into our hearts of the be- 
 loved, by the Holy Spirit breathing on our graces and 
 bringing out their fragrance. Ver. 16. 4. The conse- 
 quence of this prayer — Jesus comes to dwell with us. 
 Chap. v. 1. When keeping the soul thus guarded from 
 the world, and against every one but Jesus, we enjoy the 
 presence of the Spirit, and desire his operations in 
 greater fulness — how great is our encouragement to 
 prayer, in the assurance that even while we are yet 
 asking, our Lord will come down into our souls, and take 
 as much delight in our enlivened graces, as the beloved 
 took in gathering the spices of the garden, and eating 
 its precious fruits. 
 
 The Jewish gardens were generally hedged or walled, 
 as indeed Josephus expressly states respecting the gar- 
 dens near Jerusalem.* The idea set forth in these words, 
 is the same with that in Ps. iv. 3 — " Know that the Lord 
 
 * Speaking of a garden represented in the tombs of Thebes and 
 other parts nl' Egypt, Wilkinson says, "The one here introduced is 
 shown to have been surrounded by an embattled wall, with a canal 
 of water passing in front of it, connected with the river. The Bmall 
 kiosks, or summer-houses, shaded with trees, stood near the water, 
 and overlooked beds of flowers." — Vol. ii. 144. 
 
830 COMMENTARY. 
 
 hath set apart him that is godly for himself." Hence 
 the acknowledgment made by Satan concerning Job : 
 " Hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about 
 his house, and about all that he hath on every side." 
 The seclusion of the soul from the intrusion of the evil 
 passions and evil spirits overrunning it in a state of 
 nature, and the hedging of it around with the habits 
 formed by Christian discipline, so that the virtues of 
 piety may be undisturbed in their growth, is what the 
 Scriptures really mean by sanctification. To sanctify, is 
 to set apart from a common to a sacred use. In the 
 East, wives are secluded with the greatest care from 
 public gaze, for the company of their lords ; and so far 
 from looking on this restraint with disfavour, they seem 
 to estimate the degree of their husband's affection by 
 the watchfulness with which they are guarded. The 
 most flattering epithet that can be applied to an eastern 
 lady, is that of "the concealed treasure," "the guarded 
 jewel," "the well-watched angel." The words, "a 
 spring shut up, a fountain sealed," are a repetition of 
 the idea in the foregoing part of the verse, expressing 
 the sentiments of holy seclusion for Jesus, even more 
 beautifully than docs the garden enclosed. Sir John 
 Chardin says, he has known springs locked up in divers 
 parts of Asia on account of the scarcity of water. 
 Among the Persians were fountains of which only the 
 king and his eldest son might drink. Thus, says the 
 Apostle, "Ye are Christ's." 1 Cor. iii. 23. No one has 
 a right to our affections but Jesus. How entirely is the 
 life of the Christian a hidden life; "hid with Christ in 
 God;" hid from the world, as a spring shut up, so that 
 they can neither sec fully its excellence, nor reach it in 
 Midi a way as to disturb or break it up at its source. 
 The holy soul is a fountain of pious affections, shut up 
 
CHAPTER IV. 12. 331 
 
 from the world, for the delight of him who has redeemed 
 us with his blood, and scaled us with his Holy Spirit. 
 The Spirit is the seal of the King of kings, set upon 
 those spiritual fountains, holy hearts, in this wilderness, 
 which are thereby shown to belong, not to the world, but 
 to himself. The idea of holiness, as separation from 
 earth and all things sinful, and as consecration to God, 
 cannot be more neatly expressed, than by a garden 
 hedged, a spring enclosed and sealed. Jesus will take 
 delight in our society and welcome us to the throne of 
 grace, according to the care with which our soul excludes 
 all other aifections, for the enjoyment of his love. This 
 verse shows what the true saint is, or should be ; and in 
 its connection teaches that if we would enjoy the presence 
 of Jesus in the heart, we must watch against the intru- 
 sion of sin. " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they 
 shall see God." "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the 
 Lord will not hear me." "Keep thy heart with all 
 diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." Jesus 
 takes delight in dwelling only in the soul that is a garden 
 barred or hedged, a spring bolted, a fountain sealed. 
 The same truth is expressed with even more strictness in 
 the words, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, 
 and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1 Cor. iii. 
 16. Holiness requires that the soul be as exclusively 
 devoted to God as the enclosed garden, or bolted spring, 
 to its lord; or the temple, to him who dwelt between the 
 cherubim. Over the door of the heart bolted against 
 every one but Jesus, is written, "Holiness to the Lord." 
 The dream of the heathen that each fountain had its 
 divinity residing in it, is here realized. The Holy Spirit 
 dwells in this fountain of the pious soul, and he is its 
 guardian divinity. 
 
332 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Ver. 13, 14. — Thy planft .are an orchard of pomegranates, with plea- 
 sant fruits ; camphire, with spikenard; spikenard and saffron: cala- 
 mus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, 
 with all the chief spices. 
 
 The three following verses give that with which this 
 garden is occupied. The word rendered "thy plants" 
 means not merely shoots and flowers, but anything issu- 
 ing, or springing, or sent out from another ; and therefore 
 includes everything which is a product of the garden, or 
 belonging thereto-— the well of living waters with its 
 sLi earns, no less than the spikenard and all the chief 
 spices. We understand the word "plants" to include all 
 the things that follow to the end of ver. 15. The word 
 "orchard" corresponds exactly to our word "paradise," 
 and is of oriental origin, signifying the pleasure-gardens 
 and parks, some with, others without, wild animals, 
 around the residence of the Persian monarchs, planted 
 with stately forest-trees and fruit-trees of every kind, 
 well watered, and surrounded with a wall.* As men- 
 tioned by Xenophon, there was one of these belonging 
 to Cyrus the younger, at Celtense in Phrygia, through 
 the middle of which ran the river Mseander. This in 
 the text is mentioned as such a park or pleasure-ground, 
 without the wild animals ; and filled with trees and shrub- 
 bery, with the most beautiful flowers, the most delightful 
 fruits, and the richest fragrance. 
 
 The pomegranate, still common in Syria and Persia, is 
 considered delicious by travellers, and is highly prized. 
 The bright and dark-green foliage of the pomegranate, 
 
 * "Behind these were the royal gardens, laid out in the most exqui- 
 site taste, and decorated with all that could gratify the eye, regale the 
 ear, or satiate the most luxurious palate ; the loveliest shade, the 
 deepest verdure, grottoes of the most refreshing coolness, fruits of the 
 most delicious flavour; cascades thai never ceased to murmur, and 
 music that never failed to delight." — Maurice's Indian Antiquities, 
 i. 209. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 15. 333 
 
 and its flowers of a crimson colour, made it an object of 
 desire in these gardens ; while its large reddish-coloured 
 fruit, filled with numerous seeds, each surrounded with 
 juicy, pleasant-tasted pulp, would make it valuable as a 
 fruit, in warm countries. See chap. iv. 3. With the 
 pomegranate, thus mentioned for its beauty and sweet- 
 ness, this garden has the most precious fruits in general. 
 Besides, there are all the choice aromatic trees and shrubs 
 — camphire and spikenard, spikenard and saffron ; cala- 
 mus and cinnamon, with trees of frankincense; myrrh 
 and aloes, with all the chief spices. See chap. i. 12, 14. 
 Earth can show nothing to man, more beautiful to the 
 eye, no fruits more precious, no fragrance more delight- 
 ful, than those combined in this paradise — a fitting 
 representation of the graces of holiness centring in the 
 believing heart, and making it a retreat where Jesus our 
 Saviour loves to make it his abode. 
 
 Ver. 15. — A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams 
 from Lebanon. 
 
 In ver. 12 the "spring shut up" seems mentioned, like 
 the "garden enclosed," for illustrating the idea of the 
 holiness of the believer, or his separation and consecration 
 to God ; and to be independent of the idea intended in 
 this verse. Here is mentioned the source whence is 
 derived the life and fragrance of the fruits and shrubbery 
 of this garden. A fountain of gardens means a very 
 copious fountain, sufficient for watering many gardens. 
 This fountain was the best possible. Instead of a reser- 
 voir filled with rain-water, as was often used, this pleasure- 
 ground was enriched with a well or spring of running 
 water, combining therewith streams cool, refreshing, and 
 fertilizing, as those coming from Lebanon. These make 
 the gardens of Damascus so enchanting. Their refreshing 
 coolness is mentioned by the prophet: "Will a man leave 
 29 
 
334 COMMENTAKY. 
 
 the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the rock of the 
 field?" Jer. xviii. 14. Maundrell says, "There is a very 
 deep rupture in the side of Libanus, running at least 
 seven hours' travel directly up into the mountain. It is 
 on both sides exceedingly steep and high, clothed with 
 fragrant greens from top to bottom, and everywhere 
 refreshed with fountains falling down from the rocks in 
 pleasant cascades. The streams all uniting at the bot- 
 tom, make a full and rapid torrent, whose agreeable 
 murmur is heard over the place, and adds no small plea- 
 sure to it." Says another traveller, "We came into 
 pleasant groves, by delightful rivulets that arose from 
 springs, that made so sweet a noise as to be admired by 
 king Solomon." We cannot see that any light is thrown 
 on the real significance of this passage by a detailed 
 description of "The pools of Solomon," about six miles 
 from Jerusalem, on the route to Hebron.* This valley 
 
 * The following is from Maundrell: "This morning we went to see 
 some remarkable places in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. The first 
 place that we directed our course to, was those famous fountains, pools, 
 and gardens, about an hour and a quarter distant from Bethlehem, 
 southward, said to have been the contrivance and delight of king Solo- 
 mon. To these works and places of pleasure, that great prince is sup- 
 posed to allude, Eccl. ii. 5, G, where, among the other instances of his 
 magnificence, he reckons up his gardens, and vineyards, and pools. As 
 for the pools, they are three in number, lying in a row above each 
 other, being so disposed that the waters of the uppermost may descend 
 into the second, and those of the second into the third. Their figure is 
 quadrangular; the breadth is the same in all, amounting to about ninety 
 paces; in their length there is some difference between them, the first 
 being about one hundred and sixty paces long, the second two hundred, 
 and the third two hundred and twenty. They are all lined with wall, 
 and plastered, and contain a great depth of water. Close by the pools 
 is a pleasant castle of modern structure; and at about the distance 
 of one hundred and forty paces from them is a fountain, from which, 
 principally, they derive their waters. This the friars will have to be 
 that sealed fountain, to which the holy spouse is compared, Cant. iv. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 15. 335 
 
 containing these pools, supposed the one referred to by 
 Josephus, and mentioned by Maundrell, Hasselquist, and 
 others, may be the site of the grounds described in the 
 text, and has indeed got from Latin travellers the name 
 of Hortus Conclusus. A modern, speaking of a monas- 
 tery in the Levant, says, " There below my feet lay the 
 convent garden, in all the fresh luxuriance of tropical 
 vegetation. Tufts upon tufts of waving palms overshad- 
 owed the immense succulent leaves of the banana, which 
 in their turn rose out of thickets of the pomegranate, with 
 
 12, and, in confirmation of this opinion, they pretend a tradition, that 
 king Solomon shut up these springs, and kept the door of them sealed 
 ■with his signet, to the end that he might preserve the waters for his 
 own drinking, in their natural freshness and purity. Nor was it diffi- 
 cult thus to secure them, they rising under ground, and having no ave- 
 nue to them but by a little hole, like to the mouth of a narrow well. 
 Through this hole you descend directly down, but not without some 
 difficulty, for about four yards, and then arrive in a vaulted room, fif- 
 teen paces long, and eight broad. Joining to this is another room, of 
 the same fashion, but somewhat less. Both these rooms are covered with 
 handsome stone arches, very ancient, and perhaps the work of Solomon 
 himself. Below the pool here runs down a narrow rocky valley, enclosed 
 on both sides with high mountains. This the friars will have to be the 
 enclosed garden alluded to in the same place of the Canticles before 
 cited. What truth there may be in this conjecture, 1 cannot absolutely 
 pronounce. As to the pools, it is probable enough that they may be the 
 same with Solomon's; there not being the like store of excellent spring- 
 water to be met with anywhere else throughout all Palestine." 
 
 Hasselquist thinks this might possibly be the garden noticed in the 
 text. Mariti says, "Nature has still preserved its original fertility in 
 this valley. Although but little cultivated, the soil still produces a tole- 
 rable supply of cotton and various kinds of grain; there are also fine 
 plantations of fruit-trees, affording the most juicy fruits in the country. 
 Various flowers, and many fragrant plants, grow there naturally at all 
 seasons, among which are thyme, rosemary, marjoram, salvius, persil, 
 rue, ranunculuses, and anemones." Here may be found various rare 
 plants not to be found elsewhere in Palestine, and which, as an old tra- 
 veller suggests, may have been propagated from exotic plants which 
 Solomon introduced into his gardens. 
 
336 COMMENTARY. 
 
 its bright green leaves and its blossoms of that beautiful 
 and vivid red which is excelled by few even of the most 
 brilliant flowers of the East. These were contrasted with 
 the deep green of the caroub or locust-tree ; and the yellow 
 apples of the lotus vied with the clusters of green limes 
 with their sweet white flowers. Fair branches and flow- 
 ers, exhaling rich perfume and bearing freshness in their 
 very aspect, become more beautiful from their contrast to 
 the dreary plains outside the convent walls; and this 
 great difference was owing solely to there being a well of 
 water in this spot, from which were constantly drawn the 
 fertilizing streams which nourished the teeming vegetation 
 of this garden." 
 
 More beautiful was this spring than that classic foun- 
 tain whose green, wild margin, with dew-sprinkled mosses, 
 grows undisturbed : 
 
 "Nor must the delicate waters sleep 
 
 Prison'd in marble, bubbling from the base 
 Of the cleft statue, with a gentle leap 
 The rill runs o'er, and round fern, flowers, and ivy creep 
 Fantastically tangled: the green hills 
 Are clothed with early blossoms, through the grass 
 
 The silver}' zephyr rustles, and the bills 
 Of summer birds sing welcome as ye pass; 
 
 Flow'rs fresh in hue, and many in their class, 
 Implore the pausing step, and with their dyes 
 
 Dance in the soft breeze in a fairy mass; 
 The sweetness of the violets' deep blue eyes 
 Kiss'd by the breath of heaven, seems colour'd by its skies."* 
 
 This comparison is applied to the soul by Jesus himself: 
 "The water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well 
 of water springing up into everlasting life." John iv. 14. 
 " This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on 
 him should receive." John vii. 39. The fountain was the 
 
 * Childe Harold, iv. 11G. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 15. 337 
 
 life of the garden ; without this there could be no verdure, 
 no growth, no flowers, no fragrance, no fruits, no refresh- 
 ing shade. Trees not planted by these streams of water, 
 had their leaf to wither, and brought forth no fruit. Ps. 
 i. 3. Nothing could atone for the want of such a stream. 
 Even so it is with the heart. The Holy Spirit is every- 
 thing to our desolate and sinful souls. He is " as rivers 
 of water in a dry place." Without his influences there 
 can be no spiritual life, no fragrance of piety, no fruits 
 of holiness. When his influences overflow from this hal- 
 lowed fountain in the heart, every pious virtue thrives, 
 this wilderness and solitary place is glad, and rejoices, 
 and blossoms as the rose; and each grace of holiness 
 becomes " as a tree planted by the waters, and spreadeth 
 out her roots by the rivulet, and shall not see when heat 
 cometh; but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be 
 careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from 
 yielding fruit." Jer. xvii. 8. The Holy Spirit being thus 
 the hidden spring of the life of holiness, Christian activity 
 is as necessary for developing this life as exercise is for 
 the growth of a child. Life and activity are inseparable. 
 He who has enjoyed the Spirit, welling as a crystal foun- 
 tain in his heart — 
 
 " His life hath flowed 
 From its mysterious urn a sacred stream, 
 In whose calm depth the beautiful and pure 
 Alone are mirror'd; which, though shapes of ill 
 May hover round its surface, glides in light, 
 And takes no shadow from them."* 
 
 These influences of the Holy Spirit are copious and over- 
 flowing; a fountain sufficient for many gardens; more 
 healing to our blinded souls than the streams of Jordan 
 to the leprous Naaman ; giving that understanding which 
 
 * Talfourd's Ion, act i., sc. 1. 
 29* 
 
338 COMMENTARY. 
 
 is a well-spring of wisdom to him that hath it ; making 
 the words of a man's mouth as deep waters, and the well- 
 spring of wisdom as a flowing brook. Prov. xviii. 4. 
 When a heathen could sing, 
 
 Go to the silvery eddies 
 
 Of pure Castalia's spring, 
 And bathed in its pellucid waves 
 
 Thy temple offering bring;* 
 
 we feel that much more shall we be fitted for the services 
 of the heavenly sanctuary, by having our souls continu- 
 ally steeped in purer than Castalian dews by this peren- 
 nial fountain of the Spirit, gushing forth in the heart, and 
 bathing in its silvery streams the roots of all our virtues 
 of holiness. And as Arethusa was fabled to have passed 
 under the sea, and broken forth afresh in a distant island 
 — so this fountain of the soul, passing unseen the sea of 
 death, shall burst forth afresh beyond those gloomy 
 waves, to flow with perennial and pellucid streams in the 
 heavenly paradise. 
 
 Yer. lfi. — Awake, north wind ; and come, thou south ; blow upon my 
 garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. 
 
 These words give another feature of the heart which 
 may meet Jesus with confidence at the throne of grace. 
 Such soul has been just represented as a garden, lovely 
 in his eyes, filled with the precious plants of the graces 
 of holiness, and watered with the perennial and re- 
 freshing streams of the Holy Spirit; here the heart is 
 set forth as having the desire, and using the correspond- 
 ing means, for being in a state as agreeable and accept- 
 able as possible to the beloved. All those precious plants 
 are not sufficient to picture the loveliness of this garden: 
 fountains ami rills must crown the whole. Now, also, 
 
 * Euripides, Ion, 95. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 1G. 339 
 
 cooling winds arc introduced for making the abode in 
 this pleasure-garden delightful, and scattering the balmy 
 fragrance through its delightful retreats. The east wind 
 is in Palestine generally withering and tempestuous; the 
 west wind brings from the sea clouds of rain, or dark, 
 damp air; the north wind is cooling and refreshing, its 
 power being broken by the mountain-chain of Lebanon ; 
 the south wind, though hot, has its heat mitigated in the 
 upland regions, and is never stormy. The north wind is 
 called on to "arise," because it is more powerful and 
 strong; the south wind to "come," as though it were the 
 soft breathing zephyr. The north wind brought clear 
 weather. " The north wind driveth away rain." Prov. 
 xxv. 23. "Fair weather cometh out of the north." Job 
 xxxvii. 22. Pliny says, that though cold and nipping, 
 the north wind is the most wholesome wind that blows. 
 The south wind was warm and moist. " Dost thou know, 
 how thy garments arc warm when he quieteth the earth 
 by the south wind?" Job xxxvii. 17. And the oriental 
 poet, " gale, scented with sandal, who brcathest love 
 from the regions of the south, be propitious."* The bride 
 here calls for the north wind, that thereby all clouds may 
 be swept away, and the sky cleared ; and for the south 
 wind, that its genial influence might ripen the fruits of 
 the garden, and draw forth the fragance of the flowers. 
 Thus, Ilafiz, as quoted by Dopke, "Send me with 
 zephyrs, roses from thy cheek, that I may breathe the 
 luscious fragrance of thy garden bloom." 
 
 The wind is on many accounts the best emblem of the 
 Holy Spirit. Hence our Saviour says, "The wind blow- 
 eth where it listcth, and thou nearest the sound: so is 
 every one that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. The 
 identity of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin words for wind, 
 * Songs of Jayadeva. 
 
340 COMMENTARY. 
 
 breath, and spirit, shows that the air has the nearest 
 resemblance, of all created things, to the influence of the 
 Holy Spirit, and is therefore a most appropriate illustra- 
 tion. The words of this verse are, then, a prayer that 
 the heart may be prepared for the coming of Jesus, by 
 the action of the Holy Spirit, like the north wind, sweep- 
 ing away all gloom, error, unbelief, and mists of sin ; and 
 like the south wind, warming into vigorous life all the 
 graces of holiness. To do this, is the prerogative of this 
 sacred agent alone. Gloom overspreads the garden, and 
 the flow of its spices is checked, not because the heavens 
 above are changed, or the sun has ceased to shine, for 
 these are as pure, and glorious, and life-giving as ever; 
 but because clouds have arisen heavily, and intercept the 
 genial influence from on high. Thus from the depths of 
 that heart which in its natural state is like the troubled 
 sea when it cannot rest, arise clouds that separate be- 
 tween us and our God; these influences the Holy Spirit 
 removes by his power ; and then, shines into our heart 
 the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the per- 
 son of Jesus Christ; — then flows forth the fragrance of 
 our holy virtues. After times of desertion, darkness, and 
 decay, when the Spirit does thus clear the soul, and 
 breathe thereon with more than the reviving power of the 
 south wind, how delightfully is the holiness of the heart 
 felt by all around, " as the smell of a field the Lord has 
 blessed." 
 
 Let my beloved come into his garden, and cat his pleasant fruits.* 
 Having thus sought the preparation of the heart, the 
 
 * With this may be compared the following from Theocritus: 
 "And now in due return, heavenly born! 
 Whose honour'd name a thousand fanes adorn, 
 Arsinoe gladly pays the rites divine, 
 Rival of Helen, at Adonis' shrine; 
 
CHAPTER IT. 16. 341 
 
 believer now prays that Jesus may enter there and enjoy 
 the fruits of holiness. Thus, in the Gitagovinda, the 
 lovely Kadha is in like manner invited to enter the gar- 
 den or the embraces of her beloved: "Enter, sweet 
 Kadha, the bower graced with a bed of asoca-leaves, the 
 bower illumined with gay blossoms, the bower made cool 
 and fragrant by gales from the woods of Malaya." 
 " Pleasant fruits," or fruits of pleasantness, as in ver. 13, 
 means all that are most delicious of fruits. The fruits of 
 the garden are the products of the garden ; and the fruits 
 enjoyed by Jesus in the believing soul are those virtues 
 which are there developed by the Holy Spirit : and the 
 text means that our Lord should enjoy them as really as 
 we enjoy the most delicious fruits by eating. "Well would 
 it be for us, could we feel that the garden spot of Jesus 
 in the whole universe, is the heart of the saint ; and the 
 graces of the soul are to him a source of more exquisite 
 pleasure than to us are the most precious fruits of the 
 choicest garden. How valuable would we then feel those 
 graces to be, and with what care would we cherish and 
 
 All fruits she offers that ripe autumn yields, 
 
 The produce of the gardens, and the fieM? : 
 
 All herbs and plants which silver baskets hold ; 
 
 And Syrian unguents flow from shells of gold, 
 
 With finest meal sweet paste the women make, 
 
 Oil, flowers, and honey mingling in the cake: 
 
 Earth and the air afford a large supply 
 
 Of animals that creep, and birds that fly. 
 
 Green bow'rs are built with dill sweet-smelling crown'd. 
 
 And little Cupids hover all around; 
 
 And as young nightingales their wings essay, 
 
 Skip here and there, and hop from spray to spray, 
 
 What heaps of golden vessels glittering bright! 
 
 What stores of ebon black, and ivory white ! 
 
 In ivory carved large eagles seem to move, 
 
 And through the clouds bear Ganymede to Jove." 
 
 Idyl xv. 109. 
 
342 COMMENTARY. 
 
 cultivate them for this blessed friend, not for self-gratu- 
 lation, or self-interest, not for the applause of the world, 
 but for the approbation and love of our Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Ver. 1. — I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have 
 gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honey-comb 
 •with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, friends ; 
 drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved. 
 
 Tins verse shows how promptly the prayer in the fore- 
 going verse was answered. It is the eighth reason for 
 meeting Jesus in prayer with preparation of the heart ; 
 because he will then come into the soul by his Holy 
 Spirit, and bring around us a host of angels rejoicing 
 to be our guard. When the heart is thus prepared, and 
 anxiously desires the presence of Christ, "It shall come 
 to pass, that before they call I will answer ; and while 
 they are yet speaking I will hear." Isa. lxv. 24. The 
 fact of the existence of such desires for him, is evidence 
 of his being with us; as in this passage, in immediate 
 connection with the request, he adds, "I have already 
 come, &c." He was present in the heart, though his 
 presence was not felt; as "when Jacob awaked out of 
 his sleep, and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and 
 I knew it not;" and when Jesus was present in the 
 garden with Mary, and she knew it not. John xx. 14. 
 
 In the East, banquets are sometimes held in gardens; 
 as Egmont and Ilcyman, when at the convent of Sinai, 
 dined under the trees of the garden, with a number of 
 the inmates, on one of their festival days. The ancients 
 were in the habit of wearing chaplcts of flowers on their 
 
CHAPTER V. 1. 343 
 
 Leads at feasts. Thus in the book of Wisdom: "Let 
 us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments; and 
 let no flower of the spring pass by us. Let us crown 
 ourselves with rose-buds before they be withered," 
 Chap. ii. 7. And in the Arabian Nights, a person is 
 represented at Bagdad as buying myrtles, lilies, jessa- 
 mine, and other fragrant flowers and plants, along with 
 meat, wine, and fruit, as preparations for a repast. 
 Milk and honey still form a luscious and common ban- 
 quet among many Asiatic nations. Milk is mingled 
 witli wine for cooling the latter. Jael gave Sisera, 
 when thirsty, milk to drink instead of water, as prefer- 
 able; and Clemens Alexandrinus says, wine and milk 
 is a very healthful and profitable mixture. Tibullus 
 mentions "bowls of snow-white milk, mixed with wine." 
 The words "my honey-comb with my honey," are 
 possibly intended to express both the wild honey that 
 was found dropping from trees, and that which was 
 eaten in the comb and was consequently the most deli- 
 cious. Gen. xliii. 11. In India, says Mr. Roberts, 
 "the forests literally flow with honey; large combs may 
 be seen hanging on the trees, as you pass along, full 
 of honey." The same seems to have been the case 
 formerly in Palestine. Here the beloved found the 
 best honey in perfection, and both kinds, liquid and in 
 the comb.* 
 
 The meaning of this verse, therefore, is, that the 
 Lord Jesus comes into the heart prepared for him and 
 desiring him, and draws from the enjoyment of the 
 
 * "Honey was of far more importance formerly than it is now. 
 There was no sugar, and honey had to supply its place, besides being 
 eaten in its primary state. Vast quantities of it must, therefore, have 
 been consumed; and the importance assigned to it in Scripture 
 becomes intelligible." — Kitto. 
 
344 COMMENTARY. 
 
 virtues blooming there, a pleasure that can be best 
 illustrated to man by saying, it is like, in richness and 
 exquisiteness, to the delight had in dwelling amid the 
 fragrance, and feasting on the delicious fruits, of an 
 oriental garden. The willingness of Jesus to answer 
 prayer i? set forth in many places of the Scriptures, 
 but nowhere in language more encouraging than this. 
 The idea is the same, and in expressions equally figura- 
 tive, though not so amplified as here, in John xiv. 23, 
 "We will come unto him, and make our abode with 
 him;" and in Rev. iii. 20, "I will come in to him, and 
 will sup with him, and he with me." Unbelief, blunting 
 the spiritual apprehension of the soul, keeps us from 
 feeling the power of these passages, and gathering from 
 them due consolation. And in the same tone are the 
 words, " Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhab- 
 iteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high 
 and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and 
 humble spirit." Isa. lvii. 15. God is indeed everywhere 
 present, but he is said to dwell in the places where his 
 presence is manifested in brighter displays of his glory. 
 Size of place, greatness of extent or space, is not requi- 
 site for a habitation for him. In comparison with him 
 the grandest world and the most obscure retreat, the 
 most widely extended garden and the contracted limits 
 of the human soul, are equally mere spots; in his sight, 
 the dimensions of the temple on mount Moriah, and of 
 the heart which is a temple for the habitation of God 
 through the Spirit, are marked by no difference worthy 
 of notice. Of all other places, the redeemed soul was 
 especially created for a shrine in which may shine forth 
 the divine glory; and hence, Avhen that glory is thus 
 manifested in the heart, there God is said to dwell. The 
 idea of a banquet and of feasting on the most delicious 
 
CHAPTER V. 1. 345 
 
 fruits, as in this verse, is added for illustrating to our 
 comprehension the exceedingly great delight Jesus has 
 in dwelling in such soul and enjoying its graces of 
 holiness, thankfulness, and praise: as Ave say of the 
 society of a cherished friend, his company was a feast, 
 so the same mode of expression is used here. Even this 
 delight does he take in answering the prayer of his 
 people and manifesting his presence in their soul, when 
 they have sought the preparation of the heart, and are 
 awaiting him in humble faith. And when by his Holy 
 Spirit thus bringing us into union with him by pervad- 
 ing and enlivening our affections, we feel his presence, 
 how truly may he be said to be feeding on the fruits of 
 this spiritual garden; and how deep our tranquil, heav- 
 enly enjoyment. 
 
 "Eat, friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, 
 beloved." These words, spoken by the bridegroom to his 
 attendants, express the wish indulged by Jesus to have 
 his own pleasure shared by others, here called "beloved 
 ones." The angels and the heavenly host take a deep 
 interest in redemption ; there is joy in heaven among the 
 angels of God over one sinner that repenteth ; into these 
 things the angels desire to look. They sang together 
 and shouted for joy when the corner-stone of the earth 
 was laid ; they announced his coming at Bethlehem ; they 
 attended him at his resurrection and at his ascension; 
 and when the Son of man shall come in his glory, all the 
 holy angels shall be with him. Through all our pilgrim- 
 age, these are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for 
 them who shall be heirs of salvation; and at death the 
 soul is carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. Such 
 being the case, it is not strange that they should bo 
 represented as attending Jesus in his visits to the be- 
 lieving soul, and as being allowed to share with him the 
 30 
 
346 COMMENTARY. 
 
 delight had in hovering around, contemplating and bless- 
 ing those whose hearts are a sacred spot, a garden 
 enclosed of the King of kings, filled with the fruits of 
 those holy virtues which are the choicest plants in the 
 universe of God. The fellows or associates in the 
 work of redemption, above whom Jesus is anointed with 
 the oil of gladness, include the angels of heaven. The 
 words "drink, yea, drink abundantly," are precisely the 
 same in the Hebrew, with those rendered "they drank 
 and were merry with him," in Gen. xliii. 34. The latter 
 means, to drink to the full, to hilarity. This kind of 
 expression is common in the East — as in the following 
 passage, quoted by Sir W. Jones : " They who walk in 
 the true path are drowned in the sea of mysterious 
 adoration, they are inebriated with the melody of amorous, 
 complaints." They simply mean that these holy angels 
 have the privilege of sharing with him his delight in the 
 sanctified soul. They attend on the saints and derive 
 exquisite pleasure from hovering around us by the per- 
 mission and command of our Lord. By meeting Jesus in 
 prayer, among other motives here mentioned for en- 
 couraging us so to do, we have this as the crowning 
 blessing, that there, on the mountain of myrrh and hill of 
 frankincense, we have coming down into our heart the 
 heavenly Shechinah, Jesus, through his Holy Spirit, 
 encompassed with a crown-like host of angels. How 
 great a glory and protection ! Well may prayer be said 
 to secure for us a Avail of fire round about us, and a glory 
 in our midst. "The angelic host of the Lord encampeth 
 round about them that fear him, and delivercth them." 
 The case of Elisha was but what is enjoyed by the 
 humblest believer now, when, in the midst of perils, 
 ''behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of 
 fire round about Elisha." 2 Kings vi. 17. Thus, for his 
 
CHAPTER V. 1. 347 
 
 encouragement, Jacob was permitted to have a view of 
 the angelic bands which, though unseen, had been around 
 him when "the angels of God met him; and when Jacob 
 saw them he said, This is God's host." Gen. xxxii. 1. 
 It was while Daniel was praying, that Gabriel, being 
 caused to fly swiftly, came to him with a gracious 
 promise, and the assurance that he was greatly beloved. 
 Dan. ix. 20. The bereaved disciples were all with one 
 accord in prayer, when the Holy Spirit came with a 
 sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. While 
 prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God 
 for Peter, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and 
 brought him forth from prison. And "when Solomon 
 had made an end of praying, the fire came down from 
 heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacri- 
 fices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house." 
 2 Chron. vii. 1. And it was, when Jesus our forerunner 
 had gone up into a mountain to pray, and as he prayed, 
 that he was transfigured, and his face did shine as the 
 sun, and his raiment was white as the light ; and a bright 
 cloud, the same that had dwelt between the cherubim, 
 overshadowed them ; and behold the voice of God out of 
 the cloud. Matt. xvii. 1 ; Luke ix. 28. 
 
 How glorious was the sight in Eden, when amid the 
 luxuriance of Paradise, man, just created, was over- 
 shadowed by the Shechinah, the dwelling-place of God; 
 and around was gathered the innumerable company of 
 angels — the Lord and all his attendants rejoicing in the 
 work of his hands. The same Sovereign and his divine 
 attendants take no less interest now in man formed anew 
 by redemption ; and hover over him with equal glory. 
 The idea here may be best got by contemplating a 
 beautiful, well-watered garden, Num. xxiv. 5, 6, as 
 described in ' chap. iv. 12 — 15 ; or even like Eden, with 
 
348 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the cloud that rested over the mercy-seat, dwelling in it 
 as its light and glory; while an innumerable company of 
 angels are gathered around in admiration and praise. 
 And when, after seasons of withdrawal, in prayer, Jesus 
 comes again into the garden of our hearts, it is as the 
 coming down of the cloud of glory into the midst of 
 Paradise to overshadow and enlighten it, surrounded by 
 the host of his holy angels. 
 
 How encouraging are the motives here brought together 
 for inclining us to prayer ! How delightfully are they 
 developed one after another, till ending in a blaze of 
 glory, in the assurance that by faithful prayer we receive 
 Jesus to dwell in our hearts by the Shechinah of his 
 Spirit, and are encompassed by a guardian host of 
 angels ! 
 
 Ver. 2. — I sleep, but my heart waketh. 
 
 This passage, to the end of ver. 8, illustrates the exer- 
 cises of the soul in a time of spiritual sloth and decay. 
 After thus unfolding to us his love, he lets us, as in this 
 passage, see our depravity and indifference. Our reli- 
 gious life consists of a series of revivals and of with- 
 drawals by Jesus, for calling into exercise and putting to 
 the test our graces. When under the influence of first 
 love, we determine never to forget the Saviour, and think 
 the thing almost impossible. After some experience of 
 the deceitfulness of the heart, when at some subsequent 
 period we have had our souls restored and made to lie 
 down in green pastures, beside the still waters, we 
 resolve again to be faithful in close adherence to our 
 Lord, under the impression, that witli our present know- 
 ledge of the workings of sin, and the glorious displays 
 made to us of the loveliness of Christ, and of his love 
 towards us personally, Ave shall now at length persevere ; 
 
CHAPTER V. 2. 8±9 
 
 but we soon find to our sorrow, that, left to ourselves, we 
 are as unsteady and unfaithful as ever. It is surprising 
 how quickly coldness will succeed great religious fervour. 
 To the experienced believer it will not appear strange, 
 that this divine allegory should bring this representation 
 of indifference to the beloved into such immediate connec- 
 tion with the remarkable expressions of Jesus' love con- 
 tained in the foregoing chapter. Where is the Christian 
 who has not found the truth of this in his own experience? 
 The three chosen disciples were overcome with lethargy 
 even on the mount of transfiguration; and immediately 
 after the first affecting sacrament, they not only fell 
 asleep in Gethsemane, but all forsook Jesus and fled; 
 while Peter added thereto a denial of his Lord, with pro- 
 fane swearing. While the bridegroom tarried, even the 
 wise virgins with oil in their lamps, slumbered and slept. 
 After endearing manifestations of Jesus' love, how soon 
 do we find ourselves falling into spiritual slumber — often, 
 like the disciples on the mount, under the full light of 
 the presence of the Holy Spirit. And after periods of 
 revival, in the same way will churches speedily show signs 
 of sinking down into former coldness. 
 
 A Persian poet has almost exactly the same image: 
 "Last night, my eyes being closed in sleep, but my good 
 genius awake, the whole night, the live-long night, the 
 image of my beloved was the companion of my soul."* 
 
 * Mv. Lane gives the following from odes of the Moslems, snng at 
 their religious festivals. Its likeness to this part of the Song is 
 obvious: 
 
 "0 gazelle, from among the gazelles of El- Yemen ! 
 1 am thy slave without cost; 
 
 The phantom of thy form visited me in my slumber: 
 I said, '0 phantom of slumber, who sent thee V 
 lie said, ' He sent me whom thou knowest ; 
 
 30* 
 
350 C M M E N T A R Y . 
 
 We see no necessity for supposing, with some, that Ana- 
 creon must have got from the Song the hint of his ode, 
 in which Love is represented as standing at his door at 
 midnight, and begging for admittance, lost in the dark, 
 chilled and drenched with the dews. Cicero speaks of 
 persons "semi-somni," half asleep, beholding the trite 
 farces; and Seneca reflects on some who lay half asleep 
 until mid-day. This phrase is sometimes used to express 
 a sluggish, slothful man, also by Plautus. Here it im- 
 plies that while the body was overcome with drowsiness, 
 and thus insensible to surrounding things, the heart was 
 unaffected, and still vigorous in its affections, though 
 borne down and controlled by the action of the body. 
 The medium of activity for the mind is through the body; 
 hence, when the body is asleep, though the heart be 
 awake, the individual is in a state of inactivity which can- 
 not be broken till the body is aroused. The spiritual 
 import of these words is therefore well expressed by John 
 Owen: " Woful sloth and negligence arc apt to prevail in 
 us, in our meditations on heavenly things. ' Though our 
 hearts wake' in a valuation of Christ, his love, and his 
 grace, yet we sleep as unto the due exercise of faith and 
 love towards him. Let them take heed of their aptness 
 to forget endearing manifestations of special love. When 
 God at any time draws nigh unto a soul Iry his Spirit in 
 his word, with gracious words of peace and love, giving a 
 sense of his kindness upon the heart by the Holy Ghost, 
 so that it is filled with joy unspeakable and glorious there- 
 He whom love occupies thee.' 
 
 Tin' beloved of my heart visited me in the darkness of the night : 
 
 I tood to show him honour until In' sat down. 
 
 I said, •<) thou, my petition and all my desire! 
 
 Hast thou come at midnight and not feared the watchman '." 
 
 He said to me, ' I feared ; but, however, love 
 
 Had takeu from ine my soul and my breath.' " 
 
CHAPTER V. 2. 351 
 
 on; for this soul, upon a temptation, a diversion, or by 
 mere carelessness and neglect, which oftentimes falls out, 
 to suffer this sense of love to be, as it were, obliterated, 
 and so to lose that influencing efficacy unto obedience 
 which it is accompanied withal ; this also is full of unkind- 
 ness. An account hereof we have in Cant. v. 1 — 6."" 
 
 It is the voice of ray beloved that knocketk, saying, Open to me, my 
 sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled : for my head is tilled with 
 dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. 
 
 Our view of the nature of the Song makes it unneces- 
 sary for us to say anything in reply to those who view 
 this whole passage as a narrative of what happened in a 
 dream. These incidents, like the supposable incidents of 
 allegories in general, are grouped together for the mere 
 purpose of illustrating certain points of religious experi- 
 ence. This is done with remarkable beauty and delicacy, 
 by this picture showing how a female treated a friend 
 standing in the relation to her of a husband and a 
 brother, as noted, chap. iv. 9, when he sued for admit- 
 tance at night after a temporary absence. The connec- 
 tion seems to be, When I was sleeping, but my heart 
 waking and intent on my friend, behold the voice of 
 my beloved was heard knocking at the door, and say- 
 ing, "Open to me, &c." The former clause expressed 
 
 * Madame Guyon speaks of the early part of her residence at Gex as 
 bein- characterized by sweet and happy peace of mind, and the most 
 intimate communion with God. She mentions, that a number of 
 times she awoke at midnight, with such a presence and possession of God 
 in her soul that she could no longer sleep, but arose and spent hours in 
 prayer and praise, and divine communion. " I felt, even in my sleep, 
 a singular possession of God. He loved me so much that he seemed to 
 pervade my being, at a time when I could be only imperfectly con- 
 scious of his presence. My sleep is sometimes broken— a sort of half 
 sleep— but my soul seems to be awake enough to know God, when it is 
 hardly capable of knowing anything else."— Ufi by Ifrham, vol. i. 261. 
 
352 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the condition of the soul sunk down in spiritual drowsi- 
 ness, sloth, and inaction. This sets forth the tenderness 
 of Jesus in trying to rouse us from our slumbers, and 
 have us to enjoy his society. How multiplied and tender 
 are his terms of endearment — My sister, my beloved 
 female friend, my dove, my perfect one. Chap. iv. 7. 
 The word "perfect one," says Dopke, "does not mean 
 physical beauty, as Kleuker thinks, but what we express 
 by my angel, a pure innocent virgin." A glance will 
 show that while these epithets are of unsurpassed tender- 
 ness, they are used as though with scrupulous care for 
 guarding against the indelicate ideas some have tried to 
 force from this passage. It might be thought that such 
 affecting appeals Avould have moved in an instant the 
 bride to welcome him with open arms. But to these he 
 adds the fact of his being damp and chilly from the dew, 
 which was very copious, especially in the latter part of 
 the spring and the beginning of autumn. Maundrell 
 says, " We were instructed by experience what the 
 Psalmist means by the dew of Ilermon, our tents being 
 as wet with it as if it had rained all night." "My head 
 is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the 
 night." Could it be thought possible that such an appeal 
 would be unsuccessful? There is a twofold reference — 
 to his tender love for her, ami to his condition as house- 
 less, chilled, wet, and without a place of rest for the 
 night. 
 
 Thus tenderly docs Jesus appeal to us, for rousing us 
 from our spiritual apathy and slumbers. He is all ten- 
 derness. Concerning all his dealings, we must say, "Thy 
 gentleness hath made me great."' Ps. xviii. 35. It is. a 
 
 Bad evidence of the strength of onr corruptions, that 
 after such displays of his Love, we should ever sink down 
 into indifference. Even with grace in the .soul, with the 
 
CHAPTER V. 3. 353 
 
 heart awake, we find ourselves falling asleep, l>orne down 
 by the business of life, the charms of the world, or the 
 infirmities of the flesh. This condition is one of outward 
 comfort; everything around us is pleasant, as when re- 
 posing at night on our Led; and we are feeling the dan- 
 gers incurred by the Christian through prosperity. Had 
 the spouse been at this time suffering from pain or fear, 
 so as to be incapable of sleep, and to feel the need of the 
 presence and protection of the beloved, he would have 
 found her watching for his return, and would not have 
 been obliged thus to sue for admission. At such times, 
 in our heartless indifference, how tenderly does he try to 
 regain and rouse our love. What tenderness was there 
 in the look he turned on backsliding Peter ; and also in 
 the words, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" It 
 might be supposed that the simple words, "Behold, I 
 stand at the door and knock," would be enough to make 
 us leap from our spiritual slumbers, without such sub- 
 duing language as is here used. 
 
 \ i i; 3. — I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have 
 washed my feet; how shall 1 defile them? 
 
 These words mean, that as the bride had retired to 
 rest, she could not put herself to the trouble of arising, 
 even to let in the beloved. The bath is mentioned in the 
 ( Mvssey, in connection with retiring: 
 
 Give him the bath, arrange his couch with rugs 
 of warmth and costliness, and linen soft, 
 There to await the gohlen-throned morn. 
 
 As Lady Montague assures us, the houses of the great 
 ladies are kept clean with as much nicety as those of 
 Holland, this pretence must appear still more frivolous. 
 Taken as an illustration of the nature of the excuses 
 formed by the soul for neglecting to receive Jesus at 
 
354 COMMENTARY. 
 
 times of spiritual lethargy, these words are true and 
 instructive. To us, it would seem impossible that the 
 spouse could indulge or give such a reason. Yet the 
 thing signified hereby has happened, how often, in our 
 own experience. When, in our indifference to him, Jesus 
 has stood near and allured by the tenderest influences, 
 how often have we allowed personal ease, worldly plea- 
 sure, business, and indeed sheer indolence, to make us 
 indifferent to his tenderness, and cause us to allow him to 
 remain suing for admission to our hearts. The most 
 trivial thing is enough to keep us from running to meet 
 him in the duty of secret prayer, of the social meeting, 
 of scripture-study and self-examination, of attending in 
 the sanctuary, of giving to the cause of benevolence, of 
 co-operating in Christian activity, of ministering to 
 the necessity of saints. The same truth is illustrated 
 in the conduct of those bidden to the supper, when 
 "they all with one consent began to make excuse." Luke 
 xiv. 18. 
 
 Ver. 4. — My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my 
 bowels were moved for him. 
 
 On the whole, the best explanation of the first clause 
 of this verse, seems to us that which may be got from a 
 statement of Wilkinson, taken with one in the "Mission 
 of Inquiry to the Jews." "The folding doors had bolts 
 in the centre; a bar was placed across from one wall to 
 the other: and in many instances wooden locks secured 
 them by passing over the centre, at the junction of the 
 two folds. These locks were probably on the principle 
 of those now used in Egypt, which are of wood, and are 
 opened by a key furnished with several fixed pins, answer- 
 ing to a similar number, that fall down into the hollow 
 movable tongue, into which the key is introduced when 
 they fasten or open the lock." "lie showed us the key 
 
CHAPTER V. 4. 355 
 
 of his cottage, commonly used for the door, which is 
 nothing more than a piece of wood with pegs fastened in 
 it, corresponding to small holes in a wooden bolt within. 
 It is put through a hole in the door, and draws the bolt 
 in a very simple manner. The large opening through 
 which the key is introduced, illustrates these words in the 
 Song." The words, "put in his hand by the hole of the 
 door," we prefer reading, "withdrew his hand from the 
 hole of the door." This, perhaps, is more strictly the 
 meaning of the Hebrew, and gives a sufficient reason for 
 her rising at that particular moment for opening the door 
 to him. He might have removed the bolt and entered 
 without her assistance; but after having put his hand 
 through the aperture and made a movement towards 
 opening, finding her still untouched by his very tender 
 appeal, and treating him with indifference, he stopped, 
 withdrew his hand, and departed. This roused her from 
 her lethargy, and brought her to her senses. She had 
 an ardent affection for the beloved, notwithstanding this 
 exhibition of indifference. With the thought of his ten- 
 derness and her own unkindness flashing on her mind, 
 the idea of losing his society, and having him to remain 
 longer under the chilling dews, touched her heart, and 
 roused into full vigour all her dormant love. 
 
 In this state of apathy, Jesus makes attempts for 
 gaining admission to our hearts. The beloved did more 
 than merely address the bride in endearing terms; he 
 tried to open the door. Our Saviour not only " speaks 
 to the heart of Jerusalem," but tries to unbar the en- 
 trance to the soul, that he may come in and sup with us, 
 and take up there his abode. At times when, though 
 the heart feels the value of Christ, faith and love, with 
 their corresponding activity in his service, are slumbering, 
 we find Jesus making efforts to arouse us by moving 
 
35(3 COMMENTARY. 
 
 sweetly on the heart with his Holy Spirit, and by various 
 gracious acts of his providence. Repeatedly may we 
 have felt an influence on the heart, we could not tell 
 how, or whence, surprising us in our coldness, coming 
 even without our prayers, warming our affections, making 
 us feel greater interest in spiritual things, and causing us 
 to be sensible that it was indeed Jesus. He had truly 
 come unsought. We were still in our slumbers, even yet 
 hardly enough awake to feel the force of his whispers of 
 love, so beautifully though inadequately shadowed forth 
 lby this touching language of the beloved. Circumstances 
 of ease around us, gloom on the mind, drowsiness on the 
 heart, made us reluctant to shake off our lethargy, and 
 arise to give him a cordial welcome. We were precisely 
 in the condition of a person partially aroused from sleep. 
 His appeals failed to make a successful impression ; and 
 we were satisfied to quiet conscience with the most frivo- 
 lous excuses. At length the influence felt moving on the 
 heart began to subside; and the soul, instead of passing 
 on to such full measures of the Holy Spirit as had been 
 enjoyed in the presence of Jesus, found the light of his 
 countenance withdrawing, spiritual impressions growing 
 fainter, and the affections settling down into deeper 
 torpor and gloom. Symptoms of his withdrawal began 
 first to bring us to our senses. The fear of losing one 
 who had so loved us, and had just been speaking to us so 
 tenderly, moved our hearts towards him, and made us rise 
 to give him a welcome. The three following truths arc 
 therefore embodied in this verse : — when we are in a state 
 of spiritual coldness and indifference, Jesus often takes 
 steps for arousing us from our lethargy, and gaining 
 admittance to our hearts ; continued neglect on our part 
 will lead him to stop these exertions and withdraw ; then 
 when he is withdrawing do we, frequently, first awake to 
 
CHAPTER V. 5. 357 
 
 a sense of the desirableness of his presence, and the 
 value of his love. 
 
 Ver. 5. — I rose up to open to my beloved ; and my hands dropped 
 with myrrh, and my lingers with sweet-smelling myrrh, upon the 
 handles of the lock. 
 
 There is an interpretation of this verse which seems to 
 us incorrect, and to have been suggested by a Roman 
 custom : 
 
 With tears, the ling'ring lover at the door 
 Hangs flowery wreaths, and with perfume bedews 
 The threshold, and impresses many a kiss.* 
 
 With this the idea would be, that the beloved had poured 
 liquid myrrh profusely on the handle of the bolt or lock, 
 and this it was that perfumed the hand of the spouse. 
 But the more reasonable view is, that in her room were 
 standing, according to the custom of the times, vases of 
 perfumes as well as other presents, such as eastern ladies 
 prepare for welcoming their lovers : as in Hafiz, 
 
 "For me the angel of my heart prepares 
 Chaplets and unguents, breathing fragrant airs." 
 
 With this compare Prov. vii. 17. In climates so warm 
 as to keep persons almost constantly in a state of sensible 
 perspiration, it is found a great comfort to have the palms 
 of the hands and the soles of the feet in a comparatively 
 dry state, particularly as to the hands, which would 
 otherwise moisten whatever they handled. Perfumes, as 
 mentioned by Pliny, were placed on the back of the hand 
 as the coolest part of the body, and as causing their 
 fragrance to exhale with greatest richness. f The free 
 
 * Lucretius, iv. 1171. 
 
 f "He was making his toilet for the day; and his hands were be- 
 dewed with the perfumes which his valets-de-chambre had poured upon 
 them." — Lamartine's Restoration of Monarchy in France, vol. ii. 195. 
 
 31 
 
358 COMMENTAR Y. 
 
 use of odours by oriental ladies in meeting their loved 
 ones, is mentioned in Esther, chap. ii. 12. Noat in rising 
 to meet her beloved, the spouse made use of these per- 
 fumes; and according to the usual custom, poured of 
 them on the back of the hands, perhaps the more freely 
 from her anxiety and haste ; this perfume, thus so 
 liberally used, bedewed the handles of the lock with its 
 precious drops. The word "sweet-smelling," means 
 liquid, or that which has wept drop by drop, tear-like, 
 from the tree, and is consequently most precious. To 
 use such perfume, and thus liberally, was the most pal- 
 pable proof a bride coujd give her lover, of welcoming 
 his presence. Hence, after the indifference of the spouse, 
 as she wished, on awaking to a sense of her unkindness, 
 to make the beloved feel how cheerfully she received him, 
 she naturally used her very best perfume, and that very 
 freely, so much so that it dropped on the handle of the 
 bolt. For showing her love, there came to Jesus a 
 woman having an alabaster box of very precious oint- 
 ment. The text does then represent the anxiety of the 
 soul, when awaked to a sense of the unkindness and guilt 
 of its spiritual sloth, to meet Jesus with every possible 
 demonstration of welcome and affection. We wish to 
 make amends for past ingratitude and indolence. In the 
 case illustrated by the spouse, the believer has the influ- 
 ences of the Holy Spirit, the liquid myrrh, resting 
 sometimes even richly on his heart. "Without these, 
 there can be no earnest seckino; after Jesus. 
 
 Ver. G. — I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn him- 
 self, and was gone : my soul failed when he spake : I sought him, 
 but I could not find him ; I called him, but he gave me no answer. 
 
 At length, coming with a desire to give him a cordial 
 welcome, the spouse opened the door for the beloved, but 
 found that he had turned away, was gone. In the words, 
 
CHAPTER V. 7. 359 
 
 "my soul failed when lie spake," we read the three latter, 
 literally, 'because of his speaking,' or 'after his speaking.' 
 Such may be the force of the preposition here used with 
 the infinitive. The meaning would then be, not that her 
 soul fainted, or she was overcome while he was speaking, 
 but after, and in consequence of what he had said. 
 Finding him gone, she called to mind his tender, affecting 
 language, and was so overcome thereby as to be almost 
 unmanned. Recovering herself, she began to seek him, 
 but could not find him; she called, but got no answer. 
 
 It is dangerous for us to hesitate and delay when Jesus 
 shows willingness to enter the soul again by his Holy 
 Spirit. When he has been kind enough to seek us out in 
 our decay, we should run with eagerness to meet him at 
 the first intimation of his approach. Neglect to do so, 
 leads to his withdrawal, and lays up for us periods of toil, 
 sorrow, desertion, and humiliation. Grace in the heart 
 may keep our affections vigorous ; he will not gratify us 
 with sensible proofs of his presence. The recollection 
 of his kindness and his melting words of love during our 
 period of sloth, affects us very deeply ; causes our soul to 
 fail ; and arouses us to great exertions in seeking him for 
 repairing the consequences of our neglect. By this 
 carnal security and sloth, the believer has lost very many 
 periods of delightful communion with Jesus, and been 
 obliged to encounter painful difficulties, with seasons of 
 darkness, reproach, and persecution. 
 
 Ver. 7. — The watchmen that -went about the city found me, they smote 
 me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil 
 from mc. 
 
 The spouse had before sought the beloved by night 
 in the streets, but under different circumstances. See chap, 
 iii. 2, 3. In the former case, there was no treating of 
 the beloved with neglect; and as she sought him from 
 
360 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the impulse of deep affection, she found him almost 
 immediately, without difficulty; here as the result of her 
 neglect she encounters much unpleasantness and trouble. 
 The watchmen treated her in an unworthy manner. 
 Watchmen were customarily employed in Jerusalem ; and 
 their post was at the gates; at night watchmen were 
 accustomed to perambulate the city. These represent 
 the ministers of the Church, with whom the believer is 
 naturally brought in contact, when suffering under spirit- 
 ual desertion, and seeking Jesus in times of darkness and 
 trial. 
 
 The watchmen viewed the spouse as a bad woman; for 
 females Avere not allowed to go about the streets in the 
 night. They smote her, wounded her, and took away her 
 veil: the last is the greatest indignity that can be offered 
 to an oriental lady. The meaning is, they did not recog- 
 nize her claims to respectability ; and treated her as one 
 positively vicious. Her conduct, though not morally 
 wrong, A\as unusual. As it Avas not customary for them 
 to see a respectable female under such circumstances, 
 they supposed no one could be reputable AA'hile acting 
 thus. Hers was a manifestation of female devotion they 
 had never yet seen. Christians animated by a holy zeal, 
 under intense influences of the Holy Spirit, have often 
 met with ill-treatment from their brethren, and even from 
 the ministry, the Avatchmen of Zion who should help them 
 in their search for the object of their affection, rather 
 than treat them as destitute of suitable claims to be 
 considered real lovers of Jesus. This disposition has not 
 been confined to ' any one sect; it belongs to human 
 nature, and has shown itself in men of every creed. 
 Every pious exercise differing in vigour and degree from 
 the current feeling of nominal Christians and the im- 
 aginary standard of particular churches, is viewed with 
 
CHAPTER V. 8. 361 
 
 suspicion, as distempered and spurious, as the offspring 
 of fanaticism, however unmistakenly it may bear the 
 marks of the Holy Spirit. In their fear of what is called 
 fanaticism, some persons shun what are genuine religious 
 -affections. Many a poor soul, with a heart aching and 
 burning to know more of Christ, has had its honest 
 inquiries met with reproach or indifference. Hence, in 
 every age, when spiritual decay has been prevalent, 
 persons taking the lead in reviving evangelical religion 
 have had to encounter ill-treatment and persecution. 
 "Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for 
 my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified : but he 
 shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed." 
 Jesus himself was cast out from the synagogue ; and, at 
 last, put to death. Shall we mention Chrysostom, Luther ? 
 nay, the whole history of the Church is an illustration. 
 Thus was Lady Guyon treated in France; Edwards at 
 Northampton ; and the Evangelical brethren of the pres- 
 ent day, in Scotland. Every Christian communion has a 
 general type of piety peculiar to itself; and many look 
 with incredulty on any manifestation of holy affections of 
 a kind at all different. 
 
 Vbr. 8.— I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, 
 that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 
 
 See remarks on chap. ii. 5 — T. Leaving the watchmen 
 who had ill-treated her, the spouse turns to the daughters 
 of Jerusalem as more congenial friends. To them she 
 opens her feelings; their interest she seeks to enlist. 
 Thus the humble believer, received with coldness and 
 repulse by those high in authority, turns away to find 
 kindred spirits and sympathizing hearts among unknown 
 brethren of a deeper religious experience. 
 
 We see here that holy love and holy joy do not always 
 exist together in equal degree. There may be very much 
 31* 
 
302 COM ME NT Alt Y. 
 
 of the former during an absence of the latter. The soul 
 maybe sick of love to Jesus, while mourning the with- 
 drawal of his presence, and struggling amid the darkness 
 of temptation, obloquy and sorrow. "Want of joy is no 
 proof of the absence of grace. A beloved friend may 
 be as devotedly loved when we are separated from him 
 by distance and struggling with difficulties, as when we 
 are peacefully enjoying his society. It were certainly 
 unreasonable to doubt our love to him, or his love to us, 
 because necessary duties of life often separated us. And 
 in these hours when Jesus has left us, even though 
 through our own neglect, we may still be comforted with 
 the assurance of loving him, if we persevere in anxiously 
 seeking him, even amid darkness, suspicion, and trial. 
 We must assuredly love him, when able to adopt the 
 words of Augustin, "What shall I say? what shall I do? 
 whither shall I go? where shall I seek him? or when 
 shall I find him? whom shall I ask? who will tell my 
 beloved that I am sick of love?" 
 
 Yeii. 0. — What is thy beloved more than another beloved, <> thou 
 fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, 
 
 that thou dost so charge us? 
 
 The daughters of Jerusalem seeing the beauty of the 
 spouse, knowing her character, and noticing her very fer- 
 \ciit love, are naturally led to ask her what there 
 peculiarly attractive in her beloved, what arc his excel- 
 lences mote than those of any other. This inquiry pre- 
 pares the way very fitly for the beautiful illustration that 
 
 follows of the loveliness of Jesus. On the words ki ( > 
 thou fairest, &c," see chap. i. 8. This question was put, 
 not by foreigners, hut by the daughters of Jerusalem. 
 And when real Christians sometimes meet with those who 
 
 have had brighter views than themselves of the lovelim » 
 of our Lord, they are ready to make the same inquiry, 
 
CHAPTER V. 10. 363 
 
 to ask what we see in Christ to make us speak of him 
 with such fervour. Every person has some leading object 
 of affection, on which the heart is devotedly set. For 
 instance, the soldiers of Napoleon found this object in 
 their emperor ; and should they put this question, what 
 must be the answer? AVhat is Christ Jesus, the beloved 
 of the saint, more than the beloved of those soldiers? 
 Others have the heart set on a cherished husband, wife, 
 or child: -what is Christ more than these? Again, some, 
 like the fair youth Narcissus, "who became enamoured 
 with the beauty of his OAvn form seen in a pellucid foun- 
 tain, make self the idol of their hearts ; others fix their 
 hearts on a heap of dust, called gold; while others in 
 love with the beautiful, entwine around a work of imagi- 
 nation, a picture, or a statue, the warm affections of the 
 heart. What is the beloved of the saint, Jesus, more 
 than the beloved of these ? 
 
 Yer. 10. — My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten 
 thou sand. 
 
 The principles guiding the interpretation of this whole 
 passage to the close of the chapter, have been already 
 explained. The nature of this description, and of the 
 others like it in the Song, is precisely such as is seen in 
 the exhibition of a piece of fine statuary or a beautiful 
 painting. Should a person wish to represent to another 
 the impression made on his own mind by gazing on the 
 Apollo Belvidere, he must proceed on the same general 
 principles here adopted, though his comparisons and lan- 
 guage must be necessarily different. Persons of culti- 
 vated taste feel it is not improper to study finished works 
 of art; and even in the present advanced stage of civili- 
 zation, statues with little or no drapery arc placed among 
 the choicest productions of genius, and gazed on by thou- 
 sands of both sexes, in company, without a blush or 
 
3(J4 COMMENTARY. 
 
 thought of any tiling indelicate. Does any one deem it 
 an offence against good taste, to exhibit or to study the 
 Apollo, the Venus de Medici, or the Greek Slave ? Those 
 who are willing to admire such undying productions, can- 
 not with any consistency find fault with these portraits of 
 the Song. The difference between the two cases is simply 
 this — what statues do through marble, the Song does 
 through words. These delineations in the Song give a 
 picture of a noble human form, around which is thrown 
 every drapery necessary to add to the beauty and gratify 
 the most delicate taste. In defence of these exquisite 
 delineations of the beautiful in the human form, we arc 
 not willing to plead, as might be justly done, that at the 
 time the Song was written, its language was, in point of 
 modesty, far ahead of the most refined nations ; and that 
 when our translation of the Bible was made, these pas- 
 sages were far above the general tone of English litera- 
 ture. We take rather the higher and stronger ground, 
 that these representations are in perfect accordance with 
 the constitution of the human mind, and with principles 
 universally admitted in the fine arts. The sculptor wish- 
 ing to represent the perfect beauty of the human form, 
 portrays it by a resemblance of man wrought in marble. 
 The custom of mankind is to set off the body with dress 
 and ornaments drawn from different parts of the world, 
 such as gold, gems, silks, plumes, &c. Why, therefore, 
 should it be thought strange that the Holy Spirit should 
 draw together beautiful objects from different quarters, 
 for representing the beauty of the body? Beautiful 
 attire invests the body according to a natural custom; 
 why should not the same right be granted concerning an 
 ideal body around which is thrown the drapery of the 
 beautiful thoughts here grouped together. When it is 
 said that such and such parts of the body are thus and 
 
CHAPTER V. 10. 365 
 
 thus beautiful, the meaning is, there is thrown over a 
 human form a drapery and ornaments formed of the ideas 
 suggested by these comparisons. These illustrations form 
 a splendid drapery, the design of which is to set oft* with 
 perfect grace, and heighten to the greatest possible degree, 
 every beauty of the human form ; — having done this, the 
 Holy Spirit points to such portraiture, to such embodi- 
 ment of beauty, and says, That may be an illustration of 
 the beauty there is in Jesus. Wishing to set forth to 
 mortal eyes the beauty seen in Christ, the wisdom of 
 God, the Holy Spirit represents these not in marble that 
 may be mutilated, and may perish, but in language that 
 can never die; and gathers in this language the most 
 beautiful comparisons and richest expressions possible. 
 Could no other reason be given for inserting these pas- 
 sages in the Scriptures, this would be sufficient — that 
 Christians of undoubted piety, deep experience, and 
 great purity of heart, have found these illustrations of 
 the loveliness of Christ, a source of instruction and un- 
 speakable delight — not only not suggesting unhallowed 
 thoughts, but feeding the soul with meditations kindred 
 with those of heaven. 
 
 "Xe from thenceforth doth any fleshy sense 
 Or idle thought of earthly things remaine: 
 So full their eyes are of that glorious sight, 
 And senses fraught with such satietie, 
 That in nought else on earth can they delight, 
 But in th' aspec of that felicitie, 
 Which they have written in their inward eye."* 
 
 Like pellucid rills from different springs, the trains of 
 beautiful thoughts flowing from the various illustrations 
 here mentioned, combine into one full stream, and inun- 
 date the soul with a flood of delight. 
 
 * Spenser's Hymn of Hcaveuly Beauty. 
 
3G6 COMMENT A R Y. 
 
 "When it is said, the beloved is white and ruddy, the 
 meaning is, that his complexion is the perfection of beauty 
 and health. David was "ruddy, and withal of beautiful 
 countenance, and goodly to look to." 1 Sam. xvi. 12. 
 So beautiful is our beloved, that he is the chief among ten 
 thousand; or, literally, he is lifted up as a banner among 
 an innumerable host; that is, in a countless host the eye 
 would naturally rest on him conspicuous and pre-eminent 
 above all others, as it distinguishes a banner amid tens of 
 thousands of people. When Milton would represent Satan 
 as distinguished above his compeers, his words arc: 
 
 "He, above the rest, 
 In shape and gesture proudly eminent, 
 Stood like a tower." 
 
 In the muster of the fallen angels in hell, the imperial 
 ensign 
 
 "Full high advanced, 
 
 Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind. 
 
 With gems and golden lustre rich emblazed:" 
 
 thus, towers Jesus above all others, the centre of attrac- 
 tion to whom all eyes must ever be turned, even amid the 
 innumerable company of angels. The believer feels most 
 truly, that wherever he goes, under all circumstances, 
 Jesus is, like the banner in an armed host, the centre of 
 attraction to which his eyes are always anxiously turned, 
 the rallying point of his soul, full high advanced above 
 all others ; the splendour of his divinity burning with a 
 brilliancy of glory richer than a meteor streaming to the 
 wind, brighter than the cloud that rested on the mount of 
 transfiguration. That mount, with the crown-like glory 
 of the bright cloud then resting there, was distinguished 
 above all other mountains; and thus, amid the hosts of 
 heaven, Jesus is pre-eminent by the crown of glory and 
 
CHAPTER V. 10. 367 
 
 honour, the radiance of the divinity encompassing him as 
 a sun. He is even now the sun by whose light all the 
 youth of "the sacramental host of God's elect" move to 
 do the brave acts of their spiritual warfare. To him are 
 we exhorted to look, him to imitate, him to follow. In 
 this grandeur and glory of his divinity, does he loom up 
 before the soul in the hour of repentance, in trouble, in the 
 valley of the shadow of death. In heaven he will be the 
 conspicuous object to angels, no less than to the redeemed; 
 for who besides him is there like him, even in heaven? 
 In him are combined the divine and human natures; and 
 this union gives rise to a development of glory, splendid 
 and remarkable, as it is singular and grand. 
 
 In this verse, therefore, as introducing the following 
 description, there are two general statements: first, that 
 he has the beanty springing from the clearness of com- 
 plexion and ruddy glow, bespeaking perfect health; and 
 that there is something in his general appearance which 
 would draw attention to him above all others, even 
 amid an innumerable host.* 
 
 * Kitto gives from the Persian, the following description of the pa- 
 triarch Joseph, with which this description of the beloved may be com- 
 pared: "A beauteous youth, who eclipses the charms and graces of the 
 houris of Paradise. His form, polished as the box-tree, erect as the 
 cypress. His locks, falling in ringlets, sealing the mouth of wisdom, 
 and arresting the feet of discretion. His forehead shining with immor- 
 tal beams, surpassing both the sun and the moon. His eyebrows arched, 
 and his eyelashes shading his sleepy eyes. His eyes beaming mildness, 
 his eyelashes darting arrows. His lips smiling and shedding sweets, 
 his lips dropping honey. His pearly teeth between his ruby lips, like 
 the lightning playing upon a western sky. Laughing, he eclipses the 
 Pleiades; smiles and jests dance upon his lips. Pearly drops hang 
 upon his doable chin; uponhisrosy countenance a mole, as the dark ash 
 in the midst of a garden. His arms like silver, and well proportioned; 
 but the waist, for want of silver, slender." 
 
3G8 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Ver. 11. — His bead is as the most fine gold; his locks are bushy, and 
 black as a raven. 
 
 The words rendered "the most fine gold," seem, from 
 the original, to mean the choicest gold, such as kings laid 
 up among their peculiar treasures — gold most carefully 
 refined. Perhaps Rosenmiiller's idea may be correct, 
 when he understands them to express choice, pure, solid 
 gold. Our apprehension of the meaning is, that the head 
 of the beloved was so exquisitely beautiful, and an object 
 of such pleasure to the contemplation of the bride, she 
 could illustrate her feelings in gazing on it, in no better 
 way than by saying, they were as delightful as they would 
 be in contemplating a statue or bust, a head, sculptured 
 by a finished artist from the finest solid gold. Beyond 
 the ordinary pleasure had in gazing on a finished piece of 
 sculpture from marble there is here added the pleasure 
 had from contemplating the same wrought from the finest 
 gold. 
 
 The word "locks" expresses the forelocks about the 
 temples; the word "bushy" has received different inter- 
 pretations, varying in their shades of meaning, but 
 conveying the same general idea. The Septuagint trans- 
 late, "his hair is like the young leaves of the palm." 
 Dopke renders "palm branches." There is considerable 
 uniformity in the shape of the leaves of the palms. They 
 are generally feathery, or divided like the plume of a 
 feather; sometimes the leaves are flag like, of a thin, 
 flexible texture, and curl towards the extremities. The 
 leaves of the Jaqua palm are sixteen or seventeen feet 
 long, their extremities arc curled like plumes ; the ulti- 
 mate divisions or leaflets flutter lightly and airily round 
 the slowly balancing central leaf stalks."* The hair 
 may be very aptly compared to the fine wavy young 
 
 * Humboldt's Aspects, 318. 
 
CHAPTER V. 12. 369 
 
 leaves of the palm on their first bursting forth from the 
 sheaths in which they are contained. The idea is, that 
 his locks were full, in flowing clusters, like waving pen- 
 dulous branches, with curls rising above one another in 
 profusion. They were black as a raven ; that is, of the 
 purest and jettiest black. So Ossian, "Her hair was the 
 wing of the raven." And the Persian poet — 
 
 " Thy face is brighter than the cheek of day, 
 Blacker thy locks than midnight's deepest sway." 
 
 And again — 
 
 "Of black, e'en blackest hue, and unconfined, 
 Her shadowy tresses wantoned in the wind." 
 
 Ver. 12. — His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, 
 washed with milk, and fitly set. 
 
 See note, chap. i. 15. Here the eyes of the beloved 
 are compared to doves, rather than to the eyes of doves, 
 on account of what follows. In Ps. lxviii. 13, " The 
 wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers 
 with yellow gold," there is reference to those brilliant 
 and sometimes golden reflections which the lustrous plu- 
 mage of some doves exhibits. All in their true wild 
 plumage, have iridescent colours about the neck ; and 
 often reflect flashes of the same colours on the shoulders : 
 this is expressed in the clearest light, by saying, that 
 these doves were more beautiful than when washed in 
 streams of the purest water, pure and brilliant as though 
 washed in a limpid brook, combining with the transpa- 
 rency of water the whiteness of milk. The same picture 
 occurs in the Gitagovinda : " His passion was inflamed 
 by the glances of her eyes, which played like a pair of 
 water-birds with azure plumage, that sport near a full- 
 blown lotus, on a pool in the season of dew." And 
 again, " She whose wanton eye resembles blue water-lilies 
 32 
 
370 COMMENTARY. 
 
 agitated by the breeze." Doves by such streams, repre- 
 sent beautifully the pupil of the eye, surrounded by its 
 clear, healthful white ; and the brooks of water seem 
 mentioned for illustrating the eye as the fountain of 
 tears, and the eyes of the beloved as suffused with the 
 tenderness flowing from a spring deep in the heart of 
 sympathy and love. The whole comparison represents 
 the eyes as sparkling with vivacity, purity, and love of 
 the greatest tenderness. The last words, "fitly set," are 
 referred by some interpreters to the beautiful setting of 
 a gem in a ring, perhaps to the precious stones in the 
 breast-plate of the high-priest. The idea would then 
 be, that while his eyes amid his clustering, waving, raven 
 locks, were beautiful as doves sporting by the transparent 
 streams around which gathered trees of rich foliage, those 
 eyes were brilliant and perfectly set in his head, as gems 
 fitly set by the most skilful artist in the finest gold. We 
 prefer, however, to render the whole verse — - His eyes as 
 doves by valley-rills of water, washed in milk, reposing 
 by the full fountain streams.' The idea would then be 
 that of milk-white doves in a rural vale, reposing quietly 
 by rich, full streams, flowing from pellucid fountains. 
 
 Ver. 13. — His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his 
 lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. 
 
 Besides fragrant plants and flowers, the Jewish gardens 
 were occupied, in a considerable degree, with the growth 
 of medicinal shrubs and herbs. The word bed here 
 means a bed raised throughout, or at least in the middle; 
 such a plat, thickly covered with sweet-smelling flowers 
 in full bloom, was a most delightful object; and the 
 spouse laying under contribution everything most beau- 
 tiful in nature, says the pleasure felt by her in gazing on 
 the cheeks of the beloved, could be best illustrated by 
 
CHAPTER V. 13. 371 
 
 the delight caused in viewing a bed filled with fragrant 
 flowers. 
 
 She goes farther, however, and adds force to the idea. 
 The next words, "as sweet flowers," rendered in the 
 margin of our Bible, "towers of perfumes," do not seem 
 to convey the idea intended by the original Hebrew. 
 This word generally translated "tower," is used for an 
 elevated stage or platform, in Neh. viii. 4, and ix. 4. 
 It seems to mean trellises, and those of a towering 
 height, covered with aromatic flowers. The whole verse 
 would then read — ' His cheeks are as banks or mounds of 
 fragrant flowers, as towering trellises covered with 
 aromatic blooms.' May this refer to the artificial ter- 
 races frequently covering the hills of Judea? In many 
 places it is terraced continuously for miles. Steep hills 
 are converted into numerous horizontal beds, rising suc- 
 cessively till the top of the mountain forms the last. 
 On ascending a mountain pass, a traveller counted sixty- 
 seven terraces, which occupied the whole side of the hill ; 
 while considerably higher mountains were manifestly 
 terraced all over by a proportionally greater number. 
 These terraced sides formed hanging gardens, rising 
 beautifully from the rich valleys, in the days of Israel's 
 glory, when the scene must have been as fertile as now 
 it is desolate, and as beauteous as now it is blasted. In 
 this passage may the spouse therefore say, that the ruddy 
 cheeks of the beloved excited a pleasure like that felt in 
 gazing on beds of fragrant flowers, or contemplating 
 those terraced hills covered with blooming aromatic 
 herbs ? 
 
 " His lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh." 
 These words illustrate the beauty of his lips. There 
 may be a reference here to a lily of deep red colour, 
 mentioned by Pliny as much esteemed in Syria. That 
 
372 <J U M M ENTA R Y. 
 
 the colour as well as sweetness and general beauty of 
 these lilies is referred to, appears probable from the fol- 
 lowing allusions in oriental poets : " Him whose lips are 
 like a red lotos in full bloom:" "How can tulip-coloured 
 wine be compared to the rubies of thy lips:" "I medi- 
 tate on the fragrant lotos of her mouth, on her nectar- 
 dropping speech, on her lips ruddy as the berries of the 
 bimba." See chap. v. 5, on "sweet-smelling myrrh." 
 Sir Thomas Brown supposes this refers to "the roscid 
 and honey-drops observable in the flowers of martagons 
 and inverted flowered lilies ; and is probably the standing 
 SAveet dew on the white eyes of the crown-imperial, now 
 common among us." This whole comparison, then, 
 means that his lips are beautiful as those roseate lilies, 
 distilling drops precious as the most precious myrrh, 
 limpid as the morning dew. 
 
 Ver. 14. — His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is 
 as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. 
 
 The idea here is, not that his fingers were covered with 
 golden rings, but that the fingers were as gold rings, 
 rollers, or cylinders, and the nails were as the beryl set in 
 those rings. The original word tarshish, here rendered 
 beryl, means a precious stone, so called because brought 
 from Tarshish. According to the Septuagint and Josc- 
 phus, it is the chrysolite — that is, the topaz of the 
 moderns, which is still found in Spain. This is a pre- 
 cious stone having a strong glass lustre. Its prevailing 
 colour is wine-yellow, of every degree of shade. The dark 
 shade of this colour passes over into carnation red, and 
 sometimes, though rarely, into lilac; the pale shade of 
 the wine-yellow passes into greyish, and from yellowish 
 white into greenish white and pale green. This stone 
 was highly prized by the Hebrews. To them no illustra- 
 
CHAPTER V. 14. 373 
 
 tion could be more beautifully appropriate for giving an 
 idea of the most finely formed hands, with fingers and 
 nails of extreme delicacy, than to say they were gold 
 rollers set with the beryl. • 
 
 " His body is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires."* 
 The word body, rather than belly, is the proper one to be 
 here used : it means the whole of the body from the 
 shoulders downwards. The sapphire is a gem so called 
 from its beauty and splendour. It is next in hardness 
 and value to the diamond, and is mostly of a blue colour 
 of various shades. In the choicest specimens it is of the 
 deepest azure; and in others varies in shades of all de- 
 grees between that and the pure crystal brightness of 
 water, without the least tinge of colour, but with a lustre 
 much superior to crystal. The Hebrew word answering 
 to "bright" in our version means something wrought, 
 artificial work ; and the idea intended therefore is, that 
 his body excited feelings of beauty like those caused by 
 gazing on a curious artificial work of ivory richly inlaid, 
 even covered, with brilliant sapphires. For expressing 
 the beauty of his body, the highly wrought finely polished 
 ivory was not sufficient. It has a beauty combining with 
 
 * Homer has a like illustration : 
 
 As when a Carian or Moeonian nymph 
 
 With purple ivory tinges, for some steed 
 
 An ornamental head-piece, stored it lies 
 
 Of kings a treasure, charioteers a pride: 
 
 Thus, Menelaus, was thy snowy form, 
 
 Thy graceful thighs, stained with the trickling gore. 
 
 Iliad, book iv. 142. 
 And Virgil: 
 
 As when with purple, Indian ivory's tinged; 
 'Mid numerous roses snowy lilies blush ; 
 Her beauteous face a crimson flush suffused. 
 
 jEii. xii. G7. 
 
 32* 
 
374 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the whiteness and polish of ivory the splendour and glory 
 of sapphires. 
 
 Ver. 15. — His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine 
 gold; his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 
 
 The phrase " silver legged" is common in Persia, to 
 denote elegance of this limb. Thus Hafiz : 
 
 " O thou whose polished legs like silver shine, 
 My heart is ravished as thou bring'st ine wine." 
 
 Ovid speaks of delicate marble feet. Aquila and 
 Theodotion translate this, " his legs are pillars, or col- 
 umns, of Parian marble." This was the whitest, purest, 
 and best — that from which the Grecian statues generally 
 were formed. "On sockets, or pedestals, of fine gold." 
 These doubtless refer to the beauty of his sandals. From 
 the many references to the beauty of sandals in the Latin 
 and Greek poets, Ave take but one from Callimachus, in 
 his hymn to Apollo : 
 
 "A golden robe invests the glorious god: 
 His shining feet with golden sandals shod ; 
 Gold are his harp, his quiver, and his bow." 
 
 Columns of fine marble, on bases of pure solid gold, were 
 beautiful to the view ; far more beautiful were his legs, 
 with their costly, splendid sandals. 
 
 " His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the 
 cedars." There are higher mountains than Lebanon, but 
 none more truly deserving the epithet of Moses, " that 
 goodly mountain, even Lebanon." Towering to a height 
 of ten thousand feet above the sea, and deriving its 
 name, not from the snow lying continually on its sum- 
 mits, but from the whiteness of its limestone rocks, 
 "Lebanon presents us everywhere, with majestic moun- 
 tains. At every step we meet with scenes in which 
 nature displays either beauty or grandeur. When we 
 
CHAPTER V. 15. 375 
 
 land on the coast, the loftiness and steep ascent of this 
 mountainous ridge, which seems to enclose the^country, 
 those gigantic masses which shoot into the clotids, inspire 
 astonishment and awe."* "We were chiefly occupied 
 with the view of majestic Lebanon. It is a noble range 
 of mountains, well worthy of the fame it has so long 
 maintained. It is cultivated in a wonderful manner, by 
 the help of terraces, and is still very fertile. We saw on 
 some of its eminences, more than two thousand feet high, 
 villages and luxuriant vegetation; and on some of its 
 peaks, six thousand feet high, we could discern tall pines 
 against the clear sky beyond. At first the clouds were 
 resting on the lofty summit of the range, but they cleared 
 away, and we saw Sannin, which is generally regarded as 
 the highest peak of Lebanon. The rays of the setting 
 sun gave a splendid tint to the lofty brow of the moun- 
 tain ; and we did not wonder how the Church of old saw 
 in its features of calm and immovable majesty, an emblem 
 of the great Redeemer — ' His countenance is as Lebanon.' 
 The cedars of Lebanon excel those of all other lands. 
 They are remarkable for the multiplicity and length of 
 the branches, few trees dividing so many fair branches 
 from the main stem, or spreading over so large a com- 
 pass of the ground. No tree in the forest is more remark- 
 able than the cedar for its closely woven, leafy canopy. 
 Its mantling foliage — or overshadowing shroud, as Ezekiel 
 calls it — is its greatest beauty, which arises from the hori- 
 zontal growth of its branches, forming a kind of sweeping 
 irregular pent-house. And when to the idea of beauty, 
 that of strength is added, by the pyramidal form of the 
 stem and the robustness of the limbs, the tree is complete 
 in all its majesty and beauty."f Besides their uncom- 
 
 * Volney. f The Scotch Mission of Inquiry. 
 
376 COMMENTARY. 
 
 mon size and beauty of shape and foliage, they send forth 
 a balsamic odour, which seems to be meant by " the smell 
 of Lebanon." With perfect elegance and taste, the be- 
 loved is compared to Lebanon and the cedars for dignity 
 and grandeur; and afterwards the spouse is compared to 
 C arm el and the palm-tree, for beauty and grace. Chap, 
 vii. 5. 
 
 Vee. 16. — His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely. 
 This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 The mouth, or palate, together with the corresponding 
 lower part of the mouth, is put for the voice. This may 
 read, 'His voice is sweetness;' — that is, not merely 
 pure sweetness, but so rich that its excellence cannot be 
 better expressed than by saying, it is a combination of 
 sweetnesses. Every possible beauty of sound and music 
 is concentrated in the tones of his voice. 
 
 It will have been already noticed, that in this descrip- 
 tion there is a grouping together of objects and ideas of 
 beauty and brilliancy, dazzling beyond expression, and 
 beyond any power of conception by the unaided human 
 mind. These different clusters of beautiful ideas are, like 
 the various flowers brought from different places for 
 forming a boquet, drawn together for giving us an idea 
 of the cluster of glories centring in Jesus. Yet they are, 
 after all, further from giving a perfect idea of his loveli- 
 ness, than the various flowers gathered as specimens into 
 a cluster, are from representing with anything like faith- 
 fulness, the richness of the tropical landscape from which 
 they may have been gathered. All the things here used 
 for comparison are rich and radiant with splendour. The 
 head is more beautiful than a finished sculpture from the 
 finest marble, it is a sculpture from the purest solid gold; 
 the eyes have, besides the liveliness and tenderness of 
 doves washing in a rural limpid stream, the brilliancy of 
 
Oil APT Mil V. 16. 377 
 
 gems elegantly set in gold ; the cheeks have the fresh 
 hues of beds of blooming, odoriferous flowers; the lips 
 have the elegance of lilies distilling dew-like myrrh ; the 
 hands and fingers are cylinders of gold, the nails are 
 precious stones ; the body combines the beauty of ivory 
 united with sapphires ; the legs are pillars of the purest 
 marble, set on bases of the finest gold; the countenance 
 has the grandeur and majesty of Lebanon, the nobleness 
 and excellence of the cedars. Were it possible for all 
 these splendours and beauties to be united in any indi- 
 vidual, how far would he transcend the fairest of the sons 
 of men. Combine into a focus at the heart all the ideas 
 and feelings of beauty gathered from all these objects of 
 splendour, and then you have something resembling the 
 delight had by the believer in contemplating the Lord 
 Jesus. All these, however, infinitely more than these, 
 are found in the person of him who is "fairer than the 
 children of men." With this may be compared the 
 language of Cly temnestra, on the return of Agamemnon : 
 
 "Faithful — as dog, the lonely shepherd's pride; 
 True — as the helm, the bark's protecting guide; 
 Firm — as the shaft that props the towering domo ; 
 Sweet — as to shipwreek'd seamen land and home; 
 Lovely — as child, a parent's sole delight. 
 Radiant — as morn that breaks a stormy night: 
 Grateful — as streams, that in some deep recess, 
 With rills unhoped, the panting traveller bless; 
 Is he that links with mine his chain of life, 
 Names himself lord, and deigns to call me wife."* 
 
 How greatly was the beauty of the statues of Minerva 
 and Jupiter, by Phidias, heightened by the fine carving, 
 ornaments, and drapery of gold overlaying the figure 
 formed with such majesty in ivory ! The view of the 
 
 * Agamemnon of -Eschylus, 828. 
 
378 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Apollo Belvidere gives pleasure even in the simple 
 marble ; how much more thrilling must he the impression, 
 could all the splendid ideas here grouped together, be 
 superadded to the majesty of the simple, unadorned 
 marble. Even then we must go farther, and add the idea 
 of life. The whole would then be no more than an 
 emblematical representation of the Lord Jesus, of him 
 in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. As 
 the Shechinah was surpassed by the glory shown forth in 
 him who spake as never man spake; who healed the 
 sick; who raised the dead; who was transfigured on 
 Tabor; so, infinitely more is the glory of Jesus when on 
 earth, transcended by the glory now investing him in 
 heaven. 
 
 Hence after all that had been said, the spouse adds, 
 "Yea," or beside all these excellences, he has so many 
 others, that we must say, "he is altogether lovely;" 
 more literally, 'his wholeness is delights' — his very con- 
 stitution and nature consist of pure delights. As God, 
 considered as exercising kind feeling towards us, is said 
 to be 'love;' so Jesus, viewed as the source of happiness 
 in us, or as the author of pleasing sensations in us, is said 
 to be 'delights.' These constitute his very being as thus 
 contemplated; there is nothing in him which does not 
 cause delights. There is nothing in him which is not 
 lovely; and there is nothing delightful which is not 
 centred in him. The whole creation is a manifestation of 
 the glory of God. The Jewish tabernacle was a model 
 on a small scale, fitted by the same Creator, for illustra- 
 ting the excellence of Jesus Christ, the maker of all 
 things, as the Redeemer of men ; and showing forth 
 characteristics of the divine nature not seen in creation, 
 and rendered necessary by a state of things among men, 
 which did not exist when the world was made. The 
 
CHAPTER V. 10. 379 
 
 ancient Shechinah assumed different appearances, ac- 
 cording to the character of God at the time ; sometimes 
 exhibiting the terrors of his justice, as in the flaming 
 sword at the east- of Eden, and in the consuming fire on 
 the top of Sinai ; at others, manifesting the loveliness of 
 his mercy, as in the cloud which dwelt between the 
 cherubim, in the temple. Under the old dispensation, 
 this mysterious cloud was the type of him who is the 
 atoning Redeemer, and "the brightness of the Father's 
 glory." 
 
 We come very far short of attaining full views of the 
 blessedness of Jesus, by taking only one aspect or repre- 
 sentation of him at a time, instead of combining in one 
 view all that the Scriptures shadow forth of his glory. 
 At one time, we view him as a King ; then, as Almighty ; 
 again, as a Lamb leading his flock to living waters ; then, 
 as the light of that world of glory. This mode of unfold- 
 ing his character is necessary and wise. But in studying 
 his excellences, let us not detach any one of them from 
 the rest; let us view them as a glorious combination form- 
 ing together one whole. The King crowned with many 
 crowns is Jesus, but not the full development of the glory 
 of Jesus. The Shechinah of the Holy City is Jesus; but 
 this, however magnificent, does not constitute our Lord 
 as he appears in his glory. And these detached charac- 
 teristics, however beautiful when viewed alone, are far 
 more grand when seen amid the cluster to which they 
 belong. In forming a conception of Jesus, let us bring 
 together into one person or individual all the detached 
 representations given of him in the Scriptures — the Son 
 of God, the King of kings, the King crowned with many 
 crowns, the Judge on the great white throne, the Godhead 
 coming with clouds, the Lamb leading his flock to living 
 fountains of waters, the Shechinah of the holy Jerusalem, 
 
380 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the tender friend weeping with his people in sorrow at the 
 grave of Lazarus, tbe first born, the elder brother of the 
 saints; — gather all these into one, so far as the mind is 
 able to do this, and then we have something of what the 
 Scriptures represent Jesus Christ as he is in glory. Yea, 
 add to these the splendour of the burning bush, the 
 grandeur of Sinai, the vision of Isaiah with its overpow- 
 ering majesty, (Isa. chap, vi.,) the wondrous sight unfolded 
 to Ezekiel, (chap, i.,) the vision of Daniel, (chap. vii. 9,) 
 the cloud of glory that dwelt between the cherubim, the 
 effulgence of the transfiguration, the appearance to 
 Paul on the road to Damascus, the revelation to the 
 beloved disciple at Patmos, the ideas of beauty grouped 
 together in the Song, (v. 10 — 16,) the picture presented 
 when he stood on the mount of Olives and wept over 
 Jerusalem; when the mind can gather to its bosom all 
 these ideas at once, it can feel all that God has now 
 opened of the grandeur, glory, and loveliness of Christ. 
 These rays, small, very small part though they are of his 
 excellence, when gathered to a focus are overpowering. 
 When thus attempting to comprehend even what is 
 revealed of our Lord, the mind feels its incapacity, and 
 sees the wisdom of having him revealed to us as God has 
 done it in the Scriptures, by unfolding a part of his per- 
 fections at a time. We thus get a better comprehension 
 of those detached scenes, and ultimately of the glory of 
 Christ, by studying them independently, than could be 
 done by having them all crowded into one. Yet, when 
 the heart has studied them separately, it is anxious to 
 rise to the highest conception- possible of Jesus, by 
 bringing these clusters of glories together; but it finds 
 its powers to fail under the effort. These gems of truth 
 are as fitly set in the Scriptures, as were the stones in 
 Aaron's breast-plate; and with what effulgence do they 
 
CHAPTER V. 10. 381 
 
 beam, when the Urim and Thummim of the Holy Spirit 
 kindles there his light; what a mellow radiance do they 
 throw over all the intermediate truths and spaces of the 
 word of God; the radiance poured abroad by the Spirit 
 through these representations of the glory of Christ, 
 lighting up all the other Scriptures with a more heavenly 
 glow. And they light up all nature with a beauty and 
 splendour before unseen. The Holy Spirit causes us as 
 it were to see lamps of heavenly fire burning in every- 
 thing around us, until all creation becomes to our view 
 like the golden candlestick in the view of the worshipper 
 in the sanctuary — every created thing, not only every 
 star, but every tree, every flower, becoming a lamp more 
 beauteous than gold, on which burns the richness of the 
 splendour of the divine glory. To the eye of faith all 
 this is reality. And to the soul whose vision has been 
 purified by grace, the works of God convey sensations 
 more delightful than could be experienced, were every 
 bud, every blossom, every blade of grass, and every 
 flower, a lamp burning with living fire. 
 
 "The clouds that gather round the setting sun 
 Do take a purer colouring from an eye 
 Illumined with this inward purity: 
 To such the humblest flower that blows can give 
 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."* 
 
 Substituting holy sensibility for mere literary taste, and 
 the inward illumination of the Spirit of grace for the 
 love of the beautiful, we may use the words of Words- 
 worth for expressing nobler emotions than they seem to 
 have been intended to embody : 
 
 "I have seen 
 A curious child who dwelt upon a tract 
 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 
 The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell; 
 
 * Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality. 
 
 33 
 
382 COMMENTARY. 
 
 To which, in silence hushed, his very soul 
 
 Listened intensely; and his countenance soon 
 
 Brightened with joy; for murmurings from within 
 
 Were heard, — sonorous cadences! whereby 
 
 To his belief, the monitor expressed 
 
 Mysterious union with its native sea. 
 
 Even such a shell the universe itself 
 
 Is to the ear of faith ; and doth impart 
 
 Authentic tidings of invisible things: 
 
 Of Him who formed and has redeemed them all. 
 
 Thus by the Spirit led, whate'er we see, 
 
 Whate'er we feel, by agency direct 
 
 Or indirect, shall tend to feed and nurse 
 
 Holy affections, fix in calmer seats 
 
 Of moral strength, and raise to loftier heights 
 
 Of love divine, our intellectual soul, 
 
 And help the great Redeemer to adore." 
 
 In heaven we shall see that blessed one combining all 
 these visions of beauty and glory in his one person, 
 together with innumerable others of which the heart of 
 man cannot now conceive. 
 
 "Cease then, my tongue! and lend unto my mynd 
 Leave to bethinke how great that beauty is, 
 Whose utmost parts so beautifull I fynd ; 
 How much more those essentiall parts of his, 
 His truth, his love, his wisedome, and his blis, 
 His grace, his doomc, his mercy, and his might, 
 By which he lends us of himselfe a sight : 
 His goodnesse, which his beautie doth declare, 
 For all thats good is beautifull and faire."* 
 
 Thus contemplating our adorable Redeemer by a living 
 faith, through the Holy Spirit, we say with humble exulta- 
 tion, in the language of the spouse, " This is my beloved, 
 and this is my friend, my companion, daughters of 
 Jerusalem." So far from being ashamed of him, as in 
 our unrenewed state, in him alone we now glory. He is 
 the absorbing centre of our affections; his company is 
 the desire and delight of our heart. 
 
 * Spenser's Hymn of Heavenly Beauty. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 1. 383 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Ver. 1. — Whither is thy beloved gone, thou fairest among women ? 
 whither is thy beloved turned aside ? that we may seek him with 
 thee. 
 
 Such a description of the beloved might well make the 
 daughters of Jerusalem anxious to see him, and inquire 
 where he might be found. A judicious holding forth of 
 the character and loveliness of Christ, has ever been the 
 leading means of drawing sinners to the cross. The sal- 
 vation of souls is effected by preaching to them Christ 
 crucified. Great multitudes of people followed Jesus, 
 because his fame went throughout all Syria. Had those 
 who saw his mighty works and were the subjects of his 
 healing power, said nothing, his name could not have been 
 known abroad, and many whose lives were spared must 
 have perished. " Ye are the light of the world. Neither 
 do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on 
 a candlestick ; and it giveth light to all that are in the 
 house. Let your light so shine before men, that they 
 may see your good works, and glorify your Father which 
 is in heaven." Strange that there should be such back- 
 wardness among Christians in speaking to each other of 
 their Lord, and of commending his grace to sinners. Love 
 breaks through this icy restraint, even at the risk of 
 being looked on with disfavour. While a relief to our 
 own soul, this speaking of Jesus is often made a blessing 
 to others. When the woman of Samaria "went her way 
 into the city, and said unto the men, Come, see a man 
 which told me all things that ever I did ; is not this the 
 Christ? Then they went out of the city and came unto 
 him." John iv. 29. And what was the result of her so 
 doing ? " Many of the Samaritans of that city believed 
 
384 COMMENTARY. 
 
 on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He 
 told me all that ever I did." Nor did the results of this 
 conduct stop here. "They besought him that he would 
 tarry with them; and he abode there two days. And 
 many more believed because of his own word." 
 
 Ver. 2. — My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, 
 to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 
 
 All the gardens mentioned in Scripture, like those in the 
 East of the present day, were not in any way connected 
 with the residence; but were outside the several towns, 
 and were from half a mile to a mile distant from the 
 houses of the persons to whom they belonged. Josephus 
 relates that Solomon used to go very early in the morn- 
 ing in great pomp to Etham, about two miles from Jeru- 
 salem, a pleasant place abounding with gardens and rills 
 of water. In going to Jerusalem, they spoke of going 
 up; in going from the city, they spoke of going down. 
 The beloved had gone out to his garden to enjoy the 
 beauty and fragrance of the beds of spices, "to feed," — 
 or as the same idea is expressed in chap. v. 1 — to eat its 
 pleasant fruits; to have his various senses regaled with 
 the blooming flowers, the luscious fruits, the exhilarating 
 fragrance, the beautiful scenes, the melody of the night- 
 ingales, "and to gather lilies." Thus Moschus, describing 
 the beautiful Europa, 
 
 "And from the meads thy fragrant banks that bound, 
 Plucked the sweet lilies gaily blooming round." 
 
 And Virgil, 
 
 " Come, beauteous youth, the nymphs in baskets bring 
 For thee the loveliest lilies of the spring." 
 tht 
 
 the d\ke the seven golden candlesticks, Rev. i. 20, the 
 
 s here mean the churches of Christ; and the lilies 
 
CHAPTER VI. 4. 385 
 
 his saints, the pure in heart who shall see God. The 
 spouse knew well the beloved's place of resort ; and felt 
 that though withdrawn from her, he was still among his 
 churches and in the midst of his saints. Thither must 
 she go to find him. Jesus may withdraw from the soul 
 of the believer; he never forsakes his Church; and 
 when our hearts are forsaken, we may be comforted 
 by knowing, that if diligently sought, he will be found 
 again in the spiritual garden of his Church, enjoying its 
 delights and gathering to his bosom the lilies, his sanc- 
 tified ones, that having their connection with earth broken 
 off by death, they may lie nearer to his heart in glory, 
 and adorn his heavenly home. 
 
 Ver. 3. I am my beloved's, and niy beloved is mine ; he feedeth among 
 
 the lilies. 
 
 See chap. ii. 16. Throughout this whole scene we 
 notice that after awaking from her sluggishness the 
 spouse entertains ardent affection for the beloved, though 
 his presence is withdrawn. Thus in times when we are 
 without the sweet manifestations once had of the near- 
 ness of our Lord, love to him may remain ardent and un- 
 abated. The act of speaking concerning his loveliness 
 and commending him to others, as in the close of the 
 foregoing chapter, is attended with the happiest results 
 to ourselves, and ends in our attaining again the full 
 assurance of hope as here expressed. 
 
 Ver. 4.— Thou art beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusa- 
 lem, terrible as an army with banners.* 
 
 The very name of Tirzah, delight, bespeaks the beauty 
 of its scenery. It is a city mentioned by Josh. xii. 24, 
 
 * The following description of a lady by her lover, is given by Kitto 
 from an old Arabian romance: " The lovely virgin has struck my heart 
 with the arrow of a glance, for which there is no cure. Sometimes she 
 
 S3* 
 
386 COMMENTARY. 
 
 remarkable for its elegance; and after the revolt of Re- 
 hoboam, chosen as the royal city, and preserving its pre- 
 eminence till Omri founded Samaria. Jerusalem was beau- 
 tiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, called by 
 Pliny the most beautiful city not of Judea only, but of the 
 whole East. To these capital cites of Judea, rising ma- 
 jestically on its verdant hills, with towers, and walls, and 
 palaces of marble white and pure, does the beloved com- 
 pare the spouse, as Jesus himself compares his people to 
 a "city that is set on a hill." A handsome Hindoo 
 female is compared to the sacred city of Seedambaram. 
 The words "terrible as an army with banners," mean 
 terrible, or imposing and commanding, as a military host 
 drawn up in battle-array under their several banners. 
 
 wishes for a feast in the sand-hills, like a gazelle, whose eyes are full 
 of magic. She moves — I should say it was the branch of the tamarisk, 
 that waves its branches to the southern breeze. She approaches — I 
 should say it was a frightened gazelle, when a calamity alarms it in the 
 waste. She walks away — I should say her face was truly the sun, 
 when its lustre dazzles the beholders. She gazes — I should say it was 
 the full moon of night, when Orion girds it with stars. She smiles — and 
 the pearls of her teeth sparkle. The sun, as it sets, turns towards her, 
 and says: Darkness obscures the land; do thou rise in my absence. 
 And the brilliant moon calls unto her : Come forth, for thy face is like 
 me, when I am at the full, and in all my glory. The tamarisk-trees 
 complain of her in the morning and in the evening, and cry: Away, 
 thou waving beauty, thou form of the laurel. She turns away abashed, 
 and throws aside her veil, and roses are scattered from her soft fresh 
 check. She draws her sword from the glances of her eyelashes, sharp 
 as the sword of her forefathers ; and with it, though sheathed, her eyes 
 do slay. Graceful is every limb, slender her waist. Lovc-bearintr are 
 her glances, waving is her form. The damsel passes the night with 
 musk under her veil, which draws inward fragrance from the fresher 
 essence of her breath. The lustre of day sparkles from her brow, 
 and by the dark shade of her curling ringlets night itself is driven 
 away. When she smiles, between her teeth is a moisture composed of 
 wine, of rain, and of honey. Her throat complains of the darkness of 
 her necklaces." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 8. 387 
 
 According to Good, "In Persia, one of the most common 
 epithets applied by a lover to his loved one, is synoymous 
 with 'awe-striking,' or 'striking with fear.' ' This ex- 
 presses that characteristic of beauty and loveliness found 
 pre-eminently in the bride, which so impresses the be- 
 holder with the sense of inherent dignity and majesty, as 
 to strike with terror and repel bad men, while causing, 
 even in the bosom of the beloved, feelings of respect and 
 veneration. She possessed something more than beauty 
 — beauty allied with majesty, dignity, and grace. Hence 
 the strong language used in ver. 5, " Turn away thine 
 eyes from me, for they have overcome me." See notes 
 on chap. iv. 9. 
 
 On the last clause of ver. 5, see chap. iv. 1 ; on ver. 6, 
 see chap. iv. 2 ; on ver. 7, see chap. iv. 3. 
 
 The same language, with little variation, is here re- 
 peated, that was used on a former occasion ; as if for the 
 purpose of assuring the believer that, notwithstanding our 
 unfaithfulness and neglect, and the consequent withdrawal 
 of Jesus from us for a season, the love of our Lord 
 remains still unchanged. 
 
 Ver. 8. — There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and 
 virgins without number. 
 
 There is no necessity for showing at large, that among 
 females of an oriental court there is one superior in rank 
 to the rest, and like Vashti, distinguished by wearing a 
 royal crown, and by being called queen, in a distinguished 
 manner; nor does it throw the least light on the signifi- 
 cance of this passage, to point out particularly the differ- 
 ence between the queen, the lawful wife, and the concu- 
 bines, and the daughters of Jerusalem, here called virgins. 
 The import of the passage is clear. The beloved wishes 
 to make the spouse feel the greatness and fervour of his 
 love. In doing this he not only uses the illustrations of 
 
388 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the foregoing verses, but goes on to show, that while he 
 was surrounded by a numerous retinue of beautiful, noble, 
 and splendid women of all ranks, she stood pre-eminent 
 among them in his affections. The word "threescore" is 
 used in chap. iii. 7, for an indefinite number; and he 
 intends to say that he had around him countless ones 
 to love, noble and dazzling as queens in their queenly 
 attire, and other females of great attractions and different 
 ranks, calculated to captivate the affections ; amid such a 
 company, could there be any room left in the heart for 
 love to her who was dark as the tents of Kedar, who was 
 lowly as the rose of Sharon, who had so lately treated 
 with neglect him who had so many others to love ? The 
 next verse answers this inquiry. 
 
 Ver. 9. — My dove, my undefiled, is but one; she is the only one of her 
 mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters 
 saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and 
 they praised her. 
 
 The meaning is — notwithstanding the number and per- 
 sonal attractions of the princesses and other splendid 
 women of all ranks by whom I am surrounded, my dove, 
 my undefiled, my perfect one, she in whom I can see no 
 blemish, my angel, is the only one to me; the one that 
 stands out by pre-eminence above all others ; the favourite, 
 the sole possessor of my heart. She is as dear to me as 
 an only child to her mother; as her darling to her that 
 bare her.*' While thus dear to the king, she was no 
 object of jealousy to others. They all, with one consent, 
 admired her beauty, and were not backward in her praise. 
 
 Thus in Ts. xlv. "kings' daughters were among thy 
 honourable women;" or, as Horsley lias it, "kings' daugh- 
 
 * In accordance with the expression, "She is the only one of her 
 mother," we find that Priam interceding with Achilles for the body of 
 Hector, says, he had fifty sods, but Hector was his favourite, literally 
 "my only son:" O; it fxot iio; m. — Iliad, xxiv. 409. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 9. 389 
 
 ters are among the bright beauties of thy court: at thy 
 right hand the queen has her station in gold of Ophir." 
 Perhaps this might find an illustration in a modern court, 
 with the peers in their coronets and the peeresses around 
 the king ; and she, the queen, the most beautiful, and the 
 favourite, among them all. The object of the whole is to 
 illustrate to the believer, the place held by him in the 
 love of Christ. Our Lord is exalted far above all prin- 
 cipality, and power, and every name that is named even 
 in heaven ; around him are an innumerable company that 
 no man can number, of angels and spirits of just men 
 made perfect, cherubim and seraphim, holy and glorious 
 beings of every rank and grade; yet, among these, the 
 soul of the redeemed is to him what the spouse was to the 
 beloved, his perfect one, his darling, his angel — as we say 
 of an object of special endearment — the one that stands 
 out by pre-eminence above all others in that glorious host, 
 loved with an affection such that human language can best 
 express it. by saying, such soul is the one, the sole posses- 
 sor of the affections of his heart. See note on chap. 
 iv. 5. 
 
 The glory of beings of a higher order is unfolded to 
 us in the appearance of the angel at the sepulchre, whose 
 countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as 
 snow; of the mighty angel who came down from heaven, 
 clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow upon his head, and 
 his face as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire ; 
 of the angel who came down from heaven, having great 
 power, and the earth was lighted with his glory ; these 
 are the noblest, highest, and most glorious order of 
 creatures mentioned in the Scriptures ; and hence the 
 Apostle, in Heb. i., assuming the acknowledged principle 
 that these are the most exalted rank of mere created 
 beings, establishes the divinity of Christ by proving his 
 
390 COMMENTARY. 
 
 superiority to angels. Yet to these shall the redeemed 
 be superior in splendour, in" rank, and in glory. "We 
 shall be glorious as she who appeared a great wonder in 
 heaven, clothed with the sun, and the moon under her 
 feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. We 
 shall be made like Christ as he is in glory, glorified with 
 the glory he had with the Father before the world was. 
 Who can know what was that eternal glory of God ? 
 Who, then, can know what is the glory now enjoyed by 
 Jesus ? Who, therefore, can tell what is the glory await- 
 ing his saints in light? For "it doth not yet appear 
 what we shall be ; but we know that when he shall 
 appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he 
 is." And when the Scriptures speak of him as the image 
 of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature, the 
 Creator of all things, even of the different orders of 
 angels, Col. i. 16, as having in all things the pre- 
 eminence; they show that Avliile Jesus, our Redeemer, is 
 truly God, the human nature he has taken into union 
 with this divine nature, shall be exalted to a degree of 
 glory beyond that of angels ; and to this rank and glory 
 his redeemed ones shall with him be raised. Thus the 
 humble virgin was raised from a retired rural condition 
 to a rank in the court of Solomon, and to a place in his 
 affections, beyond that even of the queens surrounding 
 him ; thus was the Jewish orphan, though a captive in a 
 strange land, raised to a position beyond the queen and 
 all the fair young virgins in the oriental palace of Shu- 
 shan; thus was Joseph drawn from his dungeon to receive 
 a ring from the royal hand, and be arrayed in vestures 
 of fine linen, and have a gold chain put about his neck, 
 ami be invested with the pie-eminence over all the land 
 of Egypt ; thus was Daniel raised from the condition of 
 a Hebrew captive to be clothed with scarlet, and have a 
 
CHAPTER VI. 10. 391 
 
 chain of gold about his neck, and be preferred before the 
 presidents and princes ; thus, He who was made a little 
 lower than the angels, for the suffering, of death, and 
 took upon him the form of a servant, has been crowned 
 with glory and honour, raised far above all principalities, 
 and power, and might, and dominion, and every name 
 that is named, not only in this world, but also in that 
 which is to come, crowned with many crowns. 
 
 Nor in that heavenly court of the King of kings, will 
 there be the least jealousy felt towards the redeemed 
 thus honoured. The disposition which led John the 
 Baptist to say with real pleasure, " he must increase, but 
 I must decrease," the love which seeketh not her own, 
 will there be the ruling principle of every bosom; and 
 such will be the admiration and devotion towards Jesus 
 by those holy intelligences, that they will rejoice with 
 him as he then sees of the travail of his soul ; and will 
 be satisfied in the advancement in glory and honour, of 
 his ransomed ones, his spiritual body, even beyond them- 
 selves. This exaltation of the redeemed cannot diminish 
 their happiness; it will add thereto by the new field 
 opened for their love and adoration, in the display thus 
 made of the character of God. 
 
 Ver. 10.— Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the 
 moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners ? 
 
 Theocritus has a passage in the same spirit: 
 
 As beams the beauteous face of dawning morn, 
 When night retires; bright spring, when winter fades; 
 Thus Helen golden moves among her peers. 
 
 In like manner Ferdusi: 
 
 "Born of Afrasiab, there Manizah shines* 
 Bright as the sun, o'er gardens, groves, and streams." 
 
 And the Gitagovinda: "My soul remembers him who 
 
392 COMMENTARY. 
 
 disperses the gloom with beams from the jewels which 
 decorate his bosom, his wrists, and his ankles : on whose 
 forehead shines a circlet of sandal-wood-, which makes 
 even the moon contemptible, when she sails through 
 irradiated clouds." Also Milton : 
 
 "Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape 
 Comes this way moving, seems another morn 
 Risen on mid-noon." 
 
 Thus Spenser: 
 
 " As far as doth the daughter of the day 
 All other lesser lights in light excell; 
 So far doth she in beautifull array, 
 
 Above all other virgins beare the bell."* 
 
 The beloved still continuing his commendations of the 
 spouse, and showing her superiority even to the queenly 
 beauties of his court, adopts the interrogative form in 
 this comparison, for giving it a stronger affirmative force. 
 Having said she surpassed those around her, he proceeds 
 to say that among the spiritual host of heaven, she stands 
 pre-eminent, as the morning, the moon, the sun, among 
 the starry host of night. The angels are called morning 
 stars, Job xxxviii. 7; the saint is compared to the sun, 
 the brightness of the firmament, Dan. xii. 3; and Jesus 
 himself is represented as more glorious than the sun, for 
 in Rev. xxi. 23, it is said the Lamb is the light of the 
 
 * Thus in Homer, Paris went forth from the palace to battle, 
 
 In arms all glistering, as the beaming sun. — Iliad, vi. 513. 
 
 It is also said of Achilles, that he went forth, St ihacrif as the sun, 
 gleaming with radiance. Iliad, xix. 398. In the Homeric Hymns wo 
 have, 
 
 «• Her lovely form with sudden radiance glowed, 
 
 Her golden tucks in wreaths of splendour flowed; 
 
 Through the dark palace streamed a flood of light, 
 
 As cloud-engendered tires illume the night 
 
 "With sudden blaze." — IJi/iuu to Cent, 278. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 10. 393 
 
 heavenly city, and so much more glorious than the sun is 
 this light, that the city had no need of the sun, neither 
 of the moon, to shine in it. 
 
 Believers are now in a process of change into this glory 
 of Christ. 2 Cor. iii. 18. Hence in Job xi. 17, " Thine 
 age shall be clearer than the noon-day ; thou shalt shine 
 forth, thou shalt be as the morning." She who was once - 
 as the lowly rose of Sharon and lily of the valleys, who 
 was black as the tents of Kedar, is now glorious as the 
 morning, the moon, the mid-day sun. She is here com- 
 pared to the morning soon after day-break ; then, to the 
 moon as a yet brighter light ; then, to the full splendour 
 of the sun. "When Diomedes went forth to battle, the 
 goddess of wisdom distinguished him amongst the hosts of 
 combatants by making a flame 
 
 Blaze on his helmet and his shield, all pure 
 And brilliant as the autumnal star fresh risen 
 From mid the ocean waves. * 
 
 In the spiritual conflict of the present world, the be- 
 liever bearing the helmet of salvation and the shield of 
 faith, is distinguished by the light of the Holy Spirit 
 kindled there by Christ the wisdom of God; but in hea- 
 ven he will be invested with a splendour by which his 
 present glory will be surpassed as far as the flame on the 
 crest of Diomedes is surpassed by the light above the 
 brightness of mid-day, in which Jesus appeared to Paul 
 on the road to Damascus, or by the cloud which over- 
 shadowed him in the transfiguration. This outward 
 glory of the saints in light is a reality, and is a conse- 
 quence of that inward glory first wrought in the soul by 
 the Holy Spirit. Splendour is more inseparably con- 
 nected with holiness than radiance is with light, Holi- 
 ness is light-like purity ; and we ma}- as soon conceive of 
 
 * Iliad, v. 5. 
 
 34 
 
394 COMMENTARY. 
 
 a blazing torch, or a sun without splendour, as a reno- 
 vated soul of living holiness without that glory which 
 shall be revealed in us, Rom. viii. 18, and with which 
 Jesus our forerunner is already crowned. .In rearing a 
 triumphal statue commemorating a victory, the artist 
 forms his conceptions of what is beautiful, and then em- 
 * bodies it in marble, which can be at best a mere cold 
 resemblance : God forms not an ideal but a real holiness, 
 after his own image, in the sanctified souls of his saints; 
 and then embodies this in their spiritual bodies, for being 
 pillars in the temple of their God, living triumphal 
 statues, purer than transparent marble ; for what must 
 such statues be, when the very streets of the city where 
 they will be placed, shall be paved with something better 
 than marble, with something beautiful as golden glass. 
 
 Ver. 11. — I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the 
 valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates 
 budded. 
 
 The nut here referred to is probably the walnut, which 
 Josephus says, grows wild on the borders of the lake of 
 Gcnnesarct. This, the vines, and the pomegranates are 
 put for the fruits of the garden in general. Thus Cap- 
 tain Norden, in describing the gardens of Cairo, mentions 
 only palm-trees and vine-arbours, possibly because these 
 were the most flourishing and remarkable of their produc- 
 tions. Their gardens were usually in low places, in val- 
 leys on the banks of brooks. Say the Scotch Mission, 
 " When we reached the bottom of the valley, it was one 
 complete garden of fruit-trees. The vines, the figs, pome- 
 granates, peaches, citrons, quinces, and lemons were all 
 budding or ripening in a most luxuriant manner. A clear 
 brook flowing down the valley, gave freshness and beauty 
 to every green thing." 
 
 The beloved gives, in the 11 — 13 verses, four state- 
 
CHAPTER VI. 12. 395 
 
 mcnts showing the spouse what were his feelings during 
 his withdrawal. He says, that when he left her, chap, 
 v. 6, it was not in anger: but with kindly feeling and love 
 unabated; only to withdraw to his favourite place of 
 resort in the garden, and there amuse and occupy himself 
 until such time as she might feel her unkindness, and 
 seek again his presence ; he was ready to welcome her 
 return to his bosom at any moment. This language 
 viewed as giving his feelings on leaving her, is of the 
 same tender spirit with his words in chap. v. 2, and 
 breathes the tenderest aifection. Surely a love must be 
 almost more than human, which could be thus calm and 
 unabated under such a repulse. The love of Jesus, which 
 this is designed to illustrate, is indeed more than human. 
 
 " His love no end nor measure knows, 
 No change can turn its course ; 
 Immutably the same it flows, 
 From one eternal source." 
 
 This love is our life, the very spring of our being. Happy 
 for us that its exercise towards us by our Lord, does not 
 depend on our merit and watchfulness. Like the power 
 which keeps the heart beating unconsciously without any 
 act of our will, this divine love which began towards us 
 while dead in sins, even before our being, continues to 
 follow and bless us, even when unmindful of its source or 
 its existence, and when unkindly forsaking the Redeemer. 
 Even under neglect and repulse, Jesus turns away from 
 us without anger ; and leaves us until such time as we feel 
 our unkindness, and seek again his presence and grace. 
 
 Ver. 12. — Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of 
 Ammi-nadib. 
 
 While a particular explanation of this passage is very 
 difficult, perhaps impossible, the general meaning in its 
 connection seems clear. We cannot undertake to give 
 the various interpretations. Dopke has stated and re- 
 
396 COMMENTARY. 
 
 viewed them at length. Amminadib is most probably 
 the name of an individual, whose chariots were proverbial 
 for swiftness; and the beloved means to say, that after 
 thus withdrawing from the spouse without anger, with 
 chastened affection — almost unconsciously, ere he was 
 aware, his soul was filled with the desire of meeting her 
 again, a desire so strong that it would have carried him 
 to her arms with a swiftness that could be illustrated by 
 nothing more appropriately than by the rapid, smooth- 
 rolling chariots of Amminadib. 
 
 Such is the feeling of Jesus towards us, even when his 
 presence is withdrawn, and the light of his countenance 
 no longer felt. He changes not. When obliged by our 
 neglect to turn away from us, he carries with him the 
 same ardour of love that he manifested to us in our hap- 
 piest hours of duty and affection ; and when our love has 
 grown cold, and our feet are wandering on the dark 
 mountains, or our souls slumbering in the indifference of 
 carnal security, he still has an affection which makes him 
 ready to come and meet us at any moment, with the swift- 
 ness of the chariots of Amminadib ? Yea, rather with 
 the quickness of the wings of the morning, or of that all- 
 present Spirit who flies to the bosom of every repenting 
 believer, with a swiftness outstripping infinitely the wings 
 of the morning or even the rapidity of thought. Though 
 seeing it necessary for our good to hide his face, and even 
 afflict us, he has all the while this strong yearning toward 
 us; and every act however painful, has lying behind it, 
 in his bosom, this deep affection and tenderness. 
 
 Vek. 13. — Return, return, Shulamite; return, return, that wc may 
 look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the 
 company of two armies. 
 
 The word Shulamite, or Shulamith, is the feminine of 
 he name of Shelomoh, or Solomon, and means the bride 
 
CHAPTER VI. 13. 397 
 
 of Shelomoh, the prince of peace. The beloved calls on 
 her to return, or rather this was the language expressing 
 the feelings of his heart when separated from her. \\c 
 would translate, " Return, return, that we may see in 
 thee, — What shall you see in the Shulamith ? A festive 
 choir of rejoicing hosts." The interrogative form is 
 thrown in for giving greater emphasis and beauty to the 
 language. The beloved would say, that she whose loveli- 
 ness in his eyes he had been illustrating by so many 
 comparisons, was an object of more delightful contempla- 
 tion to him, than bands beautifully attired, mingling in a 
 sacred dance on a day of public rejoicing; or was a source 
 of pleasure like that derived from such a sight; far greater 
 than could be had from beholding any individual, however 
 excellent: such as is felt from gazing on the combination 
 of lovely forms, crowning with their elegance of form, 
 shape, beauty of dress, and grace of movement, some 
 public festal scene;* more beautiful than when on the 
 
 * In the scenes described by Homer as portrayed on the shield of 
 Achilles, none would have been introduced but those deemed most 
 attractive in his age, -which could not have been long after the time of 
 Solomon. Now, he has given such a scene as is noticed iu the text, a 
 place on that famous shield; and thereby we may know such was an 
 object of beauty to the ancients, and proper to be used for illustrating 
 anything which excited deep emotions of pleasure. 
 "To these the artist added next a dance 
 
 Drawn with surpassing skill, such as of old 
 
 In Crete's broad island Dredalus composed 
 
 For bright-haired Ariadne. There the youths 
 
 And youth-alluring maidens, hand in band 
 
 Danced jocund, every maiden, neat attired 
 
 In finest linen, and the youths in vests 
 
 Well woven, glossy as the glaze of oil. 
 
 These all wore garlands, and bright falchions, those, 
 
 Of burnished gold iu silver trappings hung: 
 
 They with well tutor'd step, now nimbly ran 
 
 84* 
 
398 C M M E N T A R Y. 
 
 shore of the Red Sea, Miriam took a timbrel in her hand, 
 and all the women Avent out after her with timbrels and 
 with dances, Exod. xv. 20; than when David and all the 
 house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord, with 
 shouting and with the sound of the trumpet, and with 
 cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps, leaping 
 and dancing before the Lord, 2 Sam. vi. 15; 1 Chron. xv. 
 2G. As in chap. i. 9, the horse is the emblem of noble- 
 ness, energy, and activity in the believer; here, the refer- 
 ence is to elegance and grace of motion, as an element 
 of beauty, while in the perfected saint perfect beauty is 
 found. Thus, in something of a like train of thought, 
 Byron says — 
 
 "She walks in beauty like the night 
 Of cloudless climes and starry skies; 
 And all that's best of dark and bright, 
 Meets in that aspect and those eyes." 
 
 As there is dignity, majesty, and grandeur in the calm 
 movement of the evening sky, with its starry hosts, and 
 therein is blended the beauty of darkness and of light; 
 so this poet would say there was in her of whom he wrote, 
 dignity, and majesty, and a blending of all that is beau- 
 tiful. And in this passage the spouse is compared, if not 
 to the starry hosts, to two hosts or companies rejoicing at 
 a wedding, or on some festive occasion. 
 
 roctry furnishes nothing of its kind more beautiful 
 than the scene in the Fairie Queene, where, in a spot 
 
 The circle, swift, as 'when, before his wheel 
 Seated, the potter twirls it with both hands 
 For trial of its speed, now, crossing quick 
 They passed at once into each other's place. 
 On either side spectators numerous stuod 
 Delighted."— llvi,/, xviii. 590. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 13. 309 
 
 of singular loveliness, are espied, from the covert of a 
 wood bordering "th' open greene," 
 
 "An hundred beauteous maidens lily white, 
 All ranged in a ring and dancing with delight;" 
 
 and in their midst was placed 
 
 "Another damzell, as a precious genime, 
 Amidst a ring most richly well enchased. 
 Look! how the crowne which Ariadne wore 
 Upon her ivory forehead that same day 
 That Theseus her unto his bridale bore, 
 Being now placed in the firmament, 
 Through the bright heaven doth her beams display, 
 And is unto the starres an ornament, 
 Which round about her move in order excellent: 
 Such was the beaiity of this goodly band." 
 
 Now the spirit of the text implies, that the spouse was 
 in the eyes of the beloved an object causing more plea- 
 sure than such scenes as these. With a delight of which 
 this is the best, though faint resemblance, does Jesus view 
 the sanctified soul, and the innumerable multitude consti- 
 tuting his redeemed Church. All things are present to 
 him; and even now he sees that rejoicing host which no 
 man can number, redeemed from all kindreds, and tribes, 
 and people, and tongues, standing before the throne, 
 clothed in white robes and palms in their hands ; of all 
 his varied works of creation, this is to him the most glo- 
 rious. Is it strange that on a day of public rejoicing, a 
 kingly father should view a brave, gallant, and victorious 
 son with more pleasure than that felt from the presence 
 of all the host besides. AVhile king Edward, beholding 
 from his tower the battle of Crecy, had proper feelings 
 towards all his valiant followers who surrounded his son, 
 with what especial 'delight did he watch the progress of 
 
400 COMMENTARY. 
 
 that son; and after the victory, amid the bonfires, and 
 lighted torches, and rejoicing of the soldiers, take the 
 Black Prince in his arms, and say, "You are my true son, 
 for loyally have you acquitted yourself this day, and 
 worthy are you of a crown." Thus, from his watch- 
 tower in the skies, the Captain of our salvation, our 
 friend, our beloved, has his eye on every one of his saints ; 
 and when our conflict winds up with the victory over 
 death, he will give us more than a father's greeting, while 
 bestowing the crown of righteousness and glory which 
 fadeth not away. Like the virgin among the hundred 
 lily-like maidens of Spenser, "as a precious gemme 
 amidst a ring most richly well enchased," the glorified 
 soul, the redeemed Church, shall be in heaven an object 
 of pre-eminent beauty to Jesus, a brilliant gem amid the 
 golden ring of innumerable angels encircling as a crown 
 the throne of the Lamb slain. 
 
 We may therefore be comforted by keeping in mind 
 the four things here stated concerning Jesus on leaving 
 us, when grieved away by our neglect: He withdraws, 
 not in anger, but in love: he feels without ceasing, the 
 strongest desire to return to us; he earnestly invites us 
 to return; he continues still to view us with unabated 
 love, even with greater pleasure than the angels, the 
 hosts seen by Jacob at Mahanaim. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 1, 2. 401 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Ver. 1, 2.— How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, prince's daugh- 
 ter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of 
 a cunning workman ; thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth 
 not liquor; thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. 
 
 The language of chap. vi. 4 — 10, is for encouraging the 
 spouse to come on, and not hesitate on account of her 
 recent neglect of him; in chap. vi. 11 — 13, he states 
 his feelings of unabated tenderness during the time of his 
 withdrawal; the object of chap. vii. 1 — 9, is to show his 
 love towards her is still the same. 
 
 "Prince's daughter" seems to mean daughter of a 
 noble, a word signifying generous, noble-minded; and in 
 the thought of an oriental, is closely connected with 
 liberality in giving; it is spoken of character and con- 
 duct, and according to a common Hebrew idiom, ex- 
 presses one who is herself noble, the same with noble- 
 woman. The whole of this description is a fitting 
 portrait of a woman of noble character and majestic 
 m ien — the original words, "prince's daughter," referring 
 to the nobleness of her disposition, and the following part 
 of the passage setting forth the majesty and beauty of 
 her appearance.* Having referred to grace of motion in 
 
 * With these descriptions of the spouse in the Song, we may compare 
 the celebrated ivory and gold statue of Minerva in the Parthenon, 
 which was an effort by Phidias to embody his imaginary conception of 
 that goddess. "The statue stood in the foremost and larger chamber 
 of the temple. It represented the goddess standing, clothed with a 
 tunic reaching to the ankles, with her spear in her left hand, and an 
 image of Victory four cubits high, in her right: she was girded with 
 the aegis, and had a helmet on her head, and her shield rested on the 
 ground by her side. The height of the statue was twenty-six cubits, 
 or nearly forty feet, including the base. From the manner in which 
 
402 COMMENTARY. 
 
 the last verse of the foregoing chapter, he naturally 
 proceeds here to mention her feet and the elegance of her 
 sandals. See chap. v. 15. Pindar speaks of "the silver- 
 footed Venus;" and Milton of "Thetis' tinsel-slippered 
 feet." Magnificent sandals constituted, in the East, a 
 part of the dress of both males and females, who could 
 afford to have them peculiarly costly; the oriental ladies 
 were especially attentive to this fashionable ornament. 
 The sandals of Judith were so brilliant that, notwith- 
 standing the general splendour of her bracelets, rings, 
 and necklace, these principally succeeded in captivating 
 the ferocious Holofernes; for we are expressly told that 
 "her sandals ravished his eyes." Judith xvi. 9. Lady 
 Montague, describing her eastern dress, says her shoes 
 were of white kid leather embroidered with gold. . Ac- 
 cording to Pausanias, in the statue of Olympian Jupiter, 
 the sandals of the god, as also his robe, were of gold — 
 the latter wrought over with all sorts of animals and 
 flowers, particularly lilies. 
 
 Plato speaks of the statue, it seems clear that the gold predominated 
 over the ivory, the latter being used for the face, hands, and feet, and 
 the former for the drapery and ornaments. The eyes, according to 
 Plato, were of a kind of marble nearly resembling ivory, perhaps painted 
 to imitate the iris and pupil ; there is no sufficient authority for the 
 statement •which is frequently made that they were of precious stones. 
 It is doubtful whether the core of the statue was of wood or of stone. 
 The various portions of the statue were most elaborately ornamented. 
 A sphinx formed the crest of her helmet, and on either side of it 
 were gryphons, all, no doubt, of gold. The regis was fringed with 
 golden serpents, and in its centre was a golden head of Medusa. Even 
 the edges of the sandals, which were four dactyli high, were seen, on 
 close inspection, to be engraved with the battle of the Lapithse and 
 Centaurs. The shield was ornamented on both sides with embossed 
 work, representing, on the inner side, the battle of the ninnts against 
 the gods, and on the outer, the battle of the Amazons against the 
 Athenians." — Smith's Dictionary, art. Phidias. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 1,2. 403 
 
 Our translation of these verses is, " How beautiful are 
 thy feet in sandals, noble woman. The contour of thy 
 person is like the rounding of a necklace, wrought by the 
 hands of a finished artist : thy waist is a round goblet 
 that is full of rich spiced wine : thy body is a heap of 
 wheat enclosed with lilies." The principles regulating 
 the interpretation of this passage have been already 
 explained. Introduction, and notes on chap. iv. 1 — 7, 
 and chap. v. 9 — 16. The great misapprehension that 
 prevails concerning these verses, has arisen from a mis- 
 understanding of the spirit of the original. That seems 
 to be expressed in this translation. We have shown, 
 that as ancient statues of the gods were attempts to 
 represent to human comprehension, certain ideas enter- 
 tained concerning particular deities, so these descriptions 
 of the Song are attempts to represent to the human mind 
 the loveliness of Christ, and of the redeemed, by illus- 
 trations embodied in language, rather than in marble and 
 gold. The statues of Olympian Jupiter and of Minerva 
 by Phidias, were highly adorned, and among other things, 
 with drapery of gold; and Cornelius Nepos states that 
 it was customary in the statues raised to conquerors in 
 the Olympic games, to represent them in the habits in 
 which they had gained the crown. 
 
 The "joints of the thighs," did the original words 
 mean what these express, would convey a finished idea 
 of beauty and perfection ; as the joints would then be 
 compared to such work as the jewelled wheels of a watch. 
 The word "joint" means, however, rounding, curvature; 
 and the tAvo words express the beautiful symmetry of 
 that part of the person. There is now in existence a 
 famous statue of Venus at Naples, to which the Grecian 
 epithet "beautiful hipped" was applied.* The word 
 
404 COMMENTAR Y. 
 
 "jewels" means necklaces, things on which great art 
 was bestowed by the ancients. As Wilkinson remarks, 
 " handsome and richly ornamented necklaces were a 
 principal part of the dress of both men and women;"* 
 and some idea may be got of the beauty of this allusion, 
 by examining the illustrations of them he has given. f 
 Thus we are able to see why the necklace should be 
 mentioned in this connection, and with what delicacy 
 of taste it is used for illustrating the graceful outline of 
 the lower part of the body. 
 
 The original word rendered "navel," in the English 
 version, expresses what we mean by the waist; and the 
 roundness of the waist is compared to a goblet or bowl 
 
 * Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. 875. 
 
 f The necklace was made sometimes to resemble a serpent coiled 
 about the neck of the wearer, as was the case with that given as a 
 nuptial present by Venus to Ilarmonia, which was ornamented in so 
 elaborate a manner, that Nonnus devotes fifty lines of his Dj'onysiaca 
 to its description. This same necklace afterwards appears in the 
 mythology, as the bribe by which Eriphyle was tempted to betray her 
 husband. The beauty and splendour, as well as the value of necklaces, 
 were enhanced by the insertion of pearls and precious stones, which 
 were strung together by means of linen thread, silk, or wires and links 
 of gold. Smith gives patterns of three splendid gold necklaces in the 
 British Museum, that were found in Etruscan tombs; also a wood-cut 
 exhibiting the central portion of a very ancient and exquisitely wrought 
 necklace, which was found near Naples, in the sepulchre of a Greek 
 lady. It has seventy-one pendants. Above them, is a band consisting 
 of several rows of close chain-work, which we now call Venetian. The 
 specimens of ancient chains which we have in ornaments for the per- 
 son, especially necklaces, show a great variety of elegant and ingenious 
 patterns, whose name expresses their fineness and delicacy as well as 
 their minuteness. These valuable chains were commonly worn by 
 women, either on the neck, or round the waist, according to a state- 
 ment of Pliny. In a head of Minerva engraved from an antique gem, 
 we see a necklace with a row of drops on the under side, which, when 
 worn, arrange themselves upon the neck, like rays proceeding from the 
 centre. — Smith's Dictionary. Articles — Monilc and Catena. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 1, 2. 405 
 
 filled with spiced wine made of niyrrh and fragrant cane. 
 The Hebrew word seems here to express what was 
 known among the Latins and Greeks, as the crater. 
 This was a vessel in which the wine, according to the 
 custom of the ancients, who very seldom drank it pure, 
 was mixed, and from which the cups were filled.* In 
 oriental poetry, there are allusions entirely similar: 
 "Graceful is every limb, slender her waist. Place a 
 circlet of music on this breast, which resembles a vase 
 of sacred water, crowned with fresh leaves, and fixed 
 near a vernal bower. "f 
 
 The beauty of the waist expanding upwards into the 
 
 * Iii the Homeric age, the crater was generally of silver, sometimes 
 with a gold edge, and sometimes all gold or gilt. It stood upon a 
 tripod, and its ordinary place in the dining-hall, was in the most 
 honourable part of the room, at the farthest end from the entrance, 
 and near the seat of the most distinguished among the guests. Craters 
 were among the first things on the embellishment of which the ancient 
 artists exercised their skill. Homer mentions among the prizes pro- 
 posed by Achilles at the funeral games for Patroclus, a beautifully 
 wrought silver crater, the work of the ingenious Sidonians, which, by 
 the elegance of its workmanship excelled all others on the earth. 
 According to Wilkinson, "Many of the ornamental vases of the Egypt- 
 ians, as well as those in common use, were of alabaster, glass, ivory, 
 porcelain, bronze, silver, or gold, and present the most elegant forms; 
 and so strong a resemblance do they bear, both in shape and in the 
 fancy devices which adorn them, to tho productions of the best epochs 
 of ancient Greece, that some might even imagine them borrowed from 
 Greek patterns. We admire not only their forms, but the richness 
 of the materials of which they were made — the colours and the hiero- 
 glyphics themselves, showing them to have been of gold and silver, or 
 of this last inlaid with the more precious metal. Gold and silver cups 
 were often beautifully engraved and studded with precious stones." 
 We know the direct intercourse there was between the region of Sidon 
 and Judea, and of Egypt and Judea; and hence we may know the 
 goblets used by Solomon would be no less splendid. 
 
 f See the epithet, Kiwi^wu }w*ijt5,- beautifully girdled women. Iliad, 
 vii. 139. — Od. xxiii. 147. Homeric Hymn to Mercury, 440. 
 
 35 
 
406 COMMENTARY. 
 
 fulness of the bosom, is therefore most aptly illustrated 
 by such a goblet, to the natural beauty of which is added 
 the beauty of the richest spiced wine. The beauty of 
 the form below the waist, what we often express by the 
 word body, is set forth by "a heap of wheat enclosed 
 with lilies" — a heap of wheat in a bed of full-blown 
 lilies rising around and drooping over it. Putting 
 together these illustrations, the costly goblet filled with 
 choice wine and covered with rich devices, and the heap 
 of wheat in the midst of a bed of lilies, we have in the 
 mind a cluster of ideas of great beauty: thus beautiful 
 was the impression made by gazing on the person of the 
 spouse. Our view of this passage might receive confirma- 
 tion by noticing the manner in which one part of the body 
 is mentioned after another ; first, the feet more beautiful 
 in the elegant sandals ; then the contour, the folds of the 
 bridal dress falling around the hips, graceful as the cur- 
 vature of a rich necklace wrought by a finished hand ; 
 next, the body like a heap of wheat encompassed with 
 lilies; then, the waist expanding into the bosom, elegant 
 as a goblet rounded gracefully upwards, and filled with 
 the richest spiced wine. 
 
 Ver. 3. — Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. 
 
 See note on chap. iv. 5. 
 
 Ver. 4. — Thy neck is as a tower of ivory. 
 
 See note on chap. iv. 4. In his Illustrated Commen- 
 tary, on 2 Kings ix. 17, Kitto gives a drawing of a group 
 of modern oriental towers, which adds to the elegance of 
 the illustration here used. He remarks : " So far as we 
 have examined the Hebrew word, it is always used 
 wherever it is possible to understand that a tower of 
 ornamental character is intended. The great beauty of 
 many of the forms here given will not be disputed." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 4. 407 
 
 Joseplms mentions the numerous towers of Jerusalem, 
 that "were for largeness, beauty, and strength, beyond 
 all that were in the habitable earth; they were of 
 white marble, each stone was twenty- five feet in length, 
 ten in breadth, and five in depth ; these stones were so 
 exactly united to one another, that each tower looked 
 like one entire rock of white marble, so growing naturally 
 and afterwards cut by the hands of the artificers into 
 their present shape."* To such a structure, is the neck 
 of the spouse compared, with the additional elegance that 
 would be imparted by substituting in the materials ivory 
 for marble. 
 
 Thine eyes like the fish-pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. 
 So Philostratus says, "Thou seemest to carry water as 
 it were from the fountain of thine eyes, and therefore to 
 be one of the nymphs." Heshbon was a town about 
 twenty miles east of the point where the Jordan enters 
 the Dead Sea. The ruins of a considerable town still 
 exist at Heshbon, covering the side of an insulated hill, 
 but not a single edifice is left entire. The view from the 
 summit is very extensive, embracing the ruins of a vast 
 number of cities. There are reservoirs here, which may 
 be those mentioned in this verse. It was in the tribe of 
 Gad, who desired this country because it abounded with 
 pasturage, and with rivulets and brooks from which the 
 pools of Heshbon were supplied. The pools of a place 
 situated in such a country as that around Heshbon, would 
 be likely to be supplied with water purer and fresher than 
 
 * Jewish War, book v. 4. 4. — "Here and there, the clustering blos- 
 soms of the orange or the nectarine, lay like foam upon that verdant sea. 
 Minarets, as white as ivory, shot up their fairy towers among the groves ; 
 and purple mosque-domes, tipped with the golden crescent, gave the 
 only sign that a city lay bowered beneath those rich plantations." — 
 Crescent and the Cross, vol. ii. 154. 
 
408 COMMENTARY. 
 
 those of Jerusalem. Bath-rabbim was probably some 
 neighbouring city to which the gate here mentioned led. 
 These pools were remarkable for their purity and quiet- 
 ness — therefore a most fitting emblem of the clear, limpid 
 eyes of those who are pure in heart. "Some varieties of 
 gold and silver fishes," says a traveller in China, "were 
 seen playing in ponds of pellucid water, upon a bottom 
 studded with pebbles of agate, jasper, and other precious 
 stones." 
 
 Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon, which looketh toward Damascus. 
 
 Warburton says, "In the magnificent array of the 
 mountains of Lebanon, with their various hills, glens, 
 and crag-perched villages, each of those acclivities has a 
 little tract of richly coloured vegetation hanging from its 
 shoulders like a tartan cloak, and wears a fortress for its 
 crown." This tower of Lebanon was probably a tower 
 built on some part of that range of mountains in the fron- 
 tiers of Israel, on an eminence overlooking the beautiful 
 valley of Damascus, where "the vast and fruitful plain, 
 with the seven branches of the blue stream which irrigates 
 it, the city embosomed in gardens of surpassing richness, 
 and overshadowed with the deepest verdure and richest 
 luxuriance of oriental foliage, amid which rise towers and 
 a forest of minarets of every form, the glittering lakes 
 which reflect the heaven upon the earth, the majestic 
 frame-work of the mountains — all combine to render this 
 a terrestrial paradise." In such a landscape, a tower of 
 white marble on one of the cliffs of Lebanon, would be an 
 imposing feature — more so, from being on a commanding 
 eminence overlooking such a landscape as that of Damas- 
 cus. While the neck of the spouse is compared to the 
 tower of David adorned with a circlet of the costly shields 
 of heroes, and to a tower of ivory, her nose is compared 
 
CHAPTER VII. 5. 409 
 
 to a tower rising in majesty on a noble eminence of 
 Lebanon, and having associated with the grandeur of its 
 position, the luxuriant beauty of the plain of Damascus. 
 A fine, well-proportioned nose is most essential to beauty ; 
 and to this tower is compared the nose of the spouse. 
 
 Ver. 5. — Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine 
 head like purple: the king is held in the galleries. 
 
 Philostratus has a similar comparison, though far less 
 rich : " Thy head is a large meadow full of flowers, which 
 are never wanting in the summer, and disappear not in 
 the winter." Carmel is of beautiful shape, about twelve 
 hundred feet high, and was in former days fruitful to a 
 proverb. Hence its name Carmel, signifying a " fruitful 
 field." "And when covered over with vineyards, olive- 
 groves, and orchards of figs and almond-trees, not on the 
 sides alone, but also along the table-land of its summit, 
 would not Carmel, worthy of the name, appear an 
 immense hanging garden in the midst of the land? And 
 would not the beholder in other days at once understand 
 the meaning of the beautiful description given in the Song 
 — " Thine head upon thee is like Carmel."* 
 
 "And the hair of thine head like purple." The an- 
 cients used the word purple for expressing what was most 
 beautiful in colour; and when it is said her hair, or 
 tresses, is like purple, the meaning is, it was of the most 
 beautiful colour. As Porphyry says, "the poets are 
 accustomed to use purple for beautiful, "f Thus Horace 
 speaks of "purple swans;" Pindar of "purple wings," 
 
 * Mission of Inquiry, 235. 
 
 ■j- "Even the Tyrian purple was not one particular colour, but a class 
 of animal dyes as distinguished from vegetable — varying in shade of 
 purple, from tho most faint to the most intense." — Kitio's III. Coin. 
 Ex. xxxv. 35. 
 
 35* 
 
410 COMMENTARY. 
 
 and Virgil of "purple hair." And Spenser has, "the 
 morrow next appeared with purple hair." Speaking 
 of oriental females, Lady Montague says, " I never 
 saw in my life so many fine heads of hair. In one lady's 
 I have counted one hundred and ten tresses, all natural ; 
 but it must be owned that every kind of beauty is more 
 common here than with us." 
 
 The word here translated " galleries," means full, 
 flowing ringlets, or tresses, so called from their falling 
 down or flowing; and in the words " the king is held in 
 the galleries," the import is, the king is captivated with 
 the beauty of her full-flowing tresses. Thus an oriental 
 poet — 
 
 "A thousand secret snares, like links entwined, 
 Lurk in those ringlets waving to the wind." 
 
 The meaning of the whole verse is, her head of hair in 
 its fulness had the beauty of Carmel, was of the richest 
 colour, and with its full-flowing tresses, captivated the 
 heart of the king. 
 
 Ver. 6. — How fair and how pleasant art thou, love, for delights! 
 
 Thus captivated, he exclaims — " How beautiful art 
 thou, love, and how fascinating in attractions." The 
 beloved had enumerated numerous beauties of the spouse : 
 the feet more beautiful in rich sandals, the outline of the 
 hips graceful as the curvature of a most finished necklace, 
 the waist elegant as a costly goblet filled with the finest 
 wine, the body like a heap of wheat encompassed with 
 lilies, her bosom like two young gazelles feeding among 
 the lilies, her neck as a tower of ivory, her eyes pellucid 
 and calm as the pools of Heshbon, her nose as a tower 
 on a cliff' of Lebanon rising over the landscape of 
 Damascus, her head like Carmel in its richness and 
 flowers, her hair full, flowing, and of the richest colour, 
 
CHAPTER VII. 6. 411 
 
 and entrancing the king with the beauty of her tresses ; 
 having thus illustrated these several features of loveli- 
 ness, he gives further utterance to his admiration by 
 saying, as in this verse, that to all these was added the 
 attractiveness arising from manners inexpressibly fasci- 
 nating : how beautiful and how fascinating in attractions. 
 Her general beauty of form and elegance of movement 
 was lighted up by a living spirit within, which enabled 
 her to know instinctively how to please and hold the 
 beloved entranced with her attractive grace. She is 
 represented as something more than an amiable nonentity, 
 more than a mere Grecian statue, however perfectly 
 finished. With more than mortal elegance of bodily 
 form, she combined more than the fascinations which in 
 an Aspasia could enthral the towering intellect of 
 Pericles. The word "delights" expresses the charac- 
 teristic which enabled the daughter of Herodias so to 
 bewilder Herod by her accomplished graces, as to make 
 him promise, under the spell, to give her even the half 
 of his kingdom. It is recorded of Wilkes, that though 
 the most homely man in the United Kingdom, no one 
 could listen for a few moments to his conversation, with- 
 out forgetting his ugliness in the attractiveness of his 
 address. In the female character, this is far more pow- 
 erful than mere inanimate beauty. Without it, beauty 
 soon grows insipid and loses its charm ; with this, home- 
 liness is forgotten, and the individual becomes more 
 attractive, the character more beautiful, even amid the 
 decay of declining age. Hence, how greatly is our 
 impression of the splendid character of the spouse 
 heightened, when in addition to such grace of movement 
 and beauty of form, she is said to possess manners so 
 fascinating and attractive. 
 
412 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Ver. 7. — This thy stature is like to a palm-tree, and thy breasts to 
 clusters of grapes. 
 
 In this and almost all other Asiatic poems, the true 
 eastern beauty is represented as being light as a fawn, 
 tall as a cypress or cedar, slender as an arrow, erect as 
 a palm-tree. The elegant slenderness of the beautiful 
 Kadha is particularly mentioned, and repeated in fre- 
 quent chorusses : " Surely thou descendest from heaven, 
 slender damsel, attended by a company of youthful 
 goddesses ; and all their beauties are collected in thee." 
 The cedar, the cypress, the pine, and the palm-tree, from 
 their general beauty, and more especially their erect and 
 stately growth, offer a common source of imagery for 
 elegance and dignity of person among oriental poets. 
 Thus Hafiz — " Like the reed, my heart trembles to 
 possess that soft waving pine-tree:" and another, "The 
 graceful cypress yields to thee in grace." Homer com- 
 pares the beautiful Nausicaa to a palm : 
 
 "Thus seems the palm with stately honours crown'd 
 By Phoebus' altars ; thus o'erlooks the ground, 
 The pride of Delos."* 
 
 The original word means simply clusters, and .refers 
 to the palm instead of the vine. When therefore the 
 
 * Odyssey, vi. 1G2. Humboldt says, "Palms are the loftiest and 
 noblest of all vegetable forms, that to which the prize of beauty has 
 been assigned by the concurrent voice of all ages. Smooth and pol- 
 ished stems of palms, carefully measured by me, had attained one 
 hundred and ninety-two English feet in height. The port and physi- 
 ognomy of palms have a grandeur of character very difficult to convey 
 by words. Their lofty, slender, ringed stems, terminate in aspiring 
 and shining either fan-like or pinnated foliage. The leaves are some- 
 times of a dark and shining green, at others of a silvery white on the 
 under side ; sometimes the middle of the fan or palmate leaf is 
 ornamented with concentric yellowish or bluish stripes, like a peacock's 
 
CHAPTER VII. 7. 413 
 
 beloved compares the stature of the spouse to a palm-tree, 
 and her breast to its clusters, he gives the strongest pos- 
 sible illustration of her beauty. Now, the Holy Spirit 
 has grouped these things together for enabling us to get 
 some idea of the beauty which shall be revealed in the 
 saints, and is already seen in them by Jesus. He does 
 not merely say, we are beautiful in his eyes, as is the 
 highest development of female beauty to us ; but taking 
 the most beautiful human form, cluster around it all the 
 ideas of splendour drawn from feet with magnificent 
 sandals, the splendid curvature of the most finished 
 necklaces, the golden goblet filled with fragrant wine, 
 the heap of newly harvested wheat set about with lilies, 
 the two young twin roes feeding among the lilies, the 
 tower of ivory, the pools in Heshbon, the marble tower 
 on a cliff of Lebanon, looking towards Damascus, Carmel 
 covered with flowers, the palm-tree with its golden clus- 
 ters; to these, add the delights springing from the 
 attractions of most accomplished manners and a loving 
 
 tail, and the leaves are flag-like, of a thinner and more flexible texture, 
 and curl towards the extremities, -while there is a fine play of light 
 from the sun-beams falling on the upper surface of the leaves. The 
 peculiarly majestic character of palms is given, not only by their lofty 
 stems, but also in a very high degree, by the direction of the leaves. 
 The more upright the direction of the leaves, or, in other words, the 
 more acute the angles which they form with the upper part of the stem, 
 the grander and more imposing is the general appearance of the tree. 
 The fruits are large, egg-shaped, and beautifully coloured, resembling 
 peaches, and tinged with a golden yellow, mingled with a roseate 
 crimson. Seventy or eighty of them form enormous pendulous 
 branches, of which each tree annually ripens three. This fine tree, 
 the Piriguao palm, might be called the peach-palm. The fleshy fruits 
 are, from the luxuriance of vegetation, most often devoid of seeds, 
 and offer to the natives a farinaceous food, as yellow as the yolk of 
 an egg, slightly saccharine, and extremely nutritious." — Humboldt's 
 Aspects, 209. 
 
414 COMMENT A R Y. 
 
 heart; when we can form an idea of the ecstasy thrilling 
 the soul, as all these different objects pour their star-like 
 radiance of beauty bright upon the heart — then and then 
 only, can we have some conception of the beauty, 
 attractiveness, and loveliness, seen in his redeemed and 
 sanctified people by our adored Lord. As the eye turned 
 towards the sun is dazzled, and cannot take in the 
 radiance; so the mind is dazzled with this beauty, and 
 unable fully to comprehend it. For the love of Christ 
 passeth knowledge. Of that love these brilliant compa- 
 risons are the illustration and nothing more. 
 
 Yet, if the saint is the bride of the Lamb, it must be 
 expected he would thus view us, and thus love us. And 
 as we naturally desire and try to remove everything 
 unpleasant and like a failing in one thus loved — Jesus is 
 doing even this for us in sanctification. The diamond, 
 though exceeding in value more than a hundred thousand 
 times its mass in gold, the most cherished treasure of 
 kings and the most brilliant ornament of their crown, is 
 of all precious stones " the meanest in its elements, the 
 weakest in its structure, and the most perishable in its 
 nature, a lump of coal, which it reduces to a cinder and 
 dissipates into that insalubrious gas, which ascends from 
 the most putrid marsh;" its native bed is among rough 
 valleys, barren rocks, and desolate regions. lie who can 
 take such elements, so valueless, and perishable in them- 
 selves, and form them into a brilliant so dazzling, so 
 precious, and so enduring, can take such elements as 
 those found in the nature of fallen man, an offcast in 
 this world of pollution, and form them into a gem which 
 shall be the brightest ornament of heaven, and a peculiar 
 treasure of the King of kings, set in the very front of 
 his crown, worn on his heart. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 8, 9. 415 
 
 Ver. 8, 9. — I said I will go up to the palm-tree, I will take hold of the 
 boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, 
 and the smell of thy nose like apples;* and the roof of thy mouth 
 like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing 
 the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 
 
 Having thus spoken of the loveliness of the spouse, 
 the beloved here expresses the wish to gather her to his 
 bosom, and assures her how agreeable her presence must 
 be to him. These verses are but a statement of these 
 ideas, in the highly figurative language of the orientals. 
 The smell of the fruit of the citron-tree, for that is hero 
 meant by apples, was delightfully fragrant. The " roof 
 of the mouth" is the same Hebrew word with that trans- 
 lated "mouth" in chap. v. 16, and means the palate, 
 put by a common figure for the voice itself. The 
 remainder of the ninth verse is not obscure in the 
 general meaning, though it is difficult to explain satis- 
 factorily some peculiarities here found in the original. 
 We translate 'like that best wine for my best loved 
 friend, which flows pure, and causes even the lips of those 
 who are asleep to move gently.' The meaning seems to 
 be, that the voice of the spouse was pleasant as the best 
 wine, such as Solomon kept for some special friend, and 
 which was so mild and rich as to go down sweetly, pro- 
 ducing effects that continued long, and were so pleasant 
 as to make the lips move and gently murmur in 
 
 * "Formerly it was usual to anoint the nostrils, which was reckoned 
 very healthful and refreshing to the head; as well as was done, that 
 they might give the more agreeable smell: and some sort of ointments, 
 it seems, gave a smell like that of apples, which in some is very 
 grateful and delightful; and Cicero observes, that the plenty and 
 variety of apples, their pleasant taste and smell, show that they were 
 only made for man: and indeed there was an ointment made of them, 
 called melinum; so that the nostrils, being anointed with it, might 
 well be said to smell apples; and which was accounted one of the 
 best."— Gill. 
 
41G COMMENTARY. 
 
 sleep.* "A dream cometh through the multitude of busi- 
 ness." Eccl. v. 3. As the thoughts and things which have 
 engaged our attention during the day, give a colouring 
 to the mind during sleep, and a direction to our dreams ; 
 so this wine was so mildly fitted to the tone of the 
 system, was so delicious as to produce effects that con- 
 tinued during sleep, and caused pleasant dreams, and 
 murmurs to steal over the lips of the slumbering, expres- 
 sive of a pleasantness yet diffused by that good wine 
 through our whole constitution. In accordance with this, 
 is the representation of Mercy's dream by Bunyan, in 
 the Pilgrim's Progress. The comparison is that of a 
 delightful voice and its effects on the heart, to such wine. 
 As the beloved says in chap. ii. 14, " Sweet is thy voice," 
 and as his love is said to be better than wine, the most 
 delightful of the pleasures of sense — these words show 
 that nothing can be more pleasant to Jesus than the voice 
 of his redeemed. See chap. ii. 14. 
 
 * Interpreters are divided concerning this passage ; and though the 
 general meaning is perfectly clear, there can hardly be an exposition 
 given against which there may not be brought some objection. This 
 word, "beloved," is indeed never applied to the spouse, but always to 
 the bridegroom ; and hence, even in this connection, designates a 
 cherished friend. The ordinary import of the Hebrew word is one 
 beloved, an acquaintance, a friend, a friend of the family, an intimate 
 friend. The speaker wishing to illustrate the pleasantness of the voice 
 of the spouse, does therefore say, that it is like the delicious wine which 
 he kept for a most cherished friend — referring not to the spouse, but 
 to some well-loved associate in the circle of his acquaintances. This 
 seems to remove the difficulty, and set aside the necessity for dividing 
 the passage so abruptly as is done by Roscnmuller, Delitzsch, and 
 Dopke, who suppose the beloved to speak until the words, " like the 
 best wine," and then the spouse to interrupt him by taking the sentence 
 unfinished from his mouth, and saying, "that goetli sweetly to my 
 beloved, &c." With this passage compare ^ipiua-icv Iu&ttx tnov wine 
 drunk only by the chiefs, Iliad, iv. 2-j'.> ; as yipius-tiv cfx:r means an oath 
 taken by the chiefs. — Iliad, xxii. 119. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 10. 417 
 
 And will our Lord thus take us to his bosom? "He 
 shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in 
 his bosom," Isa. xl. 11 ; and every saint shall be treated 
 with affection great as that shown to the beloved disciple 
 who leaned on Jesus' bosom at the first sacramental sup- 
 per. At the marriage supper of the Lamb, when the 
 beloved drinks with us the new wine in his Father's 
 kingdom, to that bosom shall we all be gathered; and if 
 oppressed with a sense of unworthiness, we would know 
 how agreeable our presence will be to him, we find the 
 answer here given with a fulness leaving nothing more to 
 be desired. In the state of heart here represented, is 
 fulfilled the prayer of the Apostle, "That Christ may 
 dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and 
 grounded in love, may know the love of Christ which 
 passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the 
 fulness of God." Eph. iii. 17. 
 
 With this verse ends the general division of the Song, 
 embracing the motives addressed to the soul for winning 
 it away from earth, and particularly those drawn from 
 the greatness of the love of Christ. In how full and 
 glorious a manner does it conclude. The spouse had in 
 the first verse earnestly longed for the kisses of his 
 mouth; here that desire is gratified to the fullest possible 
 extent, by the strongest assurances of love given from 
 time to time, in various ways, and at last by the beloved's 
 taking her to his bosom with the tenderest and deepest 
 exhibition of affection. So true are the words, " What- 
 soever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the 
 Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any 
 thing in my name, I will do it." John xiv. 13. 
 Ver. 10. — I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. 
 
 Here begins the third part of the Song, Avhich shows 
 the effects produced on the heart by these manifestations 
 
418 COMMENTARY. 
 
 of Jesus' love. How naturally does the first follow from 
 what has been mentioned. Thus cheered by our Lord, 
 and lying in his bosom, well may the believer feel the full 
 assurance of hope, and thus adopt the language of this 
 verse. See notes on chap. ii. 16. 
 
 Vek. 11. — Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge 
 in the villages. 
 
 A second effect of this love, is the desire to be much 
 alone with Jesus in retirement. When we feel the loveli- 
 ness of Christ, as here set forth, and realize the greatness 
 of his affection towards us, we naturally desire to be with 
 him apart from all things interfering with these commu- 
 nications of his love. 
 
 One most essential difference between the gardens of 
 the Hebrews and our own, is that they are not in any 
 way connected with the residence, but are situated in the 
 suburbs, sometimes a mile distant from the house of the 
 person to whom they belonged. See notes, chap. i. 16. 
 To such a retreat did the spouse wish her beloved to with- 
 draw, where there might be nothing to interrupt their 
 love. 
 
 The heart naturally desires retirement with those sin- 
 cerely loved. And shall not this be especially true of 
 affection towards Jesus? The pleasures of solitude have 
 ever been eagerly sought by multitudes; they are found 
 only by the believer. He is never less alone, than when 
 to the world he seems most alone, for there is he most 
 uninterruptedly in the society of Jesus, his friend. All 
 this he has in addition, while enjoying equally with the 
 impious man of refined taste, the sweets of solitude and 
 delights of meditation. How does the presence of an 
 agreeable friend draw away our attention from the dis- 
 comforts of an unpleasant scene, and throw richer beau- 
 ties over one in itself attractive. So, with our beloved 
 
 
CHAPTER VII. 12. 419 
 
 Lord, solitude is delightful ; doubly so, for there we can 
 commune with him of all that is in our heart. 
 
 "0 solitude, come thou and with me climb 
 Nature's observatory, whence the dell, 
 Its flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell, 
 
 May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep 
 
 'Mongst boughs pavilion'd, where the deer's swift leap 
 Startles the wild bee from the foxglove bell. 
 
 But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee 
 Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind, 
 Whose words are images of thoughts refined, 
 
 Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be 
 Almost the highest bliss of human kind, 
 
 When to thy haunts two kindred sprits flee." 
 
 It is not only almost, but altogether the highest bliss, 
 when to those haunts two kindred spirits flee, and one of 
 those is Jesus, gathering the humble soul of the believer 
 more closely to his loving heart. There we are away 
 from the distractions of the world; there we may have 
 time for meditation, for study of the Scriptures, for con- 
 trition, for prayer, for praise. And while thus withdrawn 
 from the world, even in sadness, like the disciples 
 journeying to Emmaus, Luke xxi. 37, how often does he 
 join himself unto us, and cause our hearts to burn within 
 us, while unfolding to us the Scriptures by his Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 Ver. 12. — Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine 
 flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud 
 forth: there will I give thee my loves. 
 
 In this verse is mentioned the third effect of the love 
 of Jesus on the heart; — we engage spontaneously in 
 duties of holiness and love, such as are enjoined by our 
 Lord, and in which we may consequently hope for his pre- 
 sence.- "Early rising is, indeed, constantly indicated in 
 Scripture, in conformity with the universal custom of the 
 
420 COMMENTARY. 
 
 East. The orientals generally rise very early in the 
 morning. To be 'up with the sun/ is not in the East 
 regarded as early rising. Every one who is not prevented 
 by infirmity or sickness, from the ruler to the meanest of 
 his subjects, is usually up and dressed by the morning 
 dawn; and even in royal courts, the most important 
 public business is transacted at a very early hour, before, 
 in this country, even the workman rises to his labour. 
 The women almost invariably rise even sooner than the 
 men, often a good while before day."* Thus early did 
 man in Eden awake to his duties, and converse with God. 
 Thus Adam to our first mother — 
 
 "Awake: the morning shines, and the fresh field 
 Calls us ; we lose the prime, to mark how spring 
 Our tended plants, how blows the citron grove, 
 What drops the myrrh, and what the balmy reed, 
 How nature paints her colours, how the bee 
 Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet." 
 
 Paradise Lost, book v. 20. 
 And Virgil : 
 
 But when, while Zephyrs whisper, summer sends 
 The flocks to lowland meadows, wooded lawns; 
 Then, with the morning-star, the cooling glades 
 Fresh let us traverse, with the blushing morn, 
 While yet the grass is hoary, and the dew, 
 On tender herbage, grateful to the herd. 
 
 Georg. iii. 322. 
 
 Jesus himself, in the morning, rising up a great while 
 before day, went out and departed into a solitary place, 
 and there prayed. Mark i. 35. Such was his activity; 
 and this would he have us imitate. Indolence is no part 
 of the Christian character; it had no place in man before 
 the fall; it can have no place in heaven, where they rest 
 not day nor night. Indolence is imperfection, and must 
 
 * Kitto's Bible Readings, 845. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 12. 421 
 
 therefore be crowded out from the soul as we advance 
 towards perfection by sanctification. Love knows no 
 weariness in serving its cherished object; and that love 
 to Christ only can be genuine, which leads to activity in 
 his service. 
 
 " Thyself and thy belongings 
 Are not thine own so proper, as to waste 
 Thyself upon thy virtues, them on thee. 
 Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do ; 
 Not light them for themselves: for if our virtues 
 Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
 As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched, 
 But for high purposes : nor nature lends 
 The smallest scruple of her excellence, 
 But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines 
 Herself the glory of a creditor, 
 Both thanks and use."* 
 
 Pre-eminently is this true of the grace granted to the 
 saint. Not he who hoarded his talent in the earth, but 
 those who improved their several gifts, received commen- 
 dation and reward. The degree of our activity will be 
 proportioned to the vigour of our love. Love to Christ 
 was the constraining principle of the holy Apostle, who 
 was in labours more abundant; and he says, "the grace 
 of God which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain ; 
 but I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not 
 I, but the grace of God which was with me." 1 Cor. 
 xv. 10. Activity without love is a spurious thing; 
 equally so is love without activity. Hence, says Leigh- 
 ton, "Assurance is no enemy to holy diligence, nor friend 
 of carnal security; on the contrary, it is the only thing 
 that doth eminently ennoble and embolden the soul for 
 all adventures and services. This confidence of love is 
 the great secret of comfort, and of ability to do good 
 
 * Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, acti. sc. 1. 
 
 36* 
 
422 COMMENTARY. 
 
 service. Nothing makes so strong and healthful consti- 
 tution of soul as pure love. A heart thus composed goes 
 readily and cheerfully unto all services, to do, to suffer, 
 to live, to die, at his pleasure." While, therefore, love to 
 Jesus makes us crave retirement with him, it animates us 
 to untiring diligence in works of activity and self-denial, 
 no less than of meditation and prayer. Thus did man 
 give the Creator his love in Eden. In such ways must 
 we give him our loves. 
 
 Ver. 13. — The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner 
 of pleasant fruits, new and old, -which I have laid up for thee, my 
 beloved. 
 
 This love prompts us to lay up for Jesus and conse- 
 crate to him our best gifts, as well as our diligent 
 services. Kitto says, the Hebrew word here rendered 
 mandrakes, has occasioned so much discussion as to 
 evince clearly enough that we know nothing about it. 
 Sir Thomas Browne has a curious dissertation on it in his 
 quaint style.* The Abbe Mariti thus describes the man- 
 drake: "At the village of St. John, in the mountains, 
 about six miles southwest from Jerusalem, this plant is 
 found at present as well as in Tuscany. It grows low 
 like lettuce, to which its leaves have a great resemblance, 
 except that they have a dark green colour. The flowers 
 are purple, and the root is for the most part forked. 
 The fruit, when ripe, in the beginning of May, is of the 
 size and colour of a small apple, exceeding ruddy, and of 
 a most agreeable odour. It is generally valued by the 
 inhabitants as exhilarating their spirits when eaten." 
 Perhaps Junius and Tremellius are not far wrong, when, 
 looking to the etymology of the word, they render it 
 "lovely flowers." By "gates" is probably meant the 
 entrance to the kiosk or summer-house; and "pleasant 
 
 * Bohn's Edition, vol. i. 192. 
 
 
CHAPTER VII. 13. 423 
 
 fruits" means, as in chap. iv. 16, every delicacy the gar- 
 den could afford. The meaning of the passage then is, 
 that the spouse had already laid up in the summer-house 
 every variety of fragrant flowers and luscious fruits, so 
 that they could he had without the .trouble of going to 
 gather them, and would be to him an evidence of her fore- 
 thought prompted by love. 
 
 Love ever hoards up for the object of affection the very 
 best of everything that exertion can enable it to procure, 
 without waiting to be asked. It seeks to anticipate every 
 want, and takes delight in bestowing unexpected gratifi- 
 cation. This feeling enters into the very essence of love, 
 and is to it what vital warmth is to the body. With- 
 out it the affection cannot exist. Hence, love to Christ 
 ever prompts us to hoard up spontaneously our choicest 
 gifts for him. Whatever we possess, we wish him to 
 have the first and the best of it. We feel hurt at the 
 idea of his taking any secondary share. This was the 
 principle sought to be inculcated on the Jews, when 
 required to offer the first fruits. This made Gregory 
 Nazianzen say, "If I have any possessions, health, credit, 
 learning, this is all the contentment I have of them, that 
 I have somewhat I may despise for Christ, who is 
 altogether lovely and alone to be desired." This made 
 a nobler than he exclaim, "I count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 
 Lord." 
 
424 COMMENTARY. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Ver. 1, 2. — that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of 
 my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, 
 I should not be despised. I would lead thee, and bring thee into my 
 mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink 
 of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. 
 
 We would translate these verses, ' that thou wert as a 
 brother to me, nourished in the bosom of my mother; 
 should I find thee abroad, then would I kiss thee, nor 
 would it be imputed to me as an impropriety. I would 
 lead thee, I would bring thee to the house of my mother ; 
 thou shalt teach me how to gratify thy wishes; I will 
 make thee drink of the spiced wine, of my fresh juice of 
 the pomegranate.' These verses carry out the desire 
 expressed in the last verse of chap. vii. Having spoken 
 of manifestations of love she was able to make, in giving 
 him her most delicious fruits and her choicest flowers, she 
 is here carried away by the ardour of affection, and wishes 
 it were possible to do towards him as she would desire. 
 Were her relation to him different from what it was, she 
 might give him demonstrations of love that would not be 
 viewed by the world as improprieties. Hence she is led 
 to wish he sustained to her the relation of a brother, for 
 then, however ardent and multiplied her attentions, they 
 could never be regarded as improper. On the words 
 "my mother's house," see notes, chap. iv. 4. In that 
 retirement she would learn from him what might be most 
 agreeable, and with the alacrity of love manifest her affec- 
 tion by every possible attention. 
 
 The wines produced in the vineyards of Lebanon had a 
 fragrant odour : " The scent thereof shall be as the wine 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 1,2. 425 
 
 of Lebanon." Hos. xiv. 7. The orientals frequently put 
 spices into their wine to increase their flavour. Savary, 
 in his Letters on Greece, states that various kinds of 
 naturally-perfumed wines are produced in Crete and some 
 of the neighbouring islands. Spiced wines were not pecu- 
 liar to the Jews. The celebrated Persian poet, Hafiz, 
 speaks of wine, "richly bitter, richly sweet." The Ro- 
 mans lined their vessels with odorous gums, to give the 
 wine a warm, bitter flavour ; and it is said that the Poles 
 and Spaniards adopt a similar method, in order to impart 
 to their wines a favourite relish. The juice of the pome- 
 granate is often employed in the East, to give a pleasant 
 sub-acid flavour to a variety of beverages ; and where the 
 laws of the Koran are not allowed to interpose, or their 
 prohibitions are disregarded, a delicious wine is frequently 
 manufactured from this juice alone. The spouse, there- 
 fore, means to say she would offer him the richest and 
 most refreshing drink, her greatest delicacies. 
 
 The import of this verse is a desire that everything 
 hindering the full and perfect interchange of affection 
 between Jesus and our soul might be removed, and it 
 were possible to enjoy his love to us and express our love 
 to him, as we shall be able to do in heaven. Much as we 
 may now long for stronger displays of his love, and to 
 give stronger evidence of our love to him, we acquiesce in 
 the present state of things, because we feel there would 
 be an impropriety, no less than impossibility, in those 
 overpowering exhibitions of love that belong to heaven. 
 But this does not preclude us from feeling that, were it 
 seen best by him, we would rejoice even now in those 
 raptures which belong to heaven, where we shall be able 
 to speak of his love in the strongest language, and give 
 expression to it in the most exalted praise, without dan- 
 ger of exposing ourselves to the contempt of the world. 
 
426 COMMENTARY. 
 
 There shall our fellowship and communion with him be 
 far more intimate and endearing than was possible on 
 earth. The language of these verses expresses the real 
 feeling of the pious heart. How often do even nominal 
 Christians charge on brethren as an impropriety, or as a 
 species of excess, exercises which are perfectly free from 
 fanaticism, and spring from overflowing influences of the 
 Holy Spirit on the heart. In the present world, we are 
 not able to feel as we would wish to feel towards our 
 Lord; Ave cannot speak of him as we would wish to speak 
 of him ; we cannot do as we would wish to do towards 
 him. We are prevented by our position among those who 
 are unable to understand these things; by the remaining 
 corruptions of the heart; by the peculiar duties now 
 resting on us ; and by the relation Jesus must necessarily 
 bear to us in the present world. Well may the wearied 
 heart, with so many obstructions between us and the object 
 of our love, desire that they may be removed, and that 
 our relations to him may be made such as to give us the 
 power to gratify perfectly our affection. 
 
 Vkr. 8, 4. — His left hand should be under my head, and his right 
 hand should embrace me. I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, 
 that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. 
 
 See notes on chap. ii. 6, 7. These verses seem here 
 mentioned, as though the happy state expressed by them 
 was viewed by the* soul as a blessed and satisfying fore- 
 taste of what may be expected hereafter, and as much as 
 is best or possible for us in this world. 
 
 Ver. 5. — (Who is this that comethup from the wilderness, leaning upon 
 her beloved?) I raised thee up under the apple-tree: there thy 
 mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare 
 thee. 
 
 According to our reading of this passage, the daughters 
 of Jerusalem say, 'Who is this coming up from the wil- 
 derness, leaning on the beloved?' Answering this ques- 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 5. 427 
 
 tion, the beloved says to the spouse, as though for the 
 purpose of reassuring her, by calling to mind that she was 
 truly his rightful wife, 'Under the citron-tree I gained 
 thine affection ; there thy mother pledged thee ; there she 
 that bare thee betrothed thee.' This is one of the verses 
 which cannot be explained but on the supposition that 
 this poem is an allegory. We do not know that it throws 
 any light on this passage to remark, that among many 
 nations the Cydonian apple was sacred to love; or to 
 notice the golden apple which Paris adjudged to Venus, 
 who is sometimes represented in her statues with an apple 
 in her hand. Theocritus has the following : 
 
 "First I beheld thy beauties, blooming maid, 
 When o'er the hills, in every charm arrayed, 
 Thy mother led thee, and thy fingers fair 
 Plucked the wild hyacinths that blossomed there. 
 And I was guide to thee along thy -way." 
 
 This verse gives the seventh result flowing from the 
 divine love. Though we cannot now enjoy what we 
 could desire, and what shall be enjoyed in heaven; 
 though the delightful scenes now had must be interrupted, 
 yet we are permitted to go up from this wilderness 
 leaning on the beloved; we feel that underneath us are 
 the everlasting arms ; in all circumstances he sustains us ; 
 and throughout our pilgrimage we are thus upheld by 
 him who first found us, raised us up, and took us into 
 covenant relation, "under the apple-tree," as in chap. ii. 3, 
 under the shadow of Christ. Here is, 1. The blessed 
 privilege enjoyed by the believer, of going up from this 
 world towards heaven, leaning on the beloved; 2. The 
 soul who enjoys this privilege, is the soul that has been 
 found by the beloved under the shadow of Christ ; 
 3. There he first awaked and won our love ; 4. There we 
 were given to him by the one who had the right to dispose 
 
428 COMMENTARY. 
 
 of us. What force do the last three considerations give 
 to the first. Had she who was leaning on the beloved 
 the right to lean there as his espoused wife? Yes, as is 
 clearly shown. Have the believers that go up to heaven, 
 the right to lean on Jesus, as his bride, the wife of the 
 Lamb? Hence we see why the language changes so 
 abruptly from the daughters of Jerusalem to the beloved ; 
 as though he would say, She has this right, because under 
 such and such circumstances, and in such a place, she 
 was betrothed to me by her mother's hand. 
 
 He on whom we are leaning, found us under the citron- 
 tree, Jesus Christ. See notes, chap. ii. 3. There did he 
 awaken us first to his love. This love is shed abroad in 
 our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us. 
 The awaking of this love within us is the giving unto us 
 of a new life. It introduces us into a new world, leads 
 us to lean on new objects for comfort and support, and 
 fits us for enjoying even the presence of God. Could the 
 intellect of a man be' imparted to an inferior creature, it 
 would not more exalt his nature, than does the love of 
 God elevate degraded and imbrutcd man. Before Jesus 
 found us, our condition was truly forlorn. Like a poor, 
 wayworn pilgrim in an oriental desert, under the wither- 
 ing heat, we had with Hagar sat down to die, Gen. xxi. 
 16; but Ave saw one who was as the shadow of a great 
 rock in a weary land ; to him we turned, and under his 
 shadow we sat down with creat delight; there one 
 touched us, greater than the angel who was sent to the 
 disheartened prophet, 1 Kings xix. 5; there God called 
 on us to arise from our despondency; there he opened 
 our eyes, and caused us to see a well of living water, 
 and made us go in the strength of that food onward 
 to the mount of God, where he had appeared, not 
 in the terrible darkness of Sinai, but in the mercy of 
 
CHAPTER VIII. G. 429 
 
 Calvary and gentleness of Zion. There, beneath the 
 dropping of his blood, were we given away to him in 
 covenant relation, by one who had the right to dispose of 
 us, even God the Father — given to him as the purchase 
 of his blood ; and with a tenderness infinitely surpassing 
 that with which the beloved disciple fostered the mother 
 of Jesus, committed to his care by the dying Saviour on 
 the cross, did our precious Redeemer from that hour take 
 us into his own fortune, his own bosom, his own home. 
 
 Thus found by Jesus, quickened by him to his love, 
 and given to him by the Father, we are led away from 
 our disconsolate condition, up from this wilderness, to 
 the city of the living God. The wife looks to the hus- 
 band for wisdom, for protection, for support; she leans 
 on him in confidence and love. Thus lean we on our 
 blessed Lord. He gives us support, wisdom, protection. 
 With Israel, we feel there is none like unto the God of 
 Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in our help ; and 
 underneath us are the everlasting arms. Deut. xxxiii. 26. 
 On him we lean in repentance, in temptation, in trial, in 
 sorrow, in times of desertion by the light of God's coun- 
 tenance, or of persecution by the world, in sickness, in 
 death, in the judgment, in our entrance into the heavenly 
 city, and in our presentation, amid the splendours of his 
 court, to the king of glory. 
 
 Ver. 6. — Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm. 
 
 This alludes to jewels having the name or portrait of 
 the beloved person engraved on them, and worn next the 
 heart, or on the arm. In the pictures of the eastern 
 princesses and heroines, there is sometimes a large square 
 jewel on the fore-part of the arm, a little below the 
 shoulder. "When all the persons had assembled in the 
 divan, every one remained sitting or standing in his place 
 37 
 
430 COMMENTARY. 
 
 without moving, till in about half an hour came two 
 kapudschis, one of whom carried the imperial signet-ring, 
 and presented it to the grand vizier, who arose from his 
 sofa, and received the signet-ring with a kind of bow, 
 kissed it, put it on his hand, took it off again, and put it 
 in the bag in which it had been before, and placed both in 
 a pocket at the left side of his kaftan, as it were upon his 
 heart."* According to Roberts, "When a husband is 
 going to a distant country, the wife says to him, ' Ah ! 
 place me as a seal upon thy heart;' that is, let me be im- 
 pressed on thy affections, as the seal leaves its impression 
 upon the wax. Let not your arms embrace another; let 
 me only be sealed there." There may possibly be a 
 reference here to the stones in the breast-plate of the 
 highpriest, and those worn on his shoulders. 
 
 These words do therefore give as the eighth result of 
 the divine love, the desire to lie continually near the 
 heart of Jesus, and be perpetually in his remembrance. 
 Feeling thus the love of Christ, and the privilege of lean- 
 ing on him, we pray to have ever a part in his interces- 
 sion. How comforting to know that we have one in 
 heaven to intercede for us. This is often overlooked ; 
 but as we grow in love we feel more and more the pre- 
 ciousness of this truth. How glorious a position is that 
 of the gem on the finger of the king, how inseparable 
 from his presence. "Thou shalt be a crown of glory in 
 the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of 
 thy God," Isa. lxii. 3; "They shall be as the gems of a 
 crown." Zcch. ix. 10. Here the saint desires to be a 
 seal so precious as to be borne on the heart. A believer 
 writes thus, concerning his experience at a certain time : 
 "I never felt so strongly and sensibly that I had a place 
 
 * Roscnmuller. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 0. 431 
 
 in his loving heart. It seemed to my spiritual percep- 
 tion, as though my soul had passed not only into his 
 bosom, but far away into his very heart, and my sensa- 
 tions were such as they would be, were the thing possible, 
 were I lodged in the centre of his heart with love, such 
 love as belongs to Jesus only, above, below, around, within 
 me, the air, the light, all, the very richness of love, my 
 heart buried thus in the fountain of life and love, and 
 feeling tenderly, exquisitely, the beating of the heart of 
 Jesus in the outgushings of that love in the Holy Spirit 
 springing up within me as a fountain of water unto eter- 
 nal life. Never may I forget these sensations. They 
 seemed the delicious perfection of union with Jesus, my 
 soul like a spark of light, a star of flame, broken off 
 from the sun of righteousness and wandered afar, but 
 returning towards its centre, till passing into the depths 
 of this fountain of light, it reposes at the very centre, 
 lost to all things else, and calm amid the quiet splendour 
 of eternal peace. This coalescing of our soul with the 
 spirit of Jesus, this oneness with him, is the perfection of 
 sanctification, the end to which the death and intercession 
 of our Saviour lead: 'That they all may be one, as thou, 
 Father, art in me, and I in thee,' John xvii. 21; 'I in 
 them, and thou in me.' Ver. 23. Faith gives such a 
 substance to these truths as to make me feel just as I 
 must feel, if my heart were lodged in the very centre of 
 the heart of Jesus. It is something more than being 
 gathered in his arms and carried in his bosom, than being 
 set as a seal on his heart. It is the consciousness of 
 being one with Jesus, of resting in Jesus, heart in heart. 
 Here is the full meaning of the words, ' His soul shall 
 dwell in goodness,' Ps. xxv. 13. i Shall lodge in good- 
 ness,' in that fountain of life, the streams issuing from 
 
432 COMMENTARY. 
 
 which are, according to the condition of those they reach, 
 goodness, mercy, compassion, or love."* 
 
 The seal has generally engraved on it some device 
 commemorating something which is most valued by the 
 possessor: the soul of the saint is such a seal; on it is 
 traced that which is a commemoration of the glorious 
 mercy of the King of kings; and so peculiar is the 
 engraving, that whoever sees it will know to whom the 
 soul belongs. Rev. ii. 17. The seal is set in gold; and 
 our spiritual body is the golden setting for the precious 
 seal of the renewed heart, on which the Holy Spirit is 
 now engraving by sanctification the lineament of our 
 Lord. It is not only allowable, but the duty of the saint 
 to pray, that we may be with Jesus where he is, to behold 
 his glory. John xvii. 24. And in what way can we more 
 clearly and comprehensively offer this prayer, than in the 
 language of this verse. 
 
 For love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals 
 thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement fiame. 
 
 Rather translate — 'Devoted affection is unrelaxing as 
 
 * "The love of God, and of God alone, -was my soul's great business. 
 I seemed so entirely lost in God, as to have no sight of myself at all. 
 It seemed as if my heart never came out of that divine ocean. Oh! 
 loss, which is the consummation of happiness, though operated through 
 crosses and deaths ! I could say with the Apostle Paul, that Christ 
 lived in me ; and that I lived no more. Every inward motion, origi- 
 nating from self, seemed to be taken away and lost ; so much so, that 
 all the soul's movements and actions were now in God, under the 
 dominion of his will, and entirely in union with him; the soul living 
 in and of God, as the body lives in and of the air it breathes. Human 
 language cannot well describe this state. God only knows perfectly 
 what it is. Souls, who are in this state, are very precious in the sight 
 of God, though outwardly there is nothing which especially attracts 
 notice. They are the little ones of the earth; — meek, humble, quiet. 
 Their humility, however, does not wholly protect them from the world's 
 opposition, they are not unfrcquently the objects of the worlds scorn 
 and rage." — Madame Guyon. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 6. 433 
 
 the realms of the dead; its flames have the energy of 
 liffhtninff-flames, which have the fiercest blaze.' These 
 words illustrate the devotion of this love to the object of 
 affection, the Lord Jesus. The privilege, the glory, the 
 happiness of being thus set as a seal, appears such, that 
 the believer is ready to sacrifice everything for its attain- 
 ment. While the various endowments of the soul arc 
 representations of the excellences of God, every affection 
 of a pure and exalted cast is the image of what our devo- 
 tion should be to him; and then this devotion is the image 
 in return of what God's love is towards us. All other 
 loves were intended as subsidiary to this love to God, and 
 streams for feeding its strength. Of this love pre-emi- 
 nently may be said what Coleridge has sung of a sub- 
 ordinate passion : 
 
 "All thoughts, all passions, all delights, 
 Whatever stirs this mortal frame, 
 Are all but ministers of love, 
 And feed his sacred flame." 
 
 There is a law in nature that the attractive power of 
 bodies is proportioned to their size or quantity of matter : 
 and the attractive power of lovely objects depends on the 
 amount of loveliness centred in them. Now, what is the 
 loveliness centred in Christ? In him is not only every 
 thing actually, but everything possibly lovely. He is 
 the citron-tree, as it were continually putting forth fresh 
 successions of buds, blossoms, and fruits of beauty ; the 
 fountain of life and loveliness. What must, therefore, 
 be the attractive power with which he draws holy souls 
 towards him and binds them to him ? This nothing can 
 withstand. The devotion will be in proportion to the 
 degree of the love. Love is devotion. So lovely does 
 Jesus seem, so great his attractiveness, so numerous our 
 obligations to him, that we rejoice to " count all things 
 37* 
 
434 COMMENTARY. 
 
 but loss" for him. The inquiry on every point of duty, 
 is not whether the performance of it is difficult, danger- 
 ous, or even seemingly possible; but simply, "Lord, what 
 wilt thou have me to do?" The practicability of a duty 
 is felt, to be properly judged of, not by the appearance it 
 presents to our judgment, but by the command of our 
 Lord. If he has commanded, we go forward, fearing 
 nothing that may seem to lie in the way. The true prin- 
 ciple was stated by the Duke of Wellington, when, in 
 reply to a person who asked whether his knowledge of 
 things in India would not lead him to recommend the 
 friends of missions to drop their work as hopeless, he 
 said, "Your business is to look only to your marching 
 orders — Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel 
 to every creature." 
 
 True, the amount of our contributions may seem small 
 and swallowed up like a rain-drop in the ocean ; our 
 efforts may seem unimportant, hardly felt if put forth, or 
 missed if withheld ; yet we hesitate not, but go forward, 
 feeling that whatever result may attend our labours, we 
 are grateful for opportunities of showing our love to 
 Jesus, even though the exertions be unattended with any 
 further results. Truly, as Leighton says, " This love 
 makes the soul delight in the hardest tasks and greatest 
 difficulties, where it may perform God service either in 
 doing or suffering for him. The greater the task, the 
 more real is the testimony and expression of love, and 
 therefore the more acceptable to God. If times be for 
 suffering, love will make the soul not only bear, but wel- 
 come the bitterest afflictions of life, and the hardest kinds 
 of death, for his sake. In a word, there is in love a 
 sweet constraint, or tying of the heart to all obedience 
 and duty." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 7. 435 
 
 Ver. 7. — Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods 
 drown it : if a man would give all the substance of his house for 
 love, it would utterly be contemned. 
 
 These words set forth the tenth effect flowing from the 
 love of Christ — the power thereby imparted to the soul 
 of withstanding everything that would draw us away 
 from the Saviour. The ninth effect, mentioned under 
 the second division of verse sixth, shows the devotion of 
 this affection ; this verse illustrates its power. The power 
 of anything must be determined by looking at the resist- 
 ance which it may be able to overcome. And what does 
 this love in the heart overcome? Against it are combined 
 mighty influences, the world, the flesh, and the devil. 
 Cherishing for the blessed Saviour a devotion strong as 
 death, the saint finds himself surrounded by enemies who 
 would crush or uproot this love, and bar the way 
 effectually against our ever becoming able to attain the 
 enjoyment of the divine glory in heaven. This host of 
 foes avail themselves of our every instinct, impulse, pas- 
 sion, and feeling, taking advantage of every weakness 
 and every opportunity for injury to us that can be con- 
 ceived. But, "in all these things we are more than 
 conquerors through him that loved us;" for the love of 
 Christ constraineth us ; and we can do all things through 
 Christ who strengthens us.. Our position is now very 
 different from what it was in Eden, where there was but 
 a single propensity on which the tempter could work, and 
 every facility was offered for resistance. But had wc 
 never fallen, the energy and power of this love could not 
 have been so fully seen. Its power does not appear so 
 great in keeping holy beings in their sphere, as in taking 
 hold of the fallen, and carrying them up through all 
 these opposing influences, to their proper place beside 
 the throne of God, and reinstating these lost stars in 
 
436 COMMENTARY. 
 
 their orbits, never again to wander, never to fall or grow 
 dim. The excellence of a vessel, the power of its 
 machinery, is shown by the angry tempests amid which 
 it can live, and the stormy waves through which it urges 
 its way. Devotion in the pilot to his duty cannot avail, 
 unless the vessel be sea-worthy, its engine perfect and 
 strong. This divine love is the motive-power of the soul 
 in its passage over the angry waters of life's tempestuous 
 sea. The force of the elements combining for its destruc- 
 tion may be seen in the fiery persecutions which marked 
 the course of Jesus through this life, and have marked the 
 track of his people in every age. Yet has this love ever 
 proved sufficient to carry even the frailest bark of 
 humanity in which it has been lodged, safe through all 
 surges into the haven, where the wicked cease from 
 troubling and the weary are at rest. Never, in a single 
 instance, has one foundered in the depths of that sea 
 which shall never give up its dead. Sometimes amid 
 sorrow and temptation, like the disciples in the storm on 
 the sea of Galilee, we may be sore afraid, and cry, 
 "Lord, save us; we are perishing;" yet shall we ever 
 find Jesus is with us : and when in jeopardy, like the 
 Apostle, we beseech the Lord even thrice that the peril 
 may depart from us, if he does not say unto the wind 
 and the waves, "Peace, be still;" he will at least say, 
 "My grace is sufficient for thee." Herein lies the power 
 of this love. While this grace with its attending love 
 continues in vigorous operation in the soul, we are safe, 
 however heavy the surges and violent the storm ; if its 
 power be diminished, our peril proportionally increases; 
 were it withdrawn, we must inevitably perish. This has 
 been happily illustrated by Bunyan, when " the interpre- 
 ter took Christian by the hand, and led him into a place 
 where was a fire burning against a wall, and one standing 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 8. 437 
 
 by it, always casting much water upon it to quench it; 
 yet <lid the fire burn higher and hotter ; at the back of 
 the wall was a man with a vessel of oil in his hand, of 
 the which he did also continually cast, but secretly, into 
 the fire." Hence we say with the Apostle, "I am per- 
 suaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
 principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
 to come ; nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, 
 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which 
 is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 Ver. 8. — We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts : what shall 
 we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for ? 
 
 Rather read, ' We have a young sister, and she hath 
 not yet reached Avomanhood: what shall we do for our 
 sister with reference to the day when she shall be spoken 
 for in marriage.' These are understood by us as words 
 of the spouse to the beloved. In her exalted position as 
 the spouse of Solomon, she does not forget those allied 
 to her, who are yet in their natural, humble position. 
 This represents the interest felt and manifested by the 
 believer, in prayer to the Lord Jesus, for those who are 
 yet in their native impenitent state. From Matt. xii. 50, 
 we see that all are here meant who may be brought to do 
 the will of God ; and hence all impenitent persons in 
 general, no less than those of our own household. An 
 interest for the salvation of the souls of others is a 
 characteristic of genuine grace. The evidence of right 
 feeling is right action. Right action will show itself in 
 prayer and efforts for the good of souls. He who is 
 crucified to the world, and he only, estimates the world 
 aright; and truly enjoys it. He feels for the miseries of 
 others, not from the promptings of natural benevolence, 
 but from the impulse of love to Christ. It is delightful 
 to pray and labour in the cause of benevolence ; especially 
 
438 COMMENTARY. 
 
 to pray and labour for those we love. The believer will 
 seek the salvation of his impenitent friends, by going to 
 Jesus, and making interest for them in prayer ; if they 
 are young, not yet arrived at years of discretion, he will 
 be training them up and attending them with his prayers, 
 that when they do reach proper years, they may be ready 
 to receive the divine blessing. In such labours, we should 
 not be discouraged because our efforts may be small, and 
 apparently promise little reward. Duty is ours; results 
 are with God. Trifling acts are often the cause of much 
 happiness, and issue in most important consequences. 
 
 "The blessings which the weak and poor can scatter 
 Have their own season. 'Tis a little thing 
 To give a cup of water; yet its draught 
 Of cool refreshment, drained by fevered lips, 
 May give a shock of pleasure to the frame 
 More exquisite than when Nectarian juice 
 Renews the life of joy in happiest hours. 
 It is a little thing to speak a phrase 
 Of common comfort, which by daily use 
 Has almost lost its sense; yet on the ear 
 Of him who thought to die unmourned, 'twill fall 
 Like choicest music."* 
 
 In Chrysostom's introduction to his homilies on the rich 
 man and Lazarus, are the following admirable sentences. 
 "As the springs run when no one uses their waters; as 
 the fountains pour forth when none draws from them; as 
 the rivers flow on although no one drinks from their 
 waves; so must the believer discharge his whole duty, 
 though no one gives attention. Though by our efforts 
 none may be converted, yet thereby are the impenitent 
 kept from going on as freely in sin. I have not raised 
 the sick, but I have rendered stronger the healthful; my 
 discourse may not have recalled any from vice, but it has 
 
 * Talfourd's Ion, act i. sc. 2. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 8. 439 
 
 made the virtuous more careful. Moreover, he who hears 
 to-day and resists, may to-morrow hear and obey ; he also 
 who despises this message to-day and to-morrow, may, 
 after a longer time, attend carefully to these instructions ; 
 for the fisherman may often draw an empty net through 
 the whole day, but in the evening, when about to depart, 
 take the fish that had till then escaped. Were we to 
 suspend business and sit down in idleness, when unsuc- 
 cessful in our undertakings, our whole life would be lost, 
 its spiritual as well as temporal advantages. Were the 
 husbandman to suspend all labour on account of one, or 
 two, or many disasters from unfavourable weather, we 
 should all perish from famine ; and did the mariner aban- 
 don the sea even on account of many tempests, the busi- 
 ness of navigation would cease, and all the conveniences 
 thence derived to society be excluded ; and were men to 
 act in reference to the various employments of life as too 
 many Christians act in reference to the interests of reli- 
 gion, all things would go to ruin. When the husbandman 
 has repeatedly sown the same field without a successful 
 harvest, he returns again to the tillage of the same 
 ground, and in a single year reaps a full reward for all 
 his labours; and the merchant, though he has suffered 
 many wrecks, again fits out his vessels, and embarks in 
 the same enterprise, with no better prospects of success 
 than the former. It is so with men in every calling. 
 Since they exercise so much diligence and perseverance 
 in temporal things, the issue of which is uncertain, shall 
 we, when our exhortations are unheeded, be at once dis- 
 couraged? When his vessel is wrecked, the mariner finds 
 none to relieve his poverty; and when the tempest, 
 deluging his grounds, destroys the harvest, the husband- 
 man must bear his wants. It is not so with us. Although 
 the hearer may not receive the seed of the word, nor 
 
440 COMMENTARY. 
 
 bring forth the fruit of obedience, you shall receive from 
 God a recompense as great when he disobeys, as you 
 would have received had he been obedient. You did 
 what you could. We are not responsible for our hearers 
 being persuaded, but only for their being properly ex- 
 horted: to admonish is our duty, to be persuaded is 
 theirs. Let the limit of your exhortation be the obedi- 
 ence of him who is exhorted. The devil is constantly 
 opposing our salvation, though gaining nothing thereby, 
 and injuring himself by his zeal. So great is his phrenzy, 
 that he often undertakes impossibilities, and assaults not 
 only those whom he may hope to supplant and overthrow, 
 but those who are probably superior to his devices. 
 When he heard that Job was commended by the om- 
 niscient God, he hoped to be able to overthrow him ; nor 
 did the deceiver cease his various efforts and devices for 
 destroying this just man, even though God had com- 
 mended so highly the integrity of his saint. Tell me 
 then, shall we not be ashamed, shall we not blush, if, 
 when the devil never despairs of our destruction, but 
 constantly expects it, we despair of the salvation of our 
 brethren? The devil does not retire from his assault 
 against us, even when God forbids. Will you then aban- 
 don your brethren, when God is encouraging and urging 
 to their aid?" 
 
 Ver. 9. — If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: 
 and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. 
 
 The spouse having thus interceded with the beloved 
 for her sister, receives from him the encouraging answer 
 contained in this verse. It is the usual parabolic mode of 
 speaking in the East. The imagery here used was 
 probably drawn from the Avails of Jerusalem and from the 
 temple. The spouse had been compared to a city such 
 as Tirzah; illustrations drawn from turrets and doors is 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 9. 441 
 
 here applied to her sister. Josephus states, that on the 
 walls of Jerusalem, thirty feet high and built of stones 
 fifteen feet broad and thirty feet long, there were one 
 hundred and ninety towers, "solid as the Avail itself, 
 wherein the niceness of the joints and the beauty of the 
 stones were no way inferior to the holy liQuse itself."* 
 Such towers added very much to the strength and beauty 
 of the city; and formed as they were of white marble, 
 must, together with the temple, make the holy city " the 
 beauty of the whole earth." The Hebrew word means a 
 battlement or turret. There were on the walls battle- 
 ments three feet high. The reference may be to these, 
 though more probably to something in the time of Solo- 
 mon, like the turrets here mentioned. Nothing could be 
 more elegant than such turrets made of silver. The 
 other allusion here seems to refer to the peculiar beauty 
 of some doors, possibly to those of the temple. 1 Kings 
 vi. 31 — 35: "For the entering of the oracle he made 
 doors of olive-tree; the lintel and side-posts were a fifth 
 part of the wall. The two doors also were of olive-tree ; 
 
 * Jewish War, book v. 4. 3. According to Diodorus Siculus, the 
 walls of Nineveh were one hundred feet high, and so broad that three 
 chariots might be driven abreast on them. They were furnished with 
 fifteen hundred towers, each two hundred feet in height. The gates of 
 ancient cities were often of great size, sometimes of brass, and flanked 
 by towers adorned with sculptures, as at Koyunjik. May this have 
 something to do with associating a door with a turret in the text? 
 
 Speaking of the emperor Akber's efforts to adorn the city of Agra, 
 Maurice remarks, "The castle itself, the largest ever erected in India, 
 was built in the form of a crescent along the banks of the Jumna ; its 
 lofty walls were composed of stones of enormous size, hard as marble, 
 and of a reddish colour, resembling jasper, which at a distance, in the 
 rays of the sun, gave it a shining and beautiful appearance. It was 
 adorned with many stately porticoes, galleries, and turrets, all richly 
 painted and gilded, and some even overlaid with plates of gold." — 
 Indian Antiquities, vol. i. 208. 
 
442 COMMENTARY. 
 
 and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims, and 
 palm-trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with 
 gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the 
 palm-trees. So also made he for the door of the temple 
 posts of olive-tree, a fourth part of the wall. And the 
 two doors were of fir-tree: the two leaves of the one door 
 were folding, and the two leaves of the other door 
 were folding. And he carved thereon cherubims, and 
 palm-trees, and open flowers ; and covered them with gold 
 fitted upon the carved work. And he built the inner 
 court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar 
 beams."* Such doors would certainly supply materials 
 for a very suitable comparison. The meaning of the 
 whole verse would then be, that to fit this sister for her 
 new position, a glorious change should be wrought in her 
 character, great as that in a wall like the walls around 
 Jerusalem, on which should be raised turrets of silver ; or 
 
 * In the Crystal Palace, at London, in 1851, "the Russian court 
 abounded in beautiful -works of Malachite stone, out of which many 
 gorgeous articles of furniture were wrought, whei-eof two folding-doors 
 composed of many thousand pieces, and of the estimated -worth of 
 £9,000, deserve especial mention." 
 
 The gates of the Baptistery of St. John at Florence, may show, that 
 this comparison of the spouse to a door was intended to give a very 
 strong illustration of the beauty of holiness in the soul, and of the 
 exquisite workmanship of the Holy Spirit. The first of these gates was 
 finished about the middle of the fourteenth century, after a labour of 
 twenty-two years; it contained twenty-four panels, and the bas-reliefs 
 represent the life of John the Baptist from his birth to his death. The 
 second gate, which together with the third, was made in the succeed- 
 ing century, Avas divided into twenty-eight panels representing scenes 
 and persons of the New Testament. The third gnte exhibits two parts 
 divided into ten panels containing bas-reliefs taken from the Old Testa- 
 ment. Varchi calls this gate a marvellous work, and perhaps unique 
 in all the world; D'Agincourt considers it one of the most precious 
 monuments of modern art: and Michael Angelo judged it worthy to be 
 "the gate of Paradise." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 10. 443 
 
 as that in an ordinary door, which should be so overlaid 
 -with cedar, and finished, as to be beautiful as the doors 
 made by Solomon for the temple. Her nature should be 
 adorned with ornaments, giving more beauty and strength 
 than turrets of silver, or a richly carved door of the most 
 elegant cedar. 
 
 Believers shall be made pillars in the temple of God, 
 Rev. iii. 12; here, such are compared to towers of 
 silver built on a wall of white marble, and to the richly 
 wrought door of the temple, of carved cedar and olive 
 adorned with gold. The Holy Spirit, at work on the soul 
 in sanctification, is developing graces of holiness, which 
 are rising over the heart, like towers of silver on the holy 
 city's walls. The spouse is said to be beautiful as Tirzah, 
 elegant as Jerusalem: these were lovely, indeed, when 
 the morning sun fell on their towers, even though of 
 white marble; how much more so would they have been, 
 had those towers been of silver. Who, then, can tell 
 what will be the glory of the soul, when beautiful as 
 these imperial cities with walls and towers of marble, it 
 shall have the virtues developed by sanctification, rising 
 there purer than turrets of silver, lighted up by the 
 splendour of heaven, and over it shall be spread the holi- 
 ness which is the carved work of the Holy Spirit, richer, 
 more elegant, than the carving of cherubim and palm- 
 trees, and open flowers on the olive, and cedar, and gold 
 of the doors of the temple. 
 
 Ver. 10. — I am a- wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in bis 
 eyes as one that found favour. 
 
 The meaning of this verse is, that the change promised 
 by the beloved to the younger sister, had already been 
 wrought in the condition of the spouse: and the con- 
 sciousness of this furnished her with grounds for indulging 
 the assurance of continuing to enjoy his favour. In the 
 
444 COMMEXTA II Y. 
 
 eighth, ninth, and tenth verses, these four considerations 
 are distinctly stated: 1. Those truly actuated by the love 
 of Christ, show an interest, by effort and prayer to Jesus, 
 for the souls of the impenitent, ver. 8 ; 2. Two grounds of 
 encouragement are then noticed — the promise of God to 
 work the necessary change in the unrenewed; and 3. Our 
 experience of his gracious power in having wrought such 
 change in ourselves, ver. 9, 10; 4. Then, by reference to 
 our own state, finding that God has shown favour to us, 
 we are encouraged to pray and labour for the salvation of 
 others. There can be no stronger ground of encourage- 
 ment than the declaration of God, yet our faith may 
 receive confirmation by seeing that word fulfilled. This 
 confirmation becomes the strongest possible, when that 
 confirmation takes place, not only under our eye, but in 
 the very experience of our heart. We should consider 
 effort for the salvation of souls a hopeless thing, wore 
 it not for the two considerations here presented — the 
 promise of God, and the experience of his regenerating 
 and sanctifying power in our own sinful hearts. 
 
 Yer. 11, 12. — Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon: he let out the 
 vineyard unto keepers: every one for the fruit thereof was to bring 
 a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which is mine, is before 
 me : thou, Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep 
 the fruit thereof two hundred. 
 
 There have been many conjectures concerning the 
 locality of Baal-hamon. Some have supposed it situated 
 near Baalbec; others, probably with more reason, in 
 Palestine, at no great distance from Jerusalem. A 
 knowledge of its exact situation is perfectly immaterial, 
 and can throw no light on the truth here embodied in the 
 allegory. These pieces of silver were doubtless shekel.-, 
 each in value about fifty-six cents of our money. It 
 seems probable that the vineyard consisted of a thousand 
 vines, each required to afford a shekel to the owner; for 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 11, 12. 445 
 
 we see that Solomon receive*! a thousand shekels from 
 this vineyard, aud we learn from Isa. vii. 23, that a 
 thousand silverlings, or shekels, was the profit of a thou- 
 sand vines. The vines of Johannisherg are valued at a 
 ducat — about an American dollar — each, according to 
 Michaelis, who thinks that, with allowance for the change 
 in the value of money, this price was high even for a 
 valuable vineyard. The whole income of this vineyard 
 would then have been worth between five and six hundred 
 dollars to Solomon. "While those who were tenants were 
 obliged to pay this rent, the spouse speaks of a vineyard 
 which was her own, but which she would nevertheless - 
 keep under her own control and manage, as to be able, 
 while paying the keepers equitable wages, to offer yearly 
 to the king a thousand pieces of silver as a testimonial of 
 her love. 
 
 Viewed in connection with the parable of the labourers 
 in the vineyard, Matt. xx. 1, and xxi. 33, these verses 
 illustrate the truth, that we are all the stewards of God, 
 and that all our property, intellectual endowments, and 
 influence, are things intrnsted to us by God, who will 
 require of us an account of our stewardship; they further- 
 more show that were we, like the spouse in reference to 
 her vineyard, under no requirement or command to give 
 to Jesus, yet would we, under the impulse of this love, 
 give him of our possessions everything that could be 
 spared from the necessary demands made on us bv justice 
 to others. The spirit of Jesus, our example, is a spirit 
 of liberality.* In 2 Cor. viii. 9, the word grace means 
 
 * •• An improper use must be called an abuse. Were ire pilgrims in 
 a distant land, unable to live happily save in our native country, bein<* 
 miserable in our wanderings, and desiring to end our -wretchedness, did 
 we wish to return to our country, we should be obliged to use convey- 
 ances by land ot by sea, for reaching and enjoying our homo: bat did 
 
446 C M M E N T A R Y. 
 
 liberality ; " Ye know the liberality of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he 
 became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 
 There is an error among men concerning the nature of 
 the title by which they hold their property. When any 
 man has such claim on a property as to remove at will, 
 under the just sanction of the law, one tenant after 
 another, and place others in their stead, we consider him 
 the legal owner, whatever the ejected tenants may think 
 of their claims; and we feel that the law would not justify 
 him in doing so, unless the possessions were righteously 
 his. Now, God is daily giving us proof of this very kind, 
 that all we have and hold belongs not to ourselves, but to 
 him. At will, he makes one rich and another poor; 
 causes riches to take wings and flee awry; removes men 
 from their possessions by death, and causes their wealth 
 to pass into the hands of others; nor does any person 
 think of questioning the justice of these proceedings, or 
 his right to dispose of us at his will. Everything we 
 have, belonging thus to him, and being held in trust, we 
 cannot repress a liberal spirit and refuse contributions to 
 his cause, without committing a breach of trust and incur- 
 ring a responsibility fearful to be met in the judgment.* 
 
 the pleasures of the journey and the conveyance of the vehicles delight 
 us so that we might fall into the enjoyment of what we ought only to 
 use, we would grow unwilling to hasten the journey, and becoming in- 
 volved with those dangerous comforts, would grow alienated from the 
 land whose pleasures could make us blest: thus, in this mortal life, 
 aliens from the Lord, would we return to heaven, our home where we 
 may be truly blest, we must use this world, not enjoy it; that the in- 
 visible things of God may be seen, being understood by those things 
 which have been made, that is, that we may understand eternal ami spi- 
 ritual things by things sensible and temporal." — Augustin. /)e Doct. 
 Christ., book i. 4. 
 
 • " Be charitable before wealth make thee covetous, and lose not the 
 glory of the mite. If riches increase, U-t thy mind hold pace with them ; 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 11, l± 447 
 
 But were there no divine command, and no obligation 
 thus resting upon us, love would seek to pour its riches, 
 its all, at the feet of Jesus, and feel such consecration the 
 highest privilege. With such a spirit, the richest bless- 
 ings are connected. " Honour the Lord with thy sub- 
 stance, and with the first fruit of all thine increase ; so 
 shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses 
 shall burst out with new wine." Prov. iii. 9. "For this 
 thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, 
 and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto." Deut. 
 xv. 10. "He that soweth bountifully shall reap also 
 bountifully." 2 Cor. ix. 6. On whom is the blessing pro- 
 
 aud thiuk it not enough to be liberal, but munificent. Diffuse thy bene- 
 ficence early, and while thy treasures call thee master. Give not only 
 unto seven, but also unto eight— that is, unto more than many. Though 
 to give unto every one that asketh may seem severe advice, yet give 
 thou also before asking; that is, where want is silently clamorous, and 
 men's necessities, not their tongues, do loudly call for thy mercies. For 
 though sometimes necessitousness be dumb, or misery speak not out, 
 yet true charity is sagacious; and will find out hints for beneficence. 
 Acquaint thyself with the physiognomy of want, and let the dead 
 colours and first lines of necessity suffice to tell thee there is an object 
 for thy bounty. Spare not where thou canst not easily be prodigal, and 
 fear not to be undone by mercy ; for since he who hath pity on the poor 
 lendeth imto the Almighty Rewarder, who observes no ides but every 
 clay for his payments, charity becomes pious usury, Christian liberality 
 the most thriving industry; and what we adventure in a cock-boat may 
 return in a carrack unto us. He who thus casts his bread upon the 
 water shall surely find it again; for though it falletk to the bottom, it 
 sinks but like the axe of the prophet, to rise again unto him. If ava- 
 rice be thy vice, yet make it not thy punishment. A slave unto mam- 
 mon makes no servant unto God. Covetousness cracks the sinews of 
 faith, numbs the apprehension of anything above sense, and, only affect- 
 ed with the certainty of things present, makes a peradventure of things 
 to come; lives but unto one world, nor hopes but fears another; makes 
 their own death sweet unto others, bitter unto themselves; brings for- 
 mal sadness, scenical mourning, and no wet eyes at the grave." — Sir 
 Thomas Broum's Works, vol. iii. 90. 
 
448 COMMENTARY. 
 
 nounced by the Judge in the last day, " Come, ye blessed 
 of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
 the foundation of the world"? On those who fed the 
 hungry, who gave drink to the thirsty, who sheltered the 
 stranger, who clothed the naked, who visited the sick, 
 who sought out the prisoner. While the Magdalen may 
 then rejoice in having followed him from Galilee to Cal- 
 vary, to minister unto him; and Mary in having broken 
 the box of alabaster at the feet of Jesus ; and Joseph of 
 Arimathea in having given to the outcast corpse of him 
 who through life had not where to lay his head, a peace- 
 ful resting place in his own new tomb ; we may equally 
 rejoice, as he says, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
 one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
 unto me." 
 
 Ver. 13. — Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken 
 to thy voice : cause me to hear it. 
 
 The Hebrew puts it beyond doubt that these words are 
 addressed to the spouse, as we suppose by the beloved. 
 " Our first parents had for their residence a beautiful 
 garden, which may have had some influence upon their 
 immediate descendants, in giving them a predilection 
 for such situations. People in England will scarcely be 
 able to appreciate the value which the orientals place on a 
 garden. The food of many of them consists of vegetables, 
 roots, and fruits; their medicines, also, being indigenous, 
 are most of them produced in their gardens. Here they 
 have their fine fruit-trees, and the constant shade; and 
 here they have their wells and places for bathing. See 
 the proprietor, in his undress, walking around his little 
 domain ; his fence or wall is so high no one can overlook 
 him : he strolls about to smoke his shroot, to pick up the 
 fruit, and cull the flowers ; he cares not for the world ; 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 13. 449 
 
 his soul is satisfied with the scenes around him."* See 
 notes on chap. i. 16. Before the fall, "the Lord God 
 took the man and put him in the garden of Eden, to dress 
 it and keep it." Gen. ii. 15. The Church is now his 
 spiritual Eden ; and the saint is placed in this spiritual 
 garden, to enjoy it and feed on its healing fruits, but not, 
 therefore, to lead an idle life. It is his privilege to enjoy 
 it ; his duty, to be engaged in dressing and keeping it. 
 Then do we find the presence of our Lord pleasant to us, 
 and him ready to receive us into communion with himself. 
 Those actuated by the love of Christ feel an interest for 
 the impenitent, and show liberality in the cause of our 
 Lord ; and those thus acting are encouraged by Jesus to 
 prayer. The words "vineyard" and "garden" were often 
 used interchangeably by the JeAvs ; the expression, " thou 
 that dwellest in the gardens," is probably applied to the 
 spouse in consequence of her care of the vineyard men- 
 tioned in the foregoing verse ; and hence this faithfulness 
 on her part is connected with delight and readiness on 
 the part of the beloved to hear her voice in praise and 
 prayer. Those animated by this love, while showing its 
 genuineness by effort and liberality in the cause of Christ, 
 have a lowly opinion of themselves, and need encourage- 
 ment to come to their Lord. And how sweetly does the 
 beloved address this language to the heart. See notes on 
 chap. ii. 14. Not only has he given us exceedingly great 
 and precious promises ; he sends his Holy Spirit into our 
 hearts for constraining us sweetly to the mercy-seat. And 
 in times of trouble, when we feel the insufficiency of the 
 world, and are driven to the necessity of going to the 
 throne of grace, he is but using such dispensations for 
 saying unto us, "Let me hear thy voice." To him no 
 less pleasing is the voice of praise. And that we may 
 
 * Roberts. 
 
450 COMMENTARY. 
 
 never fear he will grow weary with us, he addresses to us 
 these cheering words. 
 
 Ver. 14. — Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a 
 young hart upon the mountains of spices. 
 
 See notes, chap. ii. 17. The Song concludes with the 
 same sentiment expressed in different words, and repeated 
 with emphasis, in Rev. xxii. 7, 12, 20. " Behold, I come 
 quickly:" and "Surely I come quickly." These words 
 are properly the answer to the desire of the spouse in the 
 text, sent by the beloved from his dwelling-place on the 
 mountain of myrrh and hill of frankincense, where he 
 abides till the day breaks and the shadows flee away. 
 Thus encouraged to dwell at the mercy-seat, in confiden- 
 tial and constant communion with our Lord on earth, we 
 are becoming fitted for being with him in heaven ; and 
 this fitness, combined with the displays of his love before 
 mentioned, carries with it a stronger and stronger desire 
 for the enjoyment of his glory, as it shall be revealed 
 when the Lord perfects that which concerneth us, at his 
 second coming. To this, as the ultimate, absorbing desire 
 of the soul, do all these assurances of the love of Jesus 
 lead. As the book begins with a burst of desire for the 
 love of Christ, as that love can be enjoyed only by his 
 intimate friends, chap. i. 2, it ends with a prayer for the 
 hastening of the time when we shall no longer see him 
 through a glass darkly, but face to face ; when there 
 shall be nothing to interfere with the manifestation of his 
 love to us, and the expression of our love to him: this 
 desire is expressed, and its intenseness shown, by the 
 prayer that he would hasten that happy day, and come 
 with the celerity of a roe, or a young hart bounding over 
 the mountains of spices, and at every step shaking fra- 
 grance from the dewy boughs. When Jesus came forth 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 14. 4ol 
 
 from the ivory palaces, all his garments smell of myrrh, 
 aloes and cassia: how fragrant will they be when the 
 sacred perfume of his divine nature shall, at his second 
 coming, flow forth around him more boundless, more life- 
 giving* than the atmosphere which encompassed him when 
 in human form on earth. Truly his presence will be more 
 delightful than that of a gazelle through mountains of 
 spices. To the sentiments of chap. ii. 17, is added, 
 "mountains of spices," for associating with the second 
 coming of the beloved every possible idea of delight; 
 and well may he be said to come as a gazelle or fleeting 
 fawn, for his words are, "I come quickly." Rev. xxii. 20. 
 And, "As the lightning cometh out of the east, and 
 shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of 
 the Son of man be." Matt. xxiv. 27. To this promise 
 the Holy Spirit has taught us to pray, "Even so, come, 
 
 Lord Jesus." 
 
 To this period, it would be strange if the believer did 
 not look forward with the greatest interest. In regenera- 
 tion, we were betrothed to the beloved; that day is to be 
 the day of our espousals with "Him who loved us and 
 gave himself for us." Jesus himself has taught us to 
 view it as the time of our redemption, of the full, glori- 
 ous, and eternal completion of our salvation. Taught by 
 this blessed Redeemer, the Apostle was comforted in the 
 midst of his chains, by being able to say, "Our citizen- 
 ship is in heaven : from whence also we look for the Sa- 
 viour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile 
 body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious 
 body." Phil. iii. 20. Were Sir John Franklin, with his 
 companions, yet living, and aware of the efforts made for 
 his deliverance, with what earnestness would he long for 
 the appearance of those sent to rescue him from the deso- 
 
4o2 COMMENTARY. 
 
 lation of the polar regions, and for the day when he 
 could see again the long lost friends awaiting him in his 
 native country : Amid the wintry desolations of the curse 
 in this world of sin, we know that Jesus our beloved has 
 gone away into heaven, to receive a kingdom unto him- 
 self, and return the second time without sin, for the sal- 
 vation of his saints ; and insensible indeed must we be to 
 his love, could we cease to anticipate that period with 
 emotions of unspeakable delight. iEschylus draws an 
 affecting picture of the sad consequences of war, when 
 speaking of the siege of Troy, he says, Mars sends back 
 to friends at home from the so-called field of glory, sad 
 relics burned in the funeral fire, wept with bitter tears, 
 urns filled with ashes, all that remains of what was once 
 men in the vigour of youth.* But when 
 
 "The clay shall come, the great avenging day 
 When sin's proud glories in the dust shall lay 
 And Satan's power and Satan's self shall fall, 
 And one eternal ruin swallow all ;"f 
 
 and the Captain of our salvation, the King "crowned 
 with many crowns," shall come for our final deliverance, 
 he will bring to us — what ? — the sad relics of mortality, 
 gathered from the tomb where they had been so long 
 mouldering, formed by his creative power into a body 
 flushed with perennial youth, like the glorious body of 
 him who is glorified with the glory he had with the Father 
 before the foundation of the world. To that period of 
 deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the lib- 
 erty of the glory of the sons of God, of release from our 
 warfare with sin, the period that puts an end to the sepa- 
 ration from him whom our soul loveth — we may well look 
 
 * Agamemnon of flSschylus, 402. f Se<' Iliad, It. 164. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 14. 453 
 
 forward with earnest longings; and as much as the glory 
 of that unending day, and the splendour of that resurrec- 
 tion morning, surpass the brightness of any day on earth, 
 so much more earnestly " our soul waiteth for the Lord 
 than they that watch for the morning ; I say, more than 
 they that watch for the morning." Ps. exxx. G. 
 
 Animated by these cheering assurances given us by 
 Jesus, the Creator of all things, the soul contemplates the 
 world and the heavens, under the light of the great 
 deductions of modern philosophy, and sees amid these 
 ruins, traces of magnificence and grandeur big with the 
 promise of future glory. "If the man of clay has been 
 honoured with such magnificent apartments, and fed at 
 such a luxurious table, may not his undying and reason- 
 ing soul count upon a spiritual palace, and sigh for that 
 intellectual repast at which the Master of the feast is to 
 disclose his secrets. In its rapid and continued expan- 
 sion, the mind, conscious of its capacity for a higher 
 sphere, feels, even now, that it is advancing to a goal 
 more distant and more cheering than the tomb. Its 
 energies increase and multiply under the encumbrances 
 of age ; and even when man's heart is turning into bone, 
 and his joints into marble, his mind can soar to its 
 highest flight, and seize with its firmest grasp. Nor do 
 the aifections plead less eloquently for a future home. 
 Age is their season of warm and genial emotion. The 
 objects long and fondly clasped to our bosom have been 
 removed by Him who gives, and who takes what he 
 gives; and lingering in the valley of bleeding and of 
 broken hearts, we yearn for that break of day which is 
 to usher in the eternal morn — for that home in the 
 house of many mansions which is already prepared for 
 us — for the promised welcome to the threshold of the 
 39 
 
454 COMMENTARY. 
 
 blest, where we shall meet again the loved and the lost, 
 and devote the eternity of our being to the service of 
 its Almighty Author."* 
 
 " He which testificth these things, saith, Surely I come 
 quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." "Make 
 haste, my Beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a 
 young hart, upon the mountains of spices." 
 
 * North British Review, No. 11, art. 8. "The Revelations of As- 
 tronomy." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 DEMCO 38-?97