Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 1:1
The song of songs, which [is] Solomon’s.
Chap. Son 1:1
1. The song of songs, which is Solomon’s ] For the superscription, which probably comes from a later hand than that of the author, see Introduction, 1, p. ix.
Chap. Son 1:2-8. In the King’s Household
The first scene from the life of the heroine called the Shulammite is contained in these verses. She has been brought by the king’s command into his chambers ( Son 1:4). The scene is consequently in some royal residence, probably at Jerusalem, and we have present, the Shulammite, the Jerusalem ladies of the court, and perhaps also Solomon. The ladies of the court sing the praises of the king as the object of their love, and seek to rouse the Shulammite also to admiration of him (2, 3, 4 b). She, rapt in dreams of her absent lover, pays no heed at first, but murmurs a wish that he might come and rescue her (4 a). Then, becoming conscious of her surroundings, she turns to address the ladies of the court (5, 6). Again she falls to musing, and asks her shepherd lover where he may be found (7). The ladies answer ironically (8).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Song of songs, i. e., the best or most excellent of songs.
Which is Solomons – literally, to or for Solomon, i. e., belonging to Solomon as its author or concerning him as its subject. In a title or inscription, the former interpretation is to be preferred.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Son 1:1
The Song of Songs, which is Solomons.
The Song of Solomon
The Song of Songs is Solomons, as composed by the wisest of men, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and Solomons also as composed concerning the true Solomon the Prince of Peace, of whom the son of David was an eminent type. It belongs to the earthly Solomon, as the skilful work of his hands; to the heavenly Solomon, as the utterance of his heart to the Church, and of the heart of the Church towards him. (A. Moody Stuart.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE SONG OF SOLOMON
-Year from the Creation of the World, according to Archbishop Usher, 2990.
-Year from the Flood of Noah, according to the common Hebrew text, 1334.
-Year before the birth of Christ, 1010. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 1014.
CHAPTER I
The bride’s love to her spouse, 1-5.
She confesses her unworthiness; desires to be directed to the
flock, 6, 7;
and she is directed to the shepherds’ tents, 8.
The bridegroom describes his bride, and shows how he will
provide for her, and how comfortably they are accommodated,
9-17.
NOTES ON CHAP. I
Verse 1. The song of songs] A song of peculiar excellence. See the Introduction. The rabbins consider this superior to all songs. TEN songs, says the Targum, have been sung; but this excels them all.
1. The first was sung by Adam when his sin was pardoned.
2. The second was sung by Moses and the Israelites at the Red Sea.
3. The third was sung by the Israelites when they drank of the rock in the wilderness.
4. The fourth was sung by Moses when summoned to depart from this world.
5. The fifth was sung by Joshua when the sun and moon stood still.
6. The sixth was sung by Deborah and Barak after the defeat of Sisera.
7. The seventh was sung by Hannah when the Lord promised her a son.
8. The eighth was sung by David for all the mercies given him by God.
9. The ninth is the present, sung in the spirit of prophecy by Solomon.
10. The tenth is that which shall be sung by the children of Israel when restored from their captivities. See the Targum.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The song of songs; the most excellent of all songs, whether composed by profane or sacred authors, by Solomon or by any other. So this Hebrew phrase is understood in other cases, as the holy of holies signifies the most holy; and the highest King is called King of kings; and there are multitudes of such instances, as hath been oft observed. And so this might well be called, whether you consider the author of it, who was a great prince, and the wisest of all mortal men, the two Adams only excepted; or the subject of it, which is not Solomon, but a greater than Solomon, even Christ, and his marriage with the church, as hath been noted; or the matter of it, which is most lofty and mysterious, containing in it the greatest and noblest of all the mysteries contained either in the Old or the New Testament; most pious and pathetical, breathing forth the hottest flames of love between Christ and his people; most sweet, and comfortable, and useful to all that read it with serious and Christian eyes. Nor is it the worse because profane and wanton wits abuse it, and endeavour to fasten their absurd and filthy senses upon some passages in it. The truth is, this book requires a sober and pious, not a lascivious and foolish readier; for which reason some of the ancient Hebrews advised young men to forbear the reading of it, till they were thirty years old.
Which is Solomon’s; which was composed by Solomon; but whether before his fall, or after his repentance, is not easy to determine, nor necessity to be known.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. The song of songsThe mostexcellent of all songs, Hebrew idiom (Exo 29:37;Deu 10:14). A foretaste on earthof the “new song” to be sung in glory (Rev 5:9;Rev 14:3; Rev 15:2-4).
Solomon’s“King ofIsrael,” or “Jerusalem,” is not added, as in theopening of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, not because Solomon had not yetascended the throne [MOODYSTUART], but because hispersonality is hid under that of Christ, the true Solomon (equivalentto Prince of Peace). The earthly Solomon is not introduced,which would break the consistency of the allegory. Though the bridebears the chief part, the Song throughout is not hers, but that ofher “Solomon.” He animates her. He and she, the Head andthe members, form but one Christ [ADELAIDENEWTON]. Aaron prefiguredHim as priest; Moses, as prophet; David, as a suffering king;Solomon, as the triumphant prince of peace. The camp in thewilderness represents the Church in the world; the peaceful reign ofSolomon, after all enemies had been subdued, represents the Church inheaven, of which joy the Song gives a foretaste.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Song of songs, which [is] Solomon’s. Wrote by Solomon, king of Israel, as the “amanuensis” of the Holy Ghost; and not by Hezekiah and his men, as the Jews say k: or, “concerning Solomon” l; Christ, of whom Solomon was a type; see So 3:7; of his person, excellencies, love to his church, care of her, and concern for her; and of the nearness and communion he admitted her to, and indulged her with the Jews have a saying m, that wherever the word Solomon is used in this song, the Holy One is meant, the holy God, or Messiah: it is called “the Song of songs”, because the most excellent, as the Holy of holies, King of kings, c. which, with the Hebrews, express a superlative this being more excellent than the one hundred and five songs, written by Solomon, or than any human composure whatever; yea, preferable to all Scriptural songs, as to subject, manner of style, and copiousness of it.
k T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. l “de Solomone”, Cocceius. m Maimon. Yesode Hatorah, c. 6. s. 12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The title of the book at once denotes that it is a connected whole, and is the work of one author. – Son 1:1. The Song of Songs, composed by Solomon. The genitival connection, “Song of Songs,” cannot here signify the Song consisting of a number of songs, any more than calling the Bible “The Book of books” leads us to think of the 24 + 27 canonical books of which it consists. Nor can it mean “one of Solomon’s songs;” the title, as it here stands, would then be the paraphrase of , chosen for the purpose of avoiding the redoubled genitives; but “one of the songs” must rather have been expressed by . It has already been rightly explained in the Midrash:
(Note: Vid., Frst’s Der Kanon des A. T. (1868), p. 86.)
“the most praiseworthy, most excellent, most highly-treasured among the songs.” The connection is superl. according to the sense (cf. of Sophocles), and signifies that song which, as such, surpasses the songs one and all of them; as “servant of servants,” Gen 9:25, denotes a servant who is such more than all servants together. The plur. of the second word is for this superl. sense indispensable ( vid., Dietrich’s Abhand. zur hebr. Gramm. p. 12), but the article is not necessary: it is regularly wanting where the complex idea takes the place of the predicate, Gen 9:25; Exo 29:37, or of the inner member of a genitival connection of words, Jer 3:19; but it is also wanting in other places, as Eze 16:7 and Ecc 1:2; Ecc 12:8, where the indeterminate plur. denotes not totality, but an unlimited number; here it was necessary, because a definite Song – that, namely, lying before us – must be designated as the paragon of songs. The relative clause, “ asher lishlomo ,” does not refer to the single word “Songs” (Gr. Venet. ), as it would if the expression were , but to the whole idea of “the Song of Songs.” A relative clause of similar formation and reference occurs at 1Ki 4:2: “These are the princes, asher lo , which belonged to him (Solomon).” They who deny the Solomonic authorship usually explain: The Song of Songs which concerns or refers to Solomon, and point in favour of this interpretation to lxx B. ., which, however, is only a latent genit., for which lxx A. . Lamed may indeed introduce the reference of a writing, as at Jer 23:9; but if the writing is more closely designated as a “Song,” “Psalm,” and the like, then Lamed with the name of a person foll. is always the Lamed auctoris; in this case the idea of reference to, as e.g., at Isa 1:1, cf. 1Ki 5:13, is unequivocally expressed by . We shall find that the dramatized history which we have here, or as we might also say, the fable of the melodrama and its dress, altogether correspond with the traits of character, the favourite turns, the sphere of vision, and the otherwise well-known style of authorship peculiar to Solomon. We may even suppose that the superscription was written by the author, and thus by Solomon himself. For in the superscription of the Proverbs he is surnamed “son of David, king of Israel,” and similarly in Ecclesiastes. But he who entitles him merely “Solomon” is most probably himself. On the other hand, that the title is by the author himself, is not favoured by the fact that instead of the , everywhere else used in the book, the fuller form asher is employed. There is the same reason for this as for the fact that Jeremiah in his prophecies always uses asher, but in the Lamentations interchanges with asher. This original demonstrative is old-Canaanitish, as the Phoenician , arrested half-way toward the form asher, shows.
(Note: From this it is supposed that asher is a pronom. root-cluster equivalent to . Fleischer, on the contrary, sees in asher an original substantive athar = (Arab.) ithr , Assyr. asar , track, place, as when the vulgar expression is used, “The man where ( wo instead of welcher) has said.”)
In the Book of Kings it appears as a North Palest. provincialism, to the prose of the pre-exilian literature it is otherwise foreign;
(Note: We do not take into view here Gen 6:3. If is then to be read, then there is in it the pronominal , as in the old proper name Mishael (who is what God is?).)
but the pre-exilian shir and kinah (cf. also Job 19:29) make use of it as an ornament. In the post-exilian literature it occurs in poetry (Psa 122:3, etc.) and in prose (1Ch 5:20; 1Ch 27:27); in Ecclesiastes it is already a component part of the rabbinism in full growth. In a pre-exilian book-title in place of asher is thus not to be expected. On the other hand, in the Song itself it is no sign of a post-exilian composition, as Grtz supposes. The history of the language and literature refutes this.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Title of the Book. | |
1 The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
We have here the title of this book, showing, 1. The nature of it; it is a song, that it might the better answer the intention, which is to stir up the affections and to heat them, which poetry will be very instrumental to do. The subject is pleasing, and therefore fit to be treated of in a song, in singing which we may make melody with our hearts unto the Lord. It is evangelical; and gospel-times should be times of joy, for gospel-grace puts a new song into our mouths, Ps. xcviii. 1. 2. The dignity of it; it is the song of songs, a most excellent song, not only above any human composition, or above all other songs which Solomon penned, but even above any other of the scripture-songs, as having more of Christ in it. 3. The penman of it; it is Solomon’s. It is not the song of fools, as many of the songs of love are, but the song of the wisest of men; nor can any man give a better proof of his wisdom than to celebrate the love of God to mankind and to excite his own love to God and that of others with it. Solomon’s songs were a thousand and five (1 Kings iv. 32); those that were of other subjects are lost, but this of seraphic love remains, and will to the end of time. Solomon, like his father, was addicted to poetry, and, which way soever a man’s genius lies, he should endeavor to honour God and edify the church with it. One of Solomon’s names was Jedidiah—beloved of the Lord (2 Sam. xii. 25); and none so fit to write of the Lord’s love as he that had himself so great an interest in it; none of all the apostles wrote so much of love as he that was himself the beloved disciple and lay in Christ’s bosom. Solomon, as a king, had great affairs to mind and manage, which took up much of his thoughts and time, yet he found heart and leisure for this and other religious exercises. Men of business ought to be devout men, and not to think that business will excuse them from that which is every man’s great business–to keep up communion with God. It is not certain when Solomon penned this sacred song. Some think that he penned it after he recovered himself by the grace of God from his backslidings, as a further proof of his repentance, and as if by doing good to many with this song he would atone for the hurt he had perhaps done with loose, vain, amorous songs, when he loved many strange wives; now he turned his wit the right way. It is more probable that he penned it in the beginning of his time, while he kept close to God and kept up his communion with him; and perhaps he put this song, with his father’s psalms, into the hands of the chief musician, for the service of the temple, not without a key to it, for the right understanding of it. Some think that it was penned upon occasion of his marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter, but that is uncertain; the tower of Lebanon, which is mentioned in this book (ch. vii. 4), was not built, as is supposed, till long after the marriage. We may reasonably think that when in the height of his prosperity he loved the Lord (1 Kings iii. 3) he thus served him with joyfulness and gladness of heart in the abundance of all things. It may be rendered, The song of songs, which is concerning Solomon, who as the son and successor of David, on whom the covenant of royalty was entailed, as the founder of the temple, and as one that excelled in wisdom and wealth, was a type of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and yet is a greater than Solomon; this is therefore a song concerning him. It is here fitly placed after Ecclesiastes; for when by the book we are thoroughly convinced of the vanity of the creature, and its insufficiency to satisfy us and make a happiness for us, we shall be quickened to seek for happiness in the love of Christ, and that true transcendent pleasure which is to be found only in communion with God through him. The voice in the wilderness, that was to prepare Christ’s way, cried, All flesh is grass.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON
It is the purpose of this introduction to suggest certain facts deemed helpful in understanding this unusual book which makes no mention of God and is neither quoted nor referred to elsewhere in the Bible.
AUTHOR
Verse 1:1 links Solomon to the song as either the author or the person about whom the song is written. 1Ki 4:32 credits Solomon with 1,005 songs.
THE SONG IS POETRY
In form the song is Hebrew poetry, a style of writing which utilized parallel lines to repeat or reverse thoughts expressed. It does not require, and in this instance does not list, events in chronological sequence. Later events are mentioned before some which occurred earlier. Thoughts, desires, anticipations, reminiscences and even dreams may be expressed as present happenings. Speakers change abruptly, sometimes within the same verse.
PLACES AND PERSONS
The song deals primarily with the city of Jerusalem, the oasis of En-gedi on the western shore of the Dead Sea (Son 1:14), unnamed summer resorts of Solomon, and the countryside in and around Shunem, a small town on the southwest slope of the Hill of Moreh just north of Jezreel. Shunem is about 55 miles north of Jerusalem. En-gedi is about 30 miles SE of Jerusalem via the old road through Bethlehem and Tekoa.
The only person identified by name in the song is King Solomon. The prominent female is a young woman identified as the Shulamite, or a maid of Shunem. She is referred to as “My Love” nine times (Son 1:9; Son 1:15; Son 2:2; Son 2:10; Son 2:13; Son 4:1; Son 4:7; Son 5:2; Son 6:4) by the shepherd who courts and marries her. The Shulamite speaks of or to this man as a shepherd in Son 1:7 and refers to him as “My Beloved” 27 times throughout the song. Their actual wedding is not described, but intimate scenes described here and there indicate their marriage was consummated and later publicly celebrated by guests.
Some authorities are of the opinion that Solomon is the sole principal male character in the song and is the person referred to as shepherd and as the Shulamite’s beloved. Others, because of Solomon’s involvement with many women (1Ki 3:1; 1Ki 7:8; 1Ki 11:1-11), view him as an improper competitor of the shepherd whose love for the Shulamite is honorable and above reproach. The latter is the view presented in this commentary,
The daughters of Jerusalem and the groups of watchmen are incidental characters not further identified other than repeated association of the daughters with the city of Jerusalem.
THE TEACHING OF THE SONG
The song magnifies the beauty and joy of man and woman bound together by love and total commitment to each other as the creator intended when He instituted monogamous marriage, Gen 2:24; Mat 19:5-6; Mar 10:7-9. Although it contains no mention of God and is not quoted or referred to elsewhere in the Bible, it teaches a conjugal relationship based on a standard of love and probity taught only by the Holy Scriptures. It also portrays the harmful effects of persons motivated by lust rather than love.
Both Old and New Testaments frequently use true love and marriage to illustrate the love of the Lord for and the bonds that unite Him with His people and His church, see Isa 54:5; Isa 62:5; Jer 3:14; Hos 2:19; Rom 7:4; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:25; Eph 5:32; Rev 19:7-8. Whether or not such was intended in the Song of Songs, the Song can be used to picture the enduring love of the Lord for those joined to Him by faith, also the joy of those who experience this relationship.
Song of Solomon Chapter 1
TITLE AND AUTHOR
Verse 1 provides the title, Song of Songs or best of songs, which is Solomon’s. The possessive term links Solomon to the song as author or the person about whom the song was written. 1Ki 4:32 credits Solomon with 1,005 songs.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Notes
Son. 1:1 : The Song of Songs which is Solomons. The Song of Songs, (shir hashshirim). (shir), a song or poem, as opposed to prose: but distinguished from (mizmor), a song with musical accompaniment, a psalm. EWALD, ZOCKLER in LANGE. According to some, a series. KLEUK. AUGUSTI. in its original acceptation, a string or chain; Arab poets speaking of stringing their verses as pearls. GOOD. Song of Songs, a Hebrew reduplication denoting excellency. An instance of the Hebrew superlative, like Eze. 16:7; Dan. 9:24; the finest or most beautiful of songs, the comparison however probably not with other poetry of Solomon. NOYES. Not, as GESENIUS, a song consisting of many songs. Nor, as KIMCHI and others, a song out of many Songs of Solomon. The High Song (das Hohelied). LUTHER. The excellent song. GENEVA BIBLE. Indicates emphatically the most excellent of its kind. EWALD. The noblest and sweetest song. SANCTIUS. The most excellent song, and made up many songs; or, comprehending all the songs, not only of Solomon but of the Prophets: the sum, kernel, and marrow of all sacred songs. COCCEIUS, MERCER. The most beautiful song. DE WETTE. A song consisting of many songs, or excelling other songs; indicating also the unity of its contents. DE-LITZSCH. So called either from the excellence of the composition or the subject. LOWTH. Most excellent song of all in the sacred books; in elegance of structure, fulness of mystery, and sublimity of meaning. CARPZOV. Most important, excellent and precious of songs; reference to the subject of it; to prophets and apostles, a reservoir of the treasures of Divine love existing between the Creator and His saved and sanctified creatures; the title claimed not by Solomon, but by the Holy Spirit. WEISS. Other songs celebrate the Kings victory and the deliverance wrought for His Church; this His marriage with her and His love to the Bride. THEODORET. Ten songs have been sung; but this excels them all. TARGUM. The song which is above all songs. RASHI. All the Scriptures are holy; the Song of songs, the Holy of holies. AKIBA. All the songs of Scripture are the Holy place; the Song of songs, the most holy. R. JOSHUA.
Which is Solomons ( asher li-Shelomoh). The relative probably not, as GESENIUS thinks, added here on account of the article in as ifthe songs which are Solomons. The antecedent either or ; most likely , being added as a Hebrew form of the superlative. EWALD, HITZIG, BLEEK. So the SEPTUAGINT, , which is. to or of Solomon. (Shelomo) from (shalom) peace, with the termination or , identical with , and forming the concrete from the abstract. Meaning alluded to in 1Ch. 22:2. GESENIUS. DAVIDSON fancifully suggests as the representative of he; as if, He is the peace like Mic. 5:5 and Eph. 2:14. The ALEX. SEPTUAGINT hasto, for, or of Solomon ( .). The VULGATE: Solomons. As referring to Solomon or ascribed to him. VATABLUS. Both by and concerning Solomon, i.e., Christ. COCCEIUS. Solomon as a type of Christ, both the author and the subject. AINSWORTH. Words so contrived as to mean either. PATRICK. Concerning Solomon, that is, the Messiah. MIDRASH. not used here merely to indicate the authorship: = devoted or delivered to; as Psa. 7:2; Jer. 15:2; 1Ch. 29:2. WEISS. Of Solomon as the author. MERCER, &c. As the author inspired by the Holy Ghost. CARPZOV. Belonging to Solomon, and so placed among the sacred books. ABEN EZRA. Solomon as the author: Amplifies what David his father had begun in the 45th and 68th Psalms: the Bridegroom in the song called Solomon, either from the dignity of the name (Peaceful), or as suiting the circumstances, or because Solomon was a type of Christ, which was probably known to Solomon himself. SANCTIUS. According to EWALD, the title ascribes the poem to Solomon, but was given at a later period, probably after the exile. DELITZSCH: Indicates unity of authorship. ZCKLER: Which is by Solomon. His title of King, assumed in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, here laid aside in contemplating the celestial person of whom he speaks. PATRICK. Also, lest Solomon should be thought the King here intended, the book being a Song of Loves. GILL. Concerning Solomon: hence not a book of King Solomons, but of some other inspired author. HARMER. Concerning Solomonthe true Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ; no reference being made to King Solomon in any part of the book. HAWKER. Solomon the inspired author, yet not speaking in his own person. FRY.
THE SONG OF SOLOMON
Title of the Book
CHAPTER 1. Son. 1:1
The Song of Songs, which is Solomons.
It is well, with Dr. Chalmers, to begin the study of this sacred book with the prayer: My God, spiritualize my affections; give me intense love to Christ.
Two parts in the Title of the book as here given:
1. Its name and characterthe Song of Songs.
2. Its ascriptionwhich is Solomons. The First part of the Title,
The Song of Songs,
Indicates
I. The NATURE of the Book. A Song. Hence
1. Pleasant and joyous. Song the language of joy. Indicates joy in those who sing, and aims at awakening joy in those who hear. This one of the songs in the night given by our Maker and Saviour (Job. 35:10). The Holy Spirit the author of joy, and therefore the author of songs. This book all the more attractive from its being a song. Both old and young love songs, and are attracted by them. The subject of this book of a pleasing nature, and fit to be treated in a song. Marriage a joyful event, celebrated with festivity and music. The subject of this song a Divine and heavenly union. The song a spiritual Epithalamium, or Nuptial Ode. A song of the bride-chamber (Mat. 9:15). A Gospel song, and one for Gospel times; the whole subject being the love of Jesus Christ to sinners and the salvation He brings to them. Gospel grace puts a new song in the mouth (Psa. 40:3; Psa. 98:1). The Gospel began with songs and ends with them. This book one of the spiritual songs, in which believers are to speak one to another (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). A large part of the Bible taken up with songs. The Word of God intended to be attractive. The Lords ransomed ones to return and come to Zion with songs (Isa. 35:10).
2. Profitable. A song, like poetry in general, fitted to stir and move the affections. Songs found to have the most powerful influence on the minds and morals of a people. Give me the making of the songs and ballads of a nation, and I will leave the laws to others. By the Jews the poetical parts of Scripture were especially esteemed, and often learned by heart.
II. Its EXCELLENCE. A Song of songs A Hebrew expression denoting excellence as king of kings, heaven of heavens, &c. This not only excels all human, but all Divine songs. The Jews called other Scripture songs holy, but this the holy of holies. The book worthy of this title on account of
1. Its Character at a Composition. The most beautiful example of Hebrew poetry in its highest style of metaphor and arrangement. More especially, however, on account of
2. Its Subject. The bridal relation between the Son of God and His saved people. Christs excellence and beauty, and His love to the Church as His bride. The Churchs excellence and beauty as a reflection of His, and her happiness and honour in consequence of her bridal relation to Him. This song has the Holy Ghost for its author; the union and communion between Christ and believers for its matter; and the glory of God and the comfort of His people for its end. Here are prophecy, history, and the spiritual life, divinely woven into one symbolical robe of matchless beauty. The song a many-sided mirror reflecting the Lords dealings with His Church, viewed both collectively and individually, as well in the Old Testament as in the New. Reveals mysteries of Divine love into which the angels desire to look. This book, next to the Gospels, the fullest of Christ, and therefore the sweetest to the Christian who is enlightened enough to understand it. A fountain at which prophets and apostles and the Lord Jesus Himself refreshed their spirits. Next to Davids Psalms, the favourite book of the Bible with the Fathers of the Church. Its foundation laid in the Psalms; especially in that gem of Psalms, the forty-fifth. David sung the Bridegrooms future appearing, His conflicts, his sorrows, and his triumphs: Solomon sung His alliance and fellowship with His blood-bought bride. The song a labyrinth of exquisite flowers transplanted from heaven to earth. Wafts a perfumed breath of celestial spring from paradise to this world. The song a maze of sweets, and a lovely obscurity. A heaven-given riddle in connection with the marriage of the Lamb, the true Samson; and only to be ploughed with His own heifer. Requires the mind that hath, not earthly but, heavenly wisdom. A mine of precious diamonds, demanding patient and prayerful labour and the Spirits light to explore it and discover them.
The Second part of the Title
Which is Solomons,
Ambiguous. Probably indicates
I. The AUTHOR of the Book. The literal Solomon, King of Israel and wisest of men. Best proof of wisdom, to celebrate the love of God is Christ, and to stir up ourselves and others to love Him in return. Gradation in Solomons writings: the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, or the Song. In proverbs, Solomon sings of moral virtues and their benefits; in Ecclesiastes, of the vanity of earthly things; in Canticles, of Divine love and fellowship. Canticles a striking contrast to Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes, a mournful complaint of the disappointment found in the creature; Canticles a joyous song of the infinite satisfaction found in the Creator. Ecclesiastes points to earthly pleasure, and says: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; Canticles points to God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and says: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall never thirst.Solomon, with his hands full of state affairs, yet found time for spiritual meditation and the celebration of Divine love. Worldly business, and diligence in it, no hindrance to love to Christ, and due concern for the spiritual interests of ourselves and others.
II. The SUBJECT of the Book. The spiritual Solomon, the true Prince of Peace and King of Israel,Solomons great antitype. The true Solomon and his love to the Church the great subject of the Song. Solomon exhibited in the Bible as one of the types of the Messiah. Is so
1. In his Names: Jedidiah, Beloved of the Lord: Solomon. the Peaceful.
2. In his Wisdom.
3. In his Riches and Magnificence.
4. In the wide extent of his Dominions.
5. In the peaceful character of his Reign.
6. In the prosperous and happy condition of his Kingdom.
7. In the erection of the Temple of God at Jerusalem.
Christ prefigured by Aaron as a priest; by Moses as a prophet; by David and Solomon as a King,by the one in his conquests and by the other in his peaceful enjoyment of them. Solomon not called here, as in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, the King of Israel. His personality here lost sight of in his typical character. The type overshadowed by the antitype. Christ, in one aspect or another, the central figure in all the Books of Scripture. Search the Scriptures; for they testify of Me. This said even of Old Testament Scripture. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Joh. 5:39; Rev. 19:10; Luk. 24:27). The Scriptures all testify of Jesus. The Song testifies of Him as the King and Bridegroom of His Church, stooping to win and wed poor fallen humanity for His Bride. By the Jews, the Song understood of their Divine King to be manifested in the Messiah, and the Israelitish nation as the Bride whom He was pleased to espouse to Himself.
III. The DESIGN of the Book. For the true Solomon.
1. For his Glory. The glory of Christ, and of God in Him, the end of all Scripture as of all creation (Col. 1:16). Especially true of this portion of it, so full of Himself, of His excellencies, His joys, and His love.
2. For hit Use. All Old Testament intended for his use as the perfect man (Psa. 1:1-3; 2Ti. 3:15-16). Probably this portion of it especially, which speaks most about him. Reason to believe that the Psalms of David and the Song of Solomon formed the principal devotional books of our Lord (Davidson). As a child, Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature. In both respects, doubtless, through ordinary means. The sincere milk of the Word his daily food. What was designed for the Head, designed also for the members. What was used by the man Christ Jesus as His spiritual aliment and refreshment, to be used also by ourselves for ours. The Rabbinical rule that this Book was only to be read by those who had reached their thirtieth year, a mere human invention,like others, rejected by Christ and to be rejected by us. 2Ti. 3:15-16, and Rom. 15:4 clean against any such limitation. This Book, like the rest of Scripture, to be read with seriousness and expounded with discretion; but no argument against reading and preaching from it in the fact that evil men may abuse it. Ignorant men wrest also other Scriptures to their own destruction. To the pure all things are pure. The holiest and most spiritually-minded have naturally delighted most in this Book, in which they find most of their Beloved and their Friend. Witness Bernard of Clairvoix, Samuel Rutherford, and Robert McCheyne. In Scotlands best times, the song of Solomon the chosen field of meditation at Sacramental seasons.
Two things needful for the profitable reading of this remarkable book:
(1) A Christian experience. The song a mirror of the believers heart. Only taught by a Divine anointing, and only learned by a spiritual experience (Bernard). Only to be properly understood by our becoming part of the Bride whose experience it portrays.
(2) A loving heart. Like the forty-fifth Psalm, which it greatly resembles, the Song of Solomon a Song of loves (Psalms 45 title). The mystery of the song a mystery of love. Words of earthly love employed to elevate the soul to a heavenly one. A song of loves requires a loving heart to understand, realize, and appreciate it. Loves language a foreign tongue to one who does not love. Hence the song of Solomon pre-eminently a test for the state of the heart.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE SONG OF SONGS TITLE Son. 1:1
TEXT 1:1
1
The Song of songs, which is Solomons.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1:1
1.
Do you imagine Solomon wrote this song right after he wrote Ecclesiastes? Discuss.
2.
Is this song from Solomon or about him?
3.
Why call this the best of all his many songs?
PARAPHRASE 1:1
1
The Song of SongsSolomons.
COMMENT 1:1
This is a form of expressing the superlative. Like holy of holies or Lord of Lords or King of Kings. Of the many songs that Solomon wrote (one thousand and five, 1Ki. 4:32) this is the best. We are eager to learn of its superlative value.
FACT QUESTIONS 1:1
1.
In what area would you call this the best of all songs? i.e., as compared with what?
2.
Was this song to be sung to music?
3.
In what sense is it a poem?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Son. 1:1 contains the title of the book: literally, A song of the songs (Heb., Shr hashrm), which to Solomon, i.e., of which Solomon is author. This has been understood as meaning one of Solomons songs, with allusion to the 1,005 songs (1Ki. 4:32) which that monarch composed. But when in Hebrew a compound idea is to be expressed definitely, the article is prefixed to the word in the genitive. So here not merely a song of songs (comp. holy of holies), i.e., a very excellent song, but The song of songs, i.e., the most excellent or surpassing song. For the question of authorship and date of poem, see Excursus I.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Song of songs The title is discussed in the Introduction.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.’
The ‘song of songs’ means ‘the most wonderful of songs’. It is attributed to Solomon, and opens with a young woman alone, who is aware that she is loved by her shepherd king, and is dreaming of him as her royal ‘beloved’. She is visualizing his delights, and the delights of love, and she assures him in her mind that, in a similar way to all the young women in his kingdom, she desires nothing more than for him to call her to him.
We have to read into her situation what has previously occurred, which must have been something like this. Living in the countryside in the northern part of Palestine, she had been out wandering through her favorite haunts, when one day she came across a handsome young shepherd. There was an immediate attraction between them, but it was some time before he informed her that he was in fact Solomon, the young king of Israel, taking time off from his kingly duties by spending time with some of those who watched over his flocks. Before they separated (or later by messenger) he invited her to a feast that he was holding in his tent. It was with that feast in mind, and the thought of meeting her beloved again, that she was engaging in her initial day dreams. But she would ever think of Solomon in terms of ‘her shepherd’, and thus it would be some time before she would appreciate his splendor in full.
Soon, after a brief and chaste courtship which is not without incident, they will be married and will together experience the joys of love, after which there are the ups and downs of marriage before they settle down to a more stable relationship of blissful love and happiness. It is thus a song in praise of purity, chasteness, love and marriage.
So we are probably to see the song as referring to a Solomon, who is looking back romantically and rather idealistically to the time when, as a young and virile man, he first experienced true love, and that to the one who was to be his first wife, a young country maiden from the north who had won his heart. But it is probable that we should also see it as referring to God’s loving relationship with His people, and, as a result, to Christ’s relationship to His church. We must not, however, interpret everything too pedantically, for we must remember that it is an ode, and that it is written by a romantic.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Son 1:1 The Title The opening verse of the Song of Solomon serves as its title, which is “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.”
Son 1:1 The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
Son 1:1
Comments – The opening verse of Songs gives us a Hebrew idiom denoting the grandest superiority of this song. We call the phrase “the song of songs” a superlative expression in English grammar, which means that a phrase expresses the highest or lowest degree of the quality, manner, etc. We find other similar Hebrew idioms in the Old Testament; the phrase “holy of holies” (Exo 29:39), meaning “the most holy place,” and the phrase “heaven of heavens” (Deu 10:14), meaning “the highest of the heavens” (1Ki 8:27), “vanity of vanities” (Ecc 1:2) and “an ornament of ornaments” (Eze 16:7), meaning “the most beautiful ornament.” We have the phrases “King of kings” and “Lord of lords” throughout the Scriptures to compare as well. Thus, we can read the phrase “the song of songs” in Son 1:1 as “the most excellent of songs.”
We know that Solomon composed one thousand and five songs (1Ki 4:32), but the Song of Songs was the most excellent of them all.
1Ki 4:32, “And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.”
Son 1:1 “which is Solomon’s” – Comments – The opening verse of Songs, which credits its authorship to Solomon, seems to quietly leave out his title as King of Jerusalem and of Israel. While the opening verses of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes clearly state this title, it is strangely missing in the Canticles. One explanation proposed by some is that Solomon could have written his Song of Songs as a young man before he became king, when he had not title. He may have written Proverbs during the course of his kingship when he was in full control of both Jerusalem and Israel, thus he declares himself as “king of Israel,” he may have written the book of Ecclesiastes during the later part of his reign, when he began to lose control of the northern kingdom of Israel, thus describing himself as “king of Jerusalem.” However, the order of writing has long been debated by both Jewish and Christian scholars.
Pro 1:1, “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;”
Ecc 1:1, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.”
Son 1:1 Comments (The Unity of the Book) – The opening verse of the Song of Solomon itself testifies to the fact that the book is one unified song and not five separate poems as some suggest. If this opening verse, which serves as a title, was added at a later date during the composition of this book as a part of the Old Testament Scriptures, then it meant the early Jews viewed it as one unified composition.
Although this book can be divided into scenes, we find evidence of unity throughout the book as we see the repetition of similar phrases. For example, the bride says, “I am sick with love” (Son 2:5; Son 5:8), and “my beloved is mine and I am his” (Son 2:16; Son 6:3), and “he whom my soul loves” (Son 1:7; Son 3:1-4), “his left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me,” (Son 2:6; Son 8:3), “I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please,” (Son 2:7; Son 3:5; Son 8:4). The phrase “daughters of Jerusalem” is also found in Son 3:5; Son 3:10; Son 5:8; Son 5:16.
Son 1:1 Figurative Interpretation “The song of songs” – John Westwood declares that “the name of Christ is indeed the Song of Songs.” [83] “which is Solomon’s” – Westwood says no one in history served as a closer type and figure of Christ Jesus than did King Solomon. [84]
[83] John Westwood, A Short Paraphrase of the Song of Solomon (London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., 1848), 1.
[84] John Westwood, A Short Paraphrase of the Song of Solomon (London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., 1848), 1.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Song of Solomon Chapter 1.
The Church’s Longing for Christ.
v. 1. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. v. 2. Let Him kiss me with the kisses, v. 3. Because of the savor of Thy good ointments, v. 4. Draw me, we will run after Thee, v. 5. I am black, v. 6. Look not upon me, because I am black, v. 7. Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, v. 8. If thou know not, v. 9. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots, v. 10. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, v. 11. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver, v. 12. While the King sitteth at His table, v. 13. A bundle of myrrh, v. 14. My Beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire, v. 15. Behold, thou art fair, my love, v. 16. Behold, Thou art fair, my Beloved, yea, pleasant, v. 17. The beams of our house are cedar,
The interpretation of this chapter, at least in its general outlines, is not difficult in the light of clear passages of the Bible. The woman Shulamith, the Church, feels the need of her Bridegroom’s love, although she realizes that she is not worthy of His caresses, wherefore she pleads for but one kiss of His mouth. Her desire restores the relation of true faith, and therefore she praises the blessings of His companionship, especially the fact that His name, He Himself breathes a savor of life unto life, which causes all the members of the Church to be inflamed with love toward the heavenly Bridegroom. At the same time, the bride is fully conscious of her own weakness, which is shared by all the members of the Church. Therefore she pleads that Christ Himself would draw her by the power of Him love, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. She realizes and confesses her own lack of righteousness, so that her appearance is indeed like that of filthy rags. Moreover, men, her own relatives in this world, hate and despise her; they inveigle her into the business of this world, so that she neglects her own vineyard, the work in the Church. That is her guilt, by reason of which she feels forsaken and desolate in herself; she cries out for the love of Christ, unworthy in herself though she is. And the mercy of Christ answers her. Rebuking her for her lack of knowledge, He nevertheless gives her the advice she needs, He admonishes her to seek true rest and food on the green pastures of the Gospel. At the same time He acknowledges her as His bride, He praises her as His pride and His might, He wants to decorate her with the riches of His merciful blessings. The Church agrees to this promise, confessing, at the same time, that the perfume of His love delighted her as long as He was with her, but that without His presence the finest jewelry had no value. This confession having restored the proper relation between Christ and the Church, especially since she praised His gifts of grace only and not her own worthiness, He now praises her beauty, her holiness and purity, while she, in turn, points out the happiness of being united with Him in true bridal love, this fact holding true of all the members of Christ’s Church, no matter in which earthly homes they may be at the present time. Every Christian congregation, according to her true essence and nature, consists of elect, saints, beloved of Christ.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Son 1:1
The song of songs, which is Solomon’s. This is certainly the title of the book which follows, although in our present Hebrew Bible it is the first verse of the book preceded by the shorter form, ‘The Song of Songs.’ The Septuagint has simply the title , So that our English title in the Authorized Version, ‘The Song of Solomon,’ has no ancient authority. It is well altered in the Revised Version to ‘The Song of Songs.’ The word “song” () does not necessarily convey the meaning. composed to be sung to music. If the performance of the words were chiefly in view, the word would have been , carmen, “lyric poem,” “hymn,” or “ode.” The Greek , and the Latin of the Vulgate, Canticum canticorum, accord with the Hebrew in representing the work as taking a high place either in the esteem of the Church or, on account of the subject, in the esteem of the writer. Luther expresses the same idea in the title he attaches to it, ‘Das Hohelied,’ that is, the chief or finest of songs. The reference may be to the excellence of the literary form, but probably that which suggested the title was the supreme beauty of the love which prompted the songs. The title may be regarded as applied to the whole book, or to the first portion of it giving the name to the whole. If it be a collection of separate songs strung together, as some think) by mere resemblance in style and subject, then the words, “which is Solomon’s” ( ) apply to the first song alone. But the unity which is clearly to be traced through the book to the end makes it probable that the title is meant to ascribe the work to the authorship of Solomon. This is the opinion of the majority of critics. It must have come either from the wise king himself, or from some one of his contemporaries or immediate successors. The preposition is the lamedh auctoris. If the meaning were “referring to,” another preposition () would have been employed. It has been remarked by Delitzsch that the absence of any description of Solomon as “King of Israel” or “son of David,” as in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, confirms the view that Solomon himself was the sole author. Some have argued against the authenticity of the title on the ground that the longer form of the relative, , is used in it, whereas in the book itself the shorter form, , is found, but no dependence, can be placed on that argument regarded by itself, for the same writer employs both forms, as e.g. Jeremiah, who uses the longer form in his prophecies and the shorter in Lamentations. The shorter form is, in fact, the elder, being Old Canaanitish or Phoenician, , which is a lengthened form of , and afterwards became . One writer, however Fleischer), holds that the relative pronoun as a substantive origin, and compares it with the Arabic ithe and the Assyrian asar, meaning “track” or “place,” like the German welcher, which comes from wo. But whether this be so or not, it is certainly unsafe to date any book by the form found in it of the, relative pronoun. We know that in poetry the abbreviated form is common. It was probably a North Palestine provincialism, as we see in the Book of Kings. It became common in prose writings after the Captivity because of the degradation of Hebrew, but it was not unknown before that time either in prose or poetry. With regard to the exact description of the poetic form of the Song of Songs, the difference among critics is considerable, but the question is scarcely worth discussing. There undoubtedly is unity of conception in the songs which are brought together, but it cannot be of importance to prove that there is dramatic unity strictly speaking; there is no dramatic procedure, nor can we suppose that there is any ultimate aim at dramatic representation. But the Exposition which follows will suffice to show that there are facts of history in the background of the poem; if the suggestions of the language and scenery be followed, the facts are very beautiful and even romanticthe love of the great king for one of his own subjects, a lovely northern maiden, whose simplicity and purity of character are a great attraction and lend much force to the religious sentiment of the song. In 1Ki 5:12 we read that “the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him.” That divinely inspired wisdom enabled him, notwithstanding his own personal errors, to idealize and sanctify the lovely episode of his lifo which lies at the foundation of his poem. And the Church of God in every age has appreciated, more or less widely, the inspiration, both of matter and of form, which breathed in it. We are told that Solomon composed one thousand and five songs (1Ki 4:32); whether this is a part of that collection or not we cannot certainly say, but that it is a mere fasciculus, or collection of separate songs, strung together by their general erotic character, is what we cannot believe. No doubt, as Dr. Mason Good has observed, the Arabian poets were accustomed to arrange their poems in what they compared to a string of pearls, but we can scarcely carry such a fact into the Bible, and deal with sacred books as mere literary remains. There must be a deep religious meaning in such language, and it is in accordance with Eastern usage that amatory songs should be so employed. What the meaning is we must persistently ask, and however much has been wrongly said in the past, while we believe in the Divine authority of the Old Testament we must not renounce the endeavour to find the Song of Songs worthy of its title and its place.
Verse 2-2:7
Part I. MUTUAL LOVE. Song of Shulamith in the royal chambers. Chorus of ladies, daughters of Jerusalem.
Son 1:2
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Whether we take these words as put in the lips of the bride herself, or of the chorus as identifying themselves with her, is of little consequence. It is certain that the idea intended to be expressed is that of delight in the approach of the royal bridegroom. The future is used optatively, “Let me be taken up into the closest fellowship and embrace.” All attempts to dispense with the amatory phraseology are vain. The “kisses” must be interpreted in a figurative sense, or the sacred character of the whole book must be removed. The words may be rendered, with one of his kisses; i.e. the sweetness of his lips is such that one kiss would be rapture. Some have thought that allusion is intended to the custom among idolaters referred to in Job 31:27, “My mouth hath kissed my hand;” but the meaning is simply that of affection. The great majority of Christian commentators have regarded the words as expressive of desire towards God. Origen said, the Church of the old dispensation longing after higher revelations, as through the Incarnation, “How long shall he send me kisses by Moses and the prophets? I desire the touch of his own lips.” It is dangerous to attempt specific applications of a metaphor. The general truth of it is all that need be admitted. If the relation between God and his people is one that can be set forth under the image of human affection, then there is no impropriety in the language of Solomon’s Song. “To kiss a kiss” ( ) is the ordinary Hebraic form (cf. “to counsel a counsel”). Thy love is better than wine. The plural is used, “loves,” as in the word “life” ()the abstract for the concrete, perhaps in order to indicate the manifestation of love in many caresses. The change from the third person to the second is common in poetry. The comparison with wine may be taken either as denoting sweetness or exhilarating effects. The intoxicating power of wine is but rarely referred to in Scripture, as the ordinary wine was distinguished from strong drink. Some, as Hitzig and Bottcher, would read , changing the pointing, and translating, “Let him give me to drink;” but there is no necessity for a reading so forced and vulgar. The Septuagint, altering the vowels of the word “love,” turn it into “breasts,” and must therefore have supposed it addressed to the bride. The word is connected with the Arabic, and runs through the languages, dodh (cf. Dada, Dido, David). Perhaps the reference to wine, as subsequently to the ointments, may be explained by the fact that the song is supposed to be sung while wine is presented in the chamber, and while the perfumes are poured out in preparation for the entrance of the royal bridegroom. We can scarcely doubt that the opening words are intended to be the utterance of loving desire on the part of the bride in the presence of the daughters of Jerusalem. Some have suggested that verses 1-8 are from a kind of responsive dialogue, but the view of the older interpreters and of Ewald, Hengstenberg, Weissbach, and others of the moderns, seems more correct, that all the first seven verses are in the mouth of Shulamith, and then verse 8 comes in naturally as a chorus in reply to the song of the bride. The use of the plural, “We will run after thee,” etc; is easily explicable. The bride is surrounded by her admiring companions and attendants. They are congratulating her on the king’s love. She speaks as from the midst of the company of ladies.
Son 1:3
Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is as ointment poured forth; therefore do the virgins love thee. There is some slight difference among critics as to the rendering of this verse, but it does not affect the meaning. Lovely and delightful thou art. As thy perfumes are so precious, so is thy name; the more it is spread, the more delight is found in it. The idea is that the person is the sweetest, and that his communications are elevating and inspiring. The “virgins” may be taken generally, “Those who are full of the sensibility of youth appreciate thy attractions.” The word almah is much disputed about, but the meaning is simply that of “young woman,” whether virgin or married. “Thou art the delight of all the young.” Mason Good renders the verse
“Rich thy perfumes; but richer far than they
The countless charms that round thy person play;
Thy name alone, more fragrant than the rose,
Glads every maid, where’er its fragrance flows.”
Son 1:4
Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will make mention of thy love more than of wine: rightly do they love thee. This is best taken as all spoken by the bride. It is the language of the purest affection and adoring admiration. “I drew them,” God says (Hos 11:4), “with cords of a man, with bands of love.” “The Lord appeared of old unto me,” says Jeremiah (Jer 31:3), “saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” In the same sense the Greek word is used by our Lord himself of the Father drawing to the Son, and of the Son, uplifted on the cross, “drawing” all men unto him (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 12:32). If the spiritual meaning of the whole poem is admitted, such language is quite natural. The king’s chambers are the king’s own rooms in the palace, i.e. his sleeping, rooms and sitting roomsthe penetralia regis. We may take the preterite as equivalent to the present; i.e. “The king is bringing me into closest fellowship with himself, not merely as a member of his household, but as his chosen bride.” The concluding words have caused much discussion. The meaning, however, is the same whether we say, “The upright love thee,” or “Thou art rightly loved.” The intention is to set forth the object of love as perfect. The plural, , is used to signify the abstract of the word, thought, or act; i.e. “righteous,” for “rightly” (cf. Psa 58:2; Psa 75:3); but the best critics think it could not be the abstract for the concrete plural, as in the Vulgate, Recti diligunt re. The same use of the word is seen in Son 7:9, “The best wine that teeth down smoothly for my beloved” (cf. Pro 23:31). Before going further in the song, it is well to observe how chaste, pure, and delicate is the language of love; and yet, as Delitzsch has pointed out, there is a mystical, cloudy brightness. We seem to be in the region of the ideal. It is not a mere love song, though it may have been the commemoration of an actual past. The Eastern form of the words may be less suited to our taste than it would be to those who first embraced Christianity, and to the nineteenth century than to the first; but the loving rapture of the Church in fellowship with the Saviour is certainly seeking a more vivid expression in song, and there are many of the most simple-minded and devoted Christians whose joy in Christ pours itself out freely in strains not much less fervid and almost as sensuous as anything to be found in Solomon’s Song. Some are beginning to remonstrate against this freedom of devotional language, but the instinct of the Church seems to justify it as the demand of the heart under the influence of the Word of God itself. Perhaps there is a state of religious feeling coming into the experience of Christians which will remove the veil from such a book as the Song of Songs, and we shall yet find that its language is needful and is not extravagant.
Son 1:5
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. The word “black” () does not necessarily mean that the skin is black, but rather sunburnt, dark brown, as in Lam 4:8, where the same word signifies the livid or swarthy appearance of one who has suffered long from famine and wretchedness. There is certainly no reason to take the word as an argument for the bride being Pharaoh’s daughter; but it points to what is confirmed by the rest of the poemthe rustic birth and northern blood of the bride. She has been living in the fields, and is browned with the ruddy health of a country life. The best explanation of the words is that they are drawn out by the fact that the bride is surrounded by her ladies. Some think that they look askance at her, or with indignation at the boldness of her words; but that is quite unnecessary, and would be inconsistent with the dignity of the bride. The country maiden feels the greatness of the honour, that she is chosen of the king, and with simple modesty, in the presence of courtly ladies around her, sets forth her claim. The simile is not uncommon in poetry, as in Theocritus and Virgil. Comely; i.e. attractive, agreeable. Kedar (whether from the Arabic, meaning “powerful,” or from the Hebrew, “black”) designates the tribes of the NorthArabian descendants of Ishmael (Gen 25:13; Isa 21:17), Kedareens, referred to by Pliny, and remaining in Arabia until the time of the Mohammedans. The Bedouin still calls his tent his “hair house;” it is covered with goat’s-hair cloth, mostly black or grey. Whether the reference is to the colour of the goat’s hair or to the tents being browned or blackened by the heat of the sun, we cannot doubt that the allusion is to the complexion, and the rest of the simile would then be applicable to the lovely shape and features of the maiden, the curtains of Solomon being the curtains of a pavilion, or pleasure tent, spread out like “a shining butterfly,” i.e. the beautiful cloth or tapestry which formed the sides of the tent or the tent coverings, the clothing of the framework, or tent hangings (see Isa 54:2; Exo 26:36; 2Sa 7:1-29.; 1Ch 17:1, etc.). Egyptian hangings were particularly prized. The custom prevailed among Eastern monarchs of sojourning once in the year in some lovely rural district, and at such times their tents would be very magnificent. The LXX. has, , “as the skins of Solomon;” but this is a mistake. The word is derived from a root “to tremble,” i.e. “to glitter in the sun.” Those who desire to find an allegorical interpretation think there is an evident allusion here to the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness, or the admission of the Gentiles into the covenant; but there is no reason for any such strain upon the meaning. The simile is merely poetical. The soul realizes its own acceptance before God, but ascribes that acceptance to his grace. “The bride, the Lamb’s wife,” sees the beauty of the Lord reflected in herself, and rejoices in her own attractions for his sake. There is no immodesty in the consciousness of merit so long as that merit is ascribed to him from whom it comes. There is often more pride in the assumption of humility than in the claim to be acknowledged. The same apostle who declared himself less than the least of all saints also maintained that he was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
Son 1:6
Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; they made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. The meaning seems to beDo not let the swarthiness of my complexion lower me in your eyes. Literally the words are, Do not see me that I am; i.e. do not regard me as being, because I am. There is no necessity to suppose any looks of the ladies to have suggested the words. They are the words of modest self-depreciation mingled with joyful sense of acceptance. It is difficult to render the Hebrew exactly. The word translated “swarthy” (shecharchoreh) is probably a diminutive from shechorah, which itself means “blackish;” so that the meaning is, “that my complexion is dark.” The reference to the sun explains the word still further, as pointing, not to a difference of race, but to mere temporary effects of an outdoor life: “The sun has been playing with my complexion;” or, as the LXX. renders it, , “The sun has been gazing at me.” So other Greek versions. Some, however, include the idea of burning or scorching, which is the literal meaning of the verb, though in Job 3:9 and Job 41:10 it is used in the sense of looking at or upon. The sun is the eye of the heavens (see 2Sa 12:11), and with delicate feeling it is spoken of here as feminine, the bride playfully alluding, perhaps, to the lady seen in the heavens preceding the ladies of the court in gazing on her beauty. It is difficult to explain with perfect satisfaction the next clause of the verse. Doubtless “mother’s sons” is a poetical periphrasis for brothersnot “step-brothers,” as some have said. Perhaps the mother was a widow, as no father is mentioned. The best explanation is that the bride is simply giving an account of herself, why she is so browned in the sun. The brothers, for some reason, had been incensed against her, possibly on account of her favour in the eyes of the king, but more probably for private, family reasons. They would not have her shutting herself up in the house to take care of her complexion; they would have her in the vineyards. In the word “keeper” (noterah instead of notzerah) we have an instance of the northern dialecta kind of Platt-Hebrewhardening the pronunciation. My own vineyard have I not kept no doubt refers simply and solely to her complexion, not to her virginity or character. She meansI was compelled by my brothers to go into the vineyards in the heat of the sun, and the consequence was, as you see, I have not been able to preserve the delicacy of my skin; I have been careless of my personal beauty. The sun has done its work. The reference helps us to recognize the historical background of the poem, and leads naturally to the use of the pastoral language which runs through the whole. The king is a shepherd, and his bride a shepherdess. Without straining the spiritual interpretation, we may yet discover in this beautiful candour and Simplicity of the bride the reflection of the soul’s virtues in its joyful realization of Divine favour; but the true method of interpretation requires no minute, detailed adjustment of the language to spiritual facts, but rather seeks the meaning in the total impression of the poem.
Son 1:7
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest thy flock, where thou makest it to rest at noon: for why should I he as one that is veiled beside the flock of thy companions? These words carry on the associations suggested by the previous verse. The bride is longing for the bridegroom; but she cannot think of him yet in any other light than as a companion of her simple country lifehe is a shepherd, and she a shepherdess. “Take me into closer fellowship with thyself; let me not remain still only one amongst the many.” Perhaps there is intended to be an allusion to the common metaphorthe king as the shepherd and the people as his flock; but the uppermost thought of the bride is separation unto her husband. The soul which longs for the enjoyment of fellowship with God desires to be carried away out of all distractions, out of all restraints, lifted above reserve and above doubt into the closest and most loving union. The idea of the veil may be either the veil of mourning or the veil of modesty and reserve. Probably the latter is the true reference. The LXX. has, . There is some difference of opinion among critics. Ewald thinks it refers to strangeness”like one unknown,” and therefore veiled; Gesenius says, “one fainting;” others connect the word with the root “to roam,“ “to wander“ (see Isa 22:17), which is confirmed by Symmachus, the Vulgate, the Syriac, the Chaldee, Jerome, Venetian, and Luther. The simplest explanation is that the bride compares herself, in her absence from her lord, among the ladies of the court, to a veiled woman travelling beside the flocks of the shepherds, seeking her friend, but not yet brought to him.
Son 1:8
(Chorus of ladies.) If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. That another voice is here introduced there can be no doubt; and as it is not like the voice of the bridegroom himself, which is heard in the next verse, we must suppose it to be the chorus of attendant ladies. Delitzsch suggests very plausibly that they are pleasantly chiding the simplicity of the country maiden, and telling her that, if she cannot understand her position, she had better return to her country life. In that case, “if thou know not” would meanIf thou canst not rise up to thy privilege; the knowledge referred to being general knowledge or wisdom. The delicate irony is well expressed, as in the reference to the kids”feed thy kids,” like a child as thou art. But there may be no intentional irony in the words; rather a playful and sympathetic response to the beautiful simplicity of the brideIf thou art waiting to be brought to thy beloved, if thou art seeking thy shepherd, thou most lovely woman, then go quietly on thy way, like a shepherdess tending the kids beside the shepherds’ tents; follow the peaceful footsteps of the flock, and in due time the beloved one will appear. This is better than to suppose the ladies presuming to indulge in irony when they must know that Shulamith is the king’s favourite. Besides, the first scene of the poem, which is a kind of introduction, thus ends appropriately with an invitation to peaceful waiting for love. We are prepared for the entrance of the beloved one. The spiritual meaning is simple and clearThose that would be lifted up into the highest enjoyments of religion must not be impatient and doubt that the Lord will reveal himself, but go quietly and patiently on with the work of life, “in the footsteps of the flock,” in fellowship with humble souls, and in the paths of peace, in the green pastures and beside the still waters, ready to do anything assigned them, and the time of rejoicing and rapture will come.
Son 1:9
(Entrance of the bridegroom.) I have compared thee, O my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots. There can be no reasonable doubt that these words are put into the mouth of the king. The “steed” is in the feminine (); some would point the word with the plural vowels, that is, “to my horses,” or a “body of horses.” There is no necessity for that. The reference to a particular very lovely mare is more apt and pointed. In 1Ki 10:26 we read in the LXX. Version of , which Solomon had for his chariotsfourteen hundred war chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. The Pharaoh chariots were those which the king had imported from Egypt (1Ki 10:28, 1Ki 10:29; 2Ch 9:28). It may be that the reference is to the splendid decoration of the trappings. Delitzsch very rightly sees in such a figure a confirmation of the view that Solomon himself was the author. The horses from Egypt were famed at that time as those of Arabia became afterwards. The names both of horses and chariots in the Egyptian language were borrowed from the Semitic, as they were probably first imported into Egypt by the Hyksos, or shepherd kings. Other examples of the same comparison are found in poetry, as in Horace, Anacreon, and Theocritus. In the last (‘Idyl.,’ 18.30, 31) occur the following lines, rendered into English verse:
“As towers the cypress ‘mid the garden’s bloom,
As in the chariot proud Thessalian steed,
Thus graceful, rose-complexioned Helen moves.”
The idea is that of stately beauty and graceful movements. The old commentators see the Divine love of espousals (Jer 2:2), as in the wilderness of the Exodus, and afterwards in the wilderness of the world. The Bible is full of the expression of Divine tenderness and regard for man.
Son 1:10, Son 1:11
Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, thy neck with strings of jewels. We will make thee plaits of gold with studs of silver. This language may be suggested by the comparison first employedthe trappings of the horse. “The head frame of the horse’s bridle and the poitral were then certainly, just as now, adorned with silken tassels, fringes, and other ornaments of silver. Torim, ’round ornaments,’ which hang down in front on both sides of the headband or are also inwoven in the braids of hair in the forehead.” The strings of jewels were necklacesthree rows of pearls. The ornamentation is, however, quite in accordance with female dress. The king makes the promise of gold and silver decoration as an expression of his personal delight in his bride and acceptance of her. Gold and silver were closely connected; hence silver was called, in the Old Egyptian language, “white gold.” The idea seems to be that of silver points sprinkled over golden knobs. Compare the description in ‘Faust’ of Margaret’s delight in the casket she finds in her room. The LXX. and Vulgate have mistaken the word torim for a similar word for “doves,” taking the simile to be the beautiful colours of the dove’s neck. The bride does not seem to reply immediately to the king; but we may suppose that the king takes his bride by the hand, and leads her into the banqueting chamber. But the next three verses, which are certainly in the lips of the bride, may be taken as her expression of delight in her husband, either while he feasts in the banquet or when it is over. The banquet is a familiar emblem of the delight of mutual love. Hence the feasts of love in the primitive Church were regarded, not only as seasons of fellowship between Christians, but times of rejoicing, when the soul entered into the full appreciation of the Saviour’s presence.
Son 1:12-14
While the king sat (or, sits) at his table, my spikenard sent (sends) forth its fragrance. My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, that lieth betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of Engedi. The preterite is best taken poetically for the present. The words are evidently a response to those of the king. As such they refer to present feeling and not to a past state. The bride expresses her delight in the king. The table is used generally. The Hebrew word is from a root “to sit round.” The habit of reclining at table was introduced much later, during the Persian, Greek, and Roman period. The spikenard was a powerful perfume, probably of Indian origin, as the Indian word nalada, meaning “that which yields fragrance,” shows. The Persian is nard, the Old Arabic nardu. It was made from an Indian plant, the Valeriana, called Nardo-stachys ‘Gatamansi, growing in Northern and Eastern India. The hairy part of the stem immediately above the root yields the perfume. That it was “very precious” we see from the account of Mary’s offering, which was worth more than three hundred denarii, i.e. 8 10s. (Mar 14:5; Joh 12:2). Horace promised Virgil a whole cask, i.e. nine gallons, of the best wine in exchange for a small onyx box full of the perfume. The metaphor represents the intense longing of love. Myrrh was an exotic introduced into Palestine from Arabia, Abyssinia, and India. Like frankincense, it is one of the amyridae. The Balsamodendron myrrha is the tree itself with its leaves and flowers. From the tree came a resin or gum (Gummi myrrhae), which either dropped from the leaves or was artificially obtained by incisions in the bark. The natural product was the more valuable. It was much prized as a perfume, and employed for many purposes. The Hebrew women were accustomed to carry little bags or bottles of myrrh suspended from their necks and hanging down between the breasts under the dress, diffusing an attractive fragrance round them. The word tseror is, properly, “a little bag,” sacculus, “that which one ties up,” rather than a “bundle.” The meaning, of course, is rhetoricalHe is at my heart and delightful to all my thoughts as the fragrance to my senses. The henna flowers, or cypress, in the vineyards of Engedi, is a very beautiful figure. Copher, the cypress cluster,in Greek, : in Arabic, al-henna (Lawsonia)grows in Palestine and Egypt, as we are told by Pliny (‘Nat. Hist.’ 12.24). It is a tall shrub reaching to eight or ten feet, exceedingly beautiful in appearance, and giving forth a delightful odour. It is named from a root “to be white or yellow-white.” The Moslem women stain their hands and feet with it to give them a yellow tint. Engedi was a lovely district on the west of the Dead SeaHazezon Tamar, now Ain Tidy, where Solomon made terraces on the hillsides and covered them with gardens and vineyards. The allusion confirms the date of the writing as contemporary with Solomon, as the gardens would then be in their perfection. The figure is, perhaps, intended to be an advance in rhetorical force upon that which precededthe fragrance diffused and almost overpowering, as of a blossoming tree.
Son 1:15
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves; literally, thine eyes are doves. The king receives the worship of his bride and delights in her. She is very sweet and fair to him. The dove is a natural symbol of love; hence it was attached by the classical nations to the garden of love, together with the myrtle, rose, and apple, all of which we find introduced in this Hebrew poem. Hence the Arabic name for a dove, Jemima, as we see in the Book of Job, was the name of a woman (cf. Columbina). The language of the king is that of ecstasy; hence the interjection and repetition. The enraptured monarch gazes into the eyes of his beloved bride, and sees there only purity, constancy, and affection. In So Job 7:4 the eyes are compared to fish ponds, no doubt for their clear, liquid depth and serenity. Some have thought that the allusion is to the very lovely eyes of the doves; but there is no need of the limitation.
Verse 1:16-2:1
Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant; also our couch is green. The beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters are firs. I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley. We take these three verses together as being, in all probability, the address of the bride to her royal husband. This was the view taken by the Masoretic editors and preserved in our present pointing of the Hebrew, as we see in the masculine form of the first word, , which replies to the feminine form in Son 2:15, . The seventeenth verse is apparently abrupt. Why should the bride pass so suddenly from the general address of affection, “Thou art fair, thou art pleasant,” to a particular description of a rural scene? The explanation suggested by some of the critics is not farfetched, that Solomon whispers to her that she shall go back with him to her country life if she pleases, or she reminds him of his promise made at some other time. Undoubtedly the point of Shulamith’s response lies in Son 2:1, “I am not at ease in this palatial splendour; I am by nature a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley. Take me to the green couch, and let me lie under the cedars and the firs.” The couch is the divan (cf. Amo 6:4), from a root “to cover over” (like “canopy” in Greek, , so called from its protecting the person under it from the , or “gnats). It is not that the nuptial bed is particularly intended, or even the bridal bower, but the home itself as a bowery resting place. “Our home is a sweet country home; take me, there, beloved one.” The word “green” is very suggestive in the Hebrew. It is said to “combine in itself the ideas of softness and juicy freshness, perhaps of bending and elasticity, of looseness and thus of overhanging ramification, like weeping willow.” Beams, from a root “to meet,” “to lay crosswise,” “to hold together.” But the meaning depends upon the idea of the whole description. Some would render “fretted ceilings,” or “galleries;” but Dr. Ginsburg gives it, “our bower is of cedar arches,” which excludes the idea of a formal structure made of cedar beams. The same meaning is conveyed in the last clause, “our rafters are firs.” The word rendered “rafters” () literally signifies “a place upon which one runs” (like , a “street”), i.e. a charming or pleasant spot. The beroth is the cypress tree, an Aramaic word, or one used in the north of Palestine. The meaning is, “our pleasant retreat is cypresses”is beautiful and fragrant with the cypress tree. Delitzsch, however, and others would take it differently as describing the panels or hollows of a wainscoted ceiling, like , lacunae, lacunaria, and the LXX; : Symmachus, : Jerome, laquearii (cf. Isa 60:13). But the concluding words would then be unfitting. The bride is not describing a splendid palace, but a country home. “I am a tender maiden,” she says, “who has been brought up in retirement; take me to a forest palace and to the green, fragrant surroundings, where the meadow flower, the valley lily will be happy.” We are so accustomed to the rendering of So Son 2:1, which our Revised Version has adopted from the Authorized, that it would be wrong to destroy the effect which it borrows from long familiarity unless it were absolutely necessary. The word chavatseleth, however, has been differently translated; it is literally any wild flowerrose, saffron crocus (Colchieum autumnale), tulip, narcissus, lily. The crocus is, perhaps, nearest to the meaning, as the name is probably derived from a root “to form bulbs” or bulbous knolls. It occurs only once again, in Isa 35:1, where it is rendered “rose” in the Authorized Version; LXX; : Vulgate, flos. Some derive it from the root chavaz, “to be bright,” with as termination. Sharon may be here a general denomination of the open field or plain, from , “to be straight, plain.” There was a district called Sharon on the coast from Joppa to Caesarea. There was another Sharon beyond the Jordan (see 1Ch 5:16). According to Eusebius and Jerome, there was yet another, between Tabor and Tiberias, and this, as being in the north, may be referred to. Aquila renders “a rosebud of Sharon.” The lily (shoshannah) is only found as here in the feminine form in the Apocrypha. The red and white lily were both known. Some would derive the word from the numeral (shesh) “six,” because the liliaceae are six-leaved, while the rosaceae are five-leaved; but it is probably akin to shesh, “byssus,” shayish, “white marbles” (cf. Hos 14:5, “He shall bloom as a lily”). Our Lord’s reference to “the lilies of the field” reminds us that they were in Palestine both very beautiful and very abundant. Zockler thinks it is not the strongly scented white lily (Lilium candidam) to which reference is made, but the red lily (Lilium rubens); but either will convey the same idea of a flower of the field which is meant. “My beauty is the beauty of natureartless and pure.”
HOMILETICS
Son 1:1-4
The prologue.
I. THE INSCRIPTION.
1. The title. We are told (1Ki 4:1-34 :82) that the songs of Solomon were a thousand and five. This is the chief of all, the Song of Songs. It stands alone in the Old Testament. It is a pastoral drama of singular loveliness. It shows a delight in the beauties of nature such as we might look for in him who “spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; of beasts also, and of fowl, and of creeping things.” It exhibits a touching picture of early affection gradually ripening into the blessed love of wedlockthat love which, when pure and unselfish, tends more than anything that is of this world to elevate and refine the soul. And it has a higher meaning. Holy men of widely different times have seen in it the spiritual Converse of the Church, or of the individual soul, with the heavenly Bridegroom. A famous Jewish rabbi, after saying that all the books of the Hagiographa are holy, describes the Song of Songs as a holy of holies; and a great Father of the Church says that in this book the perfected, who have the world beneath their feet, are joined to the embraces of the heavenly Bridegroom. Thus it combines all the elements which give a charm to poetrybeauty of form and elevation of thought; a delicate appreciation of the attractions of external nature; a deep sense of the sweetness and power of the most universal, the most dominant, of human affections; and an uplook to higher things, an uplook from that love which is of Godfor such surely is the love of husband and wife (see Eph 5:25-28)to God who is love. Thus the title is abundantly justified. There are great difficulties here and there; but yet much of the Song of Songs has ever sounded to believing souls like far-off echoes of the new song which only the redeemed from the earth could learn (Rev 14:3). There are few passages of Holy Scripture sweeter to the Christian heart than those thrice-repeated words, “My Beloved is mine, and I am his.”
2. The authorship. “Which is Solomon’s.” The Hebrew preposition may be translated “of” or “for.” In the titles of Psa 72:1-20, and Psa 127:1-5. it is rendered in our Authorized Version “for Solomon,” “of Solomon” standing in the margin. Psa 127:1-5; like the rest of the “songs of degrees,” is almost certainly post-Exilic; and in Psa 72:1-20, the LXX. translators are probably right in regarding Solomon as the subject, not the author, of the psalm. If the Song of Songs was written by Solomon himself, we have in it a most awful warning of the fickleness, the sinfulness, of the human heart. Solomon, who knew so well what is the sweetness of pure and holy love, was led astray by that sensual passion which usurps the name of love. Solomon, who was called Jedidiah, “the darling of the Lord,” whom “the Lord loved” (2Sa 12:24), who himself “loved the Lord” (1Ki 3:3)that same Solomon “loved many strange women” (1Ki 11:1), and “when he was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.” “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall;” “Ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing that is evil.” The soul that would live in the love of Christ must hate, and reject with horror and loathing, the very smallest beginnings of that sin of impurity which separates a man from God utterly and with a tearful rapidity. If, on the other hand, it was written by some prophet or poet of Northern Palestine in Solomon’s time, we have an explanation of those peculiar words which some scholars regard as Aramaic, others as dialectic peculiarities of the Lebanon country; and we have a warning not to trust too much in human leaders. We must not put our trust in man, but only in God. When men, once honoured and esteemed, fall into sin, we cannot but be distressed; but we must not allow our faith to waver. God is the truth; he continueth faithful; we must trust in him. The internal evidence of the song itself points to a time anterior to the separation of the northern and southern kingdoms; this is not the place to discuss the arguments for a later origin.
3. The weaning. The song seems to rest on an historical basis; its many details, its geographical notices, its many references to circumstances of Solomon’s time, to its peace and prosperity (such a period of peace and prosperity as perhaps never occurred again during the chequered history of Israel), to its commerce, its magnificence, point to a groundwork of actual fact. It relates the love of the great king for some innocent country maidena love that was returned, that for a time at least brought happiness to both, and seemed to refine and elevate the characters of both, as a pure love which leads to a blessed marriage ever does. But holy men of old were led by the Spirit to incorporate this beautiful narrative into the canon of Holy Scripture. That fact invests the song with another and a higher meaning. Jewish rabbis regarded it as a parable of the relations between God and Israel. Many of the Christian Fathers have seen in it the love that is between Christ and his Church; the longings of the Christian soul for the presence of the heavenly Bridegroom; the vicissitudes of the spiritual life; the blessed union of the bride, the Lamb’s wife, with the Lord of her redemption at the last. There are great difficulties in the spiritual interpretation of some passages; but when we consider the position of the song in the sacred book; when we remember that “every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness;” when we remember the great value which many of God’s saints have set upon this book, the great spiritual benefit which they have derived from it, we feel that it must be right to regard it as a parable of Divine love, to see under this earthly story a deep and holy heavenly meaning.
II. THE FIRST SONG.
1. The bride‘s longing for the beloved. The three verses (2-4) are often regarded as the song of a chorus of virgins, the companions of the bride; perhaps the mingling of the singular and plural pronouns seems rather to suggest that we have in this first song the voice of the bride herself blended with the strains of her virgin friends. The bride yearns for the embrace of love. In the pure love of Christian man and maid, the maiden long desired gives at last the full treasure of her love in answer to that love which had with earnest devotion sought for her affection. Ancient writers see in these words the longing of the Jewish Church for a closer union with God, for the fulfilment of the promise given through the prophet (Hos 2:16), “In that day, saith the Lord, thou shalt call me Ishi [‘my Husband’], and shalt call me no more Baali [‘my Lord ‘].” The Christian Church, the Christian soul, longs for the enjoyment of the Saviour’s love. We notice the abrupt beginning, “Let him kiss me.” The bride is speaking of one well known, greatly loved. There is no need of exact description; the pronoun is enough; there is only One whose image is ever present to that loving heart. When the Christian, taught by the Holy Ghost, is learning, slowly and imperfectly (as, alas! it must be here), to fulfil the first of all the commandments, he will yearn above all things for that manifestation of himself which the Lord promises to them that love him (Joh 14:21, Joh 14:23). The traitor’s kiss, treacherous as it was, shows that such a token of affection was usual in the intercourse between our Lord and his apostles. His love is unchanging, everlasting; still the Christian soul may say, “The Son of God loved me, and gave himself for me;'” still the soul longs for the sense of that blessed love; “the love of Jesus, what it is, none but his loved ones know.” The woman that was a sinner kissed the Saviour’s feet. The kiss of peace was in apostolic times the token of the love which Christians had one towards another. The kiss of pure and holy love is a parable of the blessed love which is betwixt Christ and his Church. That love is better than wine. Now the bride speaks to the Lord. “Thy love,” she says; she feels that he is coming in answer to the call of love. Earthly joys are poor indeed when compared with that joy which is in the Lord. St. Paul contrasts them in the Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph 5:18, Eph 5:19). Excess in wine brings degradation, misery. The Christian soul needs not this spurious excitement; it has a source of joy higher beyond all comparison. It is filled with the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is joyjoy which manifests itself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
2. The response of the chorus. The attendant virgins assent. The love of the Bridegroom is better than wine, better than the fragrance of the sweetest of perfumes, sweeter than ointment poured forth which sheds its scent around. The odour of the precious ointment which Mary poured upon the Saviour’s head filled the house; the sweet odour of the name of Jesus fills the whole Church; it sheds its penetrating influence everywhere throughout the Church; “therefore,” the chorus sings, “do the virgins love thee.” The plural number seems to remind us that the love of Christ is personal, individual. The bride, the Lamb’s wife, is, indeed, the whole company of the elect. But the Lord’s love is not only general; it does not bless only the Church as a whole, an aggregate; he loves all and each; the whole Church and each separate Christian soul; therefore each separate Christian soul, all who take their lamps and go forth to meet the Bridegroom, rejoice in the Bridegroom’s love, and desire above all things to return it. “We love him, because he first loved us.”
3. The blended voices of the chorus and the bride.
(1) The request: “Draw me, we will run after thee.” The bride is listening for the bridegroom’s call; she is ready to answer. Her virgin companions join in assenting chorus; they will accompany her. The Christian soul longs for the fulfilment of the Divine Word, “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love” (Hos 11:4); it pleads that gracious promise, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
“Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far,
Thro’ all yon starlight keen,
Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star,
In raiment white and clean.”
It seems too much to ask; none feel their unworthiness, their guilt, so keenly as those whom the Lord is calling nearer to himself. But faith hears his voice and believes in his power. If only he will draw us, we shall run after him. Love is the magnet of love. When God deigns to shine into his people’s hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, when the blessed word, “We have seen the Lord,” is realized in the heart, then the soul runneth in ever-deepening desire to respond to that condescending love. None can come to Christ, we know, “except the Father who hath sent me draw him” (Joh 6:44); therefore that prayer, “Draw me, we will run after thee,” is often in the Christian’s heart, often pleaded by the Christian’s lips. We are weak and helpless; but when he draws us with that holy invitation, “Come unto me,” we must arise, we must run after him. To look back is ruin. “Remember Lot’s wife.” And his call giveth strength to follow, to run after him. So St. Augustine says in well known words (‘Conf.,’ 9.1), “How sweet did it at once become to me to want the sweetnesses of those toys; and what I feared to be parted from, was now a joy to part with! For thou didst cast them forth from me, thou true and highest Sweetness. Thou castedst them forth, and for them enteredst in thyself, sweeter than all pleasures, though not to flesh and blood; brighter than all light, but more hidden than all depths; higher than all honour, but not to the high in their own conceits.”
(2) The answer. The prayer is heard; we hear the voice of the bride: “The King hath brought me into his chambers.” Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for her, that he might present her to himself a glorious Church. The chorus answers, “We will be glad and rejoice in thee.” Individual believers make up the great Church of Christ. Once we were afar off; now we are brought near; we are “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” In proportion as we realize our Christian privileges of access unto God we learn to rejoice in the Lord. The fruit of the Spirit is joy; that joy passes all earthly pleasures. Believers will remember the tokens of the Saviour’s love, dwelling on them in holy thought; they will leave no place in their hearts for sensual delights; they will love the Lord in uprightness, in sincerity, and truth.
Son 1:5-8
Dialogue between the bride and the chorus.
I. THE BRIDE‘S SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS.
1. “I am black.“ The country maiden loved by the great king feels her own imperfections; she artlessly describes her misgivings to the daughters of Jerusalem, who constitute the chorus; she has been accustomed to rustic occupations; she has been ill-treated; the sun has embrowned her cheeks till she is black as the tents of Kedar, the tents of goat’s hair in which the wandering Arabs lived. The Christian soul knows its guilt. Worship begins ever with confession; when we draw near to Christ, we are most sensible of the plague of our own hearts. Christians will find help and comfort in communion with the like minded; they will tell them their spiritual troubles; but such holy communion can be held only with the like minded, with the daughters of Jerusalem. Christians sometimes have home troubles; they seem unable to keep their own vineyard, to attend to their own spiritual needs, because other work is forced upon them, because their time is taken up in matters which seem not to belong to their peace; they must be patient and meek, and wait for the Bridegroom’s call.
2. “But comely.“ In her artless simplicity she mentions her own beauty: she is fair as the curtains of Solomon. The king, we may suppose, had a stately pavilion in the Lebanon country, near the dwelling of the bride. The Christian recognizes with humble and adoring thankfulness the working of the Spirit of God within his soul. “By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed on 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.” If God is drawing us nearer to himself we must know it. True unaffected humility recognizes his working in our unworthy hearts, and longs to be found in Christ, “not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” The bride compares herself to the curtains of Solomon; the Christian owes whatever he may possess of the beauty of holiness to his communion with the King of saints.
II. THE BRIDE‘S LONGING FOR THE BRIDEGROOM‘S PRESENCE.
1. Her seeking love. He is not with her now, but her soul goeth forth to him; she apostrophizes her absent lord, and pours forth her yearning in the presence of her companions.
(1) The address: “Thou whom my soul loveth.” It is an expression of intense affection, repeated several times in the song (So Son 3:1, Son 3:2, Son 3:3, Son 3:4). The love of Christ is the life spring of the Christian heart. That love, when real and true, makes the Christian seek always, every day and every hour, the blessed presence of the Saviour. That love is the soul’s love. It is not a thing of words and phrases, not a matter of outward form and observance; it is treasured deep in the heart; it is the mainspring of life and action; it comes to Christ with the question, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” and that in the ordinary concerns of life, in the trifles, the little joys and sorrows of everyday life, as well as in the emergencies that come now and then, the dangers and distresses which cross our path from time to time. That true, deep love is exceedingly precious; it is the perfect love that casteth out fear; it can answer like St. Peter, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” It is of all graces the holiest and the best; it is the first of the fruits of the Spirit; it is granted to the believer in answer to fervent persevering prayer. May we whose hearts have long been so cold and dead seek it, and gain it to be our own through the forgiving mercy of our God!
(2) She asks where he feeds his flock. The King of Israel is represented as a shepherd like his father David. The bride thinks more of his love than of his magnificence; she would have loved him with the same entire devotion had he been in her own lowly position. Perhaps it was a relief to her to regard him sometimes not as a king, but as a shepherd; perhaps the great king had been pleased to assume such a character for a time to give pleasure to his beloved one. The bride seems sometimes to hint that this description is figurative (So Son 2:16; Son 6:2, Son 6:3); she speaks of the son of David in language like that which David himself had used of Almighty God (Psa 23:1, Psa 23:2). The Lord Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd; he laid down his life for the sheep; he knoweth his own, and his own know him. He is King of kings and Lord of lords; but it is a relief to the soul, dazzled by the awful glory of the Godhead, to remember that he laid his glory by that he might save us; and to think of him as made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted, and therefore touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and able to succour them that are tempted. She asks where he feeds his flock. It is like the aspiration of Job, “Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!” The Christian soul yearns for the good Shepherd, to draw ever nearer to him, to share his love and mercy. He maketh his sheep to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth them beside the waters of rest. He feeds them; for he is the Bread of lifethe Bread that came down from heaven to give life unto the world. Their prayer is, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” They feed on him in the daily life of faith, and in the blessed sacrament. His presence in the heart is the food, the life of the soul. “He that cometh unto me,” he saith,” shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” And he maketh his flock to rest at noon. In the hot sultry noon of life, amid troubles and anxieties and cares, he giveth rest. The weary and the heavy laden accept his gracious invitation; they find restrest for their souls. There is no other rest for this restless, anxious soul of ours, but only that rest which he givethrest in the Lord. He can give rest in the midst of trouble, rest even in the busy noon of life; such rest as Daniel found in his many cares, when he kneeled upon his knees and made his supplications three times a day; such rest as St. Paul found when he had learned to count all things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord.
2. Her years. Compare Gesenius, s.v; “Lest I be as one who faints by the flocks of thy companions; lest I should wander in search of thee from flock to flock, languid even to fainting through the noontide heat.” The bride seeks the king himself. His companions may be kind and good, but they are not the beloved. The soul seeks the good Shepherd. Other shepherds may be doing what they can to feed the flock of God (see 1Pe 5:2-4), but they can only bring the flock to the chief Shepherd. He is the Desire of all nations; he only is the Saviour; without him we can do nothing. It is not safe to wander from flock to flock, to heap up to ourselves teachers (2Ti 4:3). We must seek Christ himself, for the true sheep are his; they hear his voice and follow him. They that are his shall never perish; no man is able to pluck them out of his Father’s hand. But they must not listen to other voices which are not his; they must watch with earnest attention for the voice of the good Shepherd, and attend to every intimation of his will; they must ask him with loving entreaty”O thou whom my soul loveth”by what way, in what path, he is to be found; they must not weary themselves in wandering from teacher to teacher, seeking always, like the Athenians, to hear some new things; they must walk in the old paths, where is the good way; and they will find rest, for they will find, not Solomon, whose name means “peace,” but the Prince of Peace himself, who giveth peace, the peace of God, to all who seek his face with faithful and true hearts.
III. THE COUNSEL OF THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM.
1. The address. “O thou fairest among women.” The bride is addressed by the chorus in the same words in two other places (So Dan 5:9; Dan 6:1). She had described herself as “black, but comely.” The daughters of Jerusalem see in her the fairest among women. Jerusalem was the holy city, the dwelling place of the great King. Her daughters are the saints, the children of the kingdom. The true Christian knows his own sinfulness, though he feels with thankfulness the work of grace within his heart; other Christians recognize in him the beauty of holiness. There must be no jealousies among the people of God; they must not dispute among themselves, as even apostles once did, who should be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; they must gladly acknowledge the workings of the grace of God in other Christian souls; they will do so the more generously, the nearer they themselves are to the Lord.
2. The direction. “If thou know not,” they say; as if to intimate that one so highly favoured must surely know the way herself. They can but guide her to the old way where all the saints have walked; she must follow the tracks of the sheep, the footsteps of the flock. They have followed the good Shepherd; she must do the like. “Be ye followers of me,” said St. Paul, “even as I also am of Christ.” It is good to read the lives of the saints, to study the graces of holy men. Holy Scripture bids us to follow their faith, considering the end of their conversation. But the bride is also told to feed her kids beside the shepherds’ tents. We shall most surely find the Lord in faithful work for him. It he is to us what he was to the bride, “O thou whom my soul loveth;” if we can say in truth, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee,” we shall surely hear his voice speaking in our hearts, “Feed my lambs;” “Feed my sheep.” Those who, like St. Paul, labour most abundantly for Christ (if only that labour is wrought in faith and love) are sure, like St. Paul, themselves to win Christ and to be found in him. “He that watereth shall be watered also himself;” “They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever.” Christ is most surely found by those faithful servants who do their best to bring others to the Lord.
Son 1:9-17
The communion of the bridegroom and the bride.
I. THE APPROACH OF THE BRIDEGROOM.
1. His address. He compares the bride to a beautiful mare of his own in the chariots of Pharaoh. The words come fitly from the lips of the speaker. He was the first king of Israel who took delight in horses and chariots, and he imported them from Egypt. The words are thought to have suggested a similar comparison in Theocritus (‘Idyll,’ 18.30); they indicate the stateliness of the bride’s beauty; they remind us of Psa 147:10,Psa 147:11, “He delighteth not in the strength of a horse … The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” Men like Solomon take delight in horses; the Lord in the graces of his people. The king calls the bride “my love,” or “my friend;” the word is derived from a verb which in its secondary sense means to take delight in the companionship of those whom we love. We are reminded of the Lord’s gracious words, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (Joh 15:15). The king proceeds to commend the graces of the bride; he promises costly gifts. She was wearing the simple ornaments of a country maiden (the words “jewels” and “gold” are not in the original of Psa 147:10). “We will make thee,” he says (that is, his servants will make at his order), “borders of gold with studs of silver.” Whatever graces the Church possesses come from the gift of the heavenly Bridegroom; it is he who will “present her to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;” but holy and without blemish (Eph 5:27). It is only God who can “keep us from falling, and present us at the last faultless before the presence of his glory with. exceeding joy” (Jud 1:24). The fine linen, clean and white, the wedding garment of the bride, is the Bridegroom’s gift (Rev 19:8).
2. The bride‘s delight in the bridegroom. The king is come; he sitteth at his table in the midst of the circle of his friends. We are reminded that the presence of his father David was once required to complete such a circle. “We will not sit around” (the literal translation of Samuel’s words) “till he come hither” (1Sa 16:11). The bride anoints him with “ointment of spikenard very costly;” the house is filled with the odour of the ointment. While the heavenly Bridegroom is present in the blessed sacrament, or in the circle of true worshippers, whenever two or three are gathered together in his Name, the sweet odour of prayer and adoration giveth forth its fragrance. Such worship, worship in spirit and in truth, is always acceptable. “My Father,” he saith in his condescending love, “seeketh such to worship him.” It is his presence which draws forth that holy worship. While he is with us, in the circle of worshippers, the heart goeth forth unto him. “Lord, it is good to be here;” “Thy Name is as ointment poured forth.” It is sweet to the believer; it refreshes his soul in sorrow, and in the hour of death; therefore do thy people love thee. The King’s presence is very sacred; those whom he deigns to visit must respond with their heart’s love, with the sweet odours of true spiritual worship.
3. What the bridegroom is to her. The odour of her spikenard is pleasant to him; he is to her as a bag of myrrh, or a cluster of henna flowers. So, in Psa 45:8, the royal Bridegroom’s garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia. The bag of myrrh was kept in the bosom for its sweetness and its medicinal properties; the henna flowers which grew abundantly among the vines of Engedi were highly esteemed for their fragrance. The Savior’s presence in the heart sheds a fragrance through the soul. “He that hath the Son hath life;” a principle of life which preserves the soul from the corruption of sin, which heals its diseases, which prepares it for the hour of death. The Saviour’s body lay for a while in the mixture of myrrh and aloes which Nicodemus brought; that holy body needed not the earthly unguent. The Christian needs the preservative virtue which the Saviour giveth. No flowers of earth, no earthly fragrance or beauty, can compare for one moment with the blessedness which his presence bringeth.
II. THE CONVERSE OF THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE BRIDE.
1. The voice of the beloved. He commends the beauty of the bride; her eyes, as they look on him, are like doves, gentle, innocent, loving. So, in Psa 45:1-17; the king greatly desires the beauty of the bride. She “is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.” The Lord would have the Church, his bride, to be “a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;” but holy and without blemish. Alas! in the visible Church the evil are ever mingled with the good, and there is none that sinneth not. But just in proportion as the Christian walks in the light (in the light of his presence who is the Light of the world), the blood of Jesus Christ is cleansing him from all sin, and he becomes in his poor measure a light, shining with the reflected light of the Saviour’s holiness. Christ is made unto his people wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; whatever beauty of character they possess comes only from communion with him. “Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, they are changed into the same image from glory to glory.” They must be harmless as doves, gentle, humble, innocent. The Lord in his condescending love accepts their imperfect service. “I know thy works, and thy love, and faith, and ministry, and patience; and that thy last works are more than the first.”
2. The answer of the bride. Perhaps they have now gone forth into the air; they are sitting together, as the words seem to imply, on a green couch, on some grassy slope in the Lebanon country, under the interlacing boughs of cedars and fir trees. The bride enjoys the fair prospect around her; she delights still more in the presence and love of the bridegroom. She calls him “my beloved;” the Hebrew word is another form of the name of the king’s father, David, which means “beloved.” He is very fair in her eyes; yea, pleasant. The Lord is fairer than the children of men; to the Christian there is no vision of earthly beauty which will bear one moment’s comparison with the tender loveliness of the Saviour’s character, the exalted beauty of his self-sacrificing love. The Christian soul delights in the fair beauty of the Lord; it is to him the one thing to be desired above all others. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord” (Psa 27:4). So Isaiah, who alone of the prophets uses the bride’s word of endearment, “my Beloved” (Isa 5:1), has the blessed promise, “Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty” (Isa 33:17). The king is pleasant also; not only fair to look upon, but possessed of every charm, of all spiritual grace. We have the same word applied to God in Psa 27:4 and Psa 90:17. May God “shine into our hearts, to reveal to us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”!
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Son 1:1
The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
What does this mean?
I. AS TO THE TITLE? “The Song of Songs.” It affirms that this song is the most excellent of all songs, the incomparably beautiful song, a song beside which, as one writer says, “all others hide their heads.”
II. AS TO THE NAME AFFIXED TO IT? Not that Solomon was the author. For the very title would convict him of egregious vanity. A writer would hardly thus speak of his own productions. But it would be quite lawful that another should so speak; hence the poem might be Solomon’s and the title be added on by another writer. But even then we question his authorship of this song. For:
1. If we take the literal interpretation of it, as well nigh all modern competent Bible scholars do, in greater or less degree (cf. Ginsburg, Ewald, Maurer, Stanley, ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ Hartwell Horne’s ‘Introduction,’ etc.),then, since it represents Solomon as foiled and frustrated in his endeavours to persuade the maiden Shulamith, whose constancy and fidelity the poem celebrates, to become his bride, it is hardly likely that he would depict himself in such an unlovely light, or in such undignified guise as that in which, in this song, he certainly appears. Or, if we take the most ancient and most common interpretation of the song, the spiritual and allegorical, which affirms that the bridethough there is no bride in the song at all, but only one who is betrothedrepresents the Church; and that Solomon, whom this interpretation identifies with “the beloved,” is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the poem is intended to set forth the mutual love of Christ and his Church;then we say that Solomon is in no sense a fit type of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he was not a man after God’s own heart, but very far from it. Moreover, he was not the man to write a spiritual poem of such exalted character. They were “holy men of old” whom the Spirit inspired. But, certainly, Solomon can lay no claim to that character. Then:
3. David and Solomon are both spoken of in such manner as would hardly be likely if Solomon were the writer. (Cf. So Son 3:9, Son 3:11; Son 8:11, Son 8:12.) It is the manner of one speaking of them, telling facts concerning them; but it is not as they would. speak themselves.
4. And even if the words, “which is Solomon’s,” be held to mean that he was the author, such ascription need have no more value than the titles of many of the psalms, which are allowed to be of no authority.
5. But we read the words as “concerning Solomon.“ True, the poem literally understood has nothing to say in his favour; for what was there to say? But if he be a type at all, and we think he is, it is of that greedy, selfish, soul-corrupting world, which would draw away the faithful from the pure love of God, and seek to replace that pure love by its own. Shulamith loved and was beloved. Solomon tried by all manner of enticements to draw her from that love. But he utterly fails. So that the poem is a parable of the faithful soul and its constancy to its true Lord. By means of a beautiful earthly story, the yet more beautiful fidelity of the soul truly affianced to God is set fortha fidelity tried so as by fire, and therefore more precious than all gold (cf. 1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 1:7), which might be taken as a text for the interpretation of very much in this book. It was written, probably, near the age of Solomon, but we think subsequently; and by some Israelite belonging to the northern tribes; and from the absence of all praise of Solomon, and the conduct it ascribes to him, the writer was probably hostile to him, perhaps one of those who in Rehoboam’s day raised the cry of “To your tents, O Israel!” and broke away from the kingdom of Judah altogether. The poem is sensuous, but not sensual, unless it be where Solomon is to be understood as speaking, when such speech would be in character. It is Oriental, of course, and not to be interpreted by those far different canons of taste which prevail in our more Northern and Western lands. And it is not a mere story of a maiden’s constancy. Were it so, however beautiful (and for remarks on its beauty cf. Isaac Taylor’s ‘Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry’), still it would not, we think, have found a place amongst the sacred writings. We hold it to be an allegory or parable of the soul‘s true love to God, and, so read, it is like the rest of Holy Scripture, “profitable for doctrine, for reproof,” etc. He who has no love of God in his heart, or even little, will never understand it, and had better leave it alone. But to the pure, devout, and Christ-loving heart the vision of him who is for them the “altogether lovely” is seen everywhere in it, and delighted in wherever seen. That vision may we see!S.C.
Son 1:2-4
Desire after God.
Translated into language more congenial to our ordinary Christian thought, these verses may be taken as a parabolic setting forth of the blessed truth contained in the well known words of the psalm, “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” It surely would be speaking blasphemy, and an abasement of the Bible, if we were to look on the sensuous words with which these verses begin as meaning nothing more than they say in their ordinary plain and literal meaning. We, therefore, feel bound to lift them up from such low level, and to look upon them as tellingno doubt in a vivid, Oriental wayof the soul’s desire after God, the holy thirst of which the verse from the psalm is the expression. And we observe
I. THAT THE CONSCIOUS POSSESSION OF THE LOVE OF GOD IS THE SOUL‘S DEEP NEED AND DESIRE. Men try all manner of other delights, but they turn out mere apples of Sodom. He who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes had left untried no single source of earthly joy. All were within his power, and he did his best to get their best out of them. And no doubt he succeeded. But what then? Was he satisfied? did they content him? “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!”that is his verdict upon them all. And his experience is that of myriads more, all which goes to prove that the love of God alone can satisfy. “Nostrum cor inquietum est donec requiescat in te.” This saying of St. Augustine’s is the sober truth, which finds such impassioned expression in our text. And the soul’s desire for that love is the fruit of that love. “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me,” said our Lord; and it is because of his gracious drawings, the mighty lure with which he attracts our wills, that we are possessed by this desire.
II. THE DIVINE LOVE IS THE EXHILARATION OF THE SOUL. “Thy love is better than wine.” “Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit,” says St. Paul; and he thereby teaches us, as does the text, that there is a likeness between the twowine and the Spirit of God. And the resemblance lies herein the stir and joy of heart which wine for a while causes; and this, though in no mere physical sense, is the blessed effect of the Spirit of God. For his office it is to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, and that causes joy indeed.
III. AND IT IS FRAGRANT WHEREVER IT DWELLS. It is likened to “perfume poured forth” and it fills “all the house.”
IV. THE PURE IN HEART LOVE IT. “Therefore do the virgins love thee.” The desire for the Divine love is not universalfar from it. But “the pure in heart” “see God,” and hence their desire.S.C.
Son 1:3
Christ’s Name.
“His Name is as ointment poured forth.” We apply the text to him. It cannot be shown that such application is wrong. Perfumes largely used in the Eastin acts of worship; in entertainments, as marks of favour to honoured guests (cf. Psa 23:1-6.; Joh 12:1-50.). The Name of Christ is here likened to such precious perfume, the sweet odour of which fills the whole house, as did that which Mary poured on the Lord. The “Name” stands for all that Christ is to us. The comparison is appropriate if we consider concerning such perfumes
I. THEIR COSTLINESS. They were on this account exceeding precious, large sums of money being demanded for them (Joh 12:3). But does not this tell of the “precious blood of Christ,” and how “God so loved the world “? Think of the cost of the “unspeakable Gift” of Christ:
1. To the Father. Was the heart of God unmoved by the sorrows of the Son? Is not the touching story of Abraham’s offering up of Isaac, and of his anguish at having to surrender his son, his only son Isaac, “whom thou lovest,” brought before our minds when we read how “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son”? Does it not tell of the anguish of the Divine mind in that sacrifice? A God that cannot know sorrow or joy, that is not “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” is not the God of the Bible, “our Father which art in heaven.” Therefore what of uttermost sorrow must he not have known when he beheld the “beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased,” expire in agony on the cross?
2. To Christ himself. Was he not “the Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”? “Come, see if ever there was sorrow ‘like unto my sorrow”to whom do these words apply as to him? Cf. Psa 22:1-31; that psalm which was in the mind and on the lips of our Lord as he hung upon the cross. The parable of the pearl of great price and of the treasure hid in the field may have other meanings than those commonly given to them. May they not tell of our salvation, and how our blessed Lord was set upon obtaining this, and therefore, though “he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor,” that he might obtain this, to him, most precious pearl, this treasure of untold worth.
3. To the Holy Spirit. For he it is who takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us; who seeks men, and woos and wins them for Christ. The whole of the Passion of our Lord is patterned forth and perpetuated in the grievings and outrages, in the Gethsemane-like “groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:1-39.), which tell of what he suffers to save men.
4. And if we think of the Gift itself, the very Son of Godno creature, no man, no angel or archangel, but he who was one with the Fatherthat sacrifice was the cost of our redemption. All comparison fails, no matter what of worth and value in earthly things are thought of; they can but faintly image the worth and preciousness of Christ.
II. THEM COMBINED EXCELLENCE. The choicest perfumes were composed of many ingredients. Cf. the sacred anointing oil (Exo 30:31-38). And so Christ is “made unto us,” not one thing only, but many”wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” (1Co 1:30). Whether we think of the combined excellences that are in his own nature and character, or of those which he bestows upon usso many, so manifold, so precious all of themthe comparison is true.
III. HOW GRATEFUL THEY ARE TO THOSE ON WHOM THEY ARE POURED. To this day Orientals delight in such perfumes. They deem them to be as healthful as they are pleasant; and still they are given to honoured guests, as Simon should have given them but did not, but as the Magdalen and Mary of Bethany also did to our Lord. “Thou anointest my head with oil,” tells in the twenty-third psalm of the exuberance of joy that the believer has in his Lord. “How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds!” so still his people love to sing. And what they sing is true.
IV. THEIR DIFFUSIVE FRAGRANCE. “Poured forth,” released from the vessel which contained it, and in consequence spreading its sweet odours all around. Again the comparison is just. Has not human life become sweeter in innumerable places because there the Name of Christ has been poured forth? Heaven is heaven because there his “Name is above every name.”
V. THAT THEY MAKE FRAGRANT AS WELL AS ARE SO IN THEMSELVES. By this may we know whether we are Christ’s. If character, temper, spirit, life, be of ill odour, how can we have known Christ’s Name?S.C.
Son 1:4-8
The Christian soul, its trials and triumphs.
The maiden who speaks has been separated unwillingly from her beloved, after whom she incessantly mourns; she is kept in the king’s chambers, the apartments of the women in his palace at Jerusalem. They ridicule her swarthy look, and she tells how her half-brothers had been unkind to her, and had made her work in the drudgery of the vineyards, beneath the scorching sun. Those about her wonder and scoff at her persistent affection. The story may be taken as telling of the Christian soul, its trials and triumphs.
I. ITS TRIALS. The Christian soul may be:
1. Unwillingly deprived of conscious enjoyment of her Lord’s presence. How often in the psalms do we find the complaint of the Lord being “far from me,” of the failure to realize his presence and his love! And how often the same thing occurs now! Our sun is hidden behind a cloud, and the soul grieves over her absent Lord.
2. Despised. This is another though a less trial. The child of God is a poor kind of creature in the world’s esteem, and it is not slow to let the believer know and feel its contempt. And with many this is a terrible thing. Not a few who would lead a forlorn hope and do any deed of daring that required only physical courage, will shrink and quail beneath the world’s scorn.
3. Persecuted and ill-used also, as she was who is spoken of here. So, too, is it and has been with the Christian soul. And often a man’s foes are they of his own household. Our Lord told us it would be so, and so they have found it; but have found also, as here, that he knows how to sustain his servants in this trial,
4. Mockery likewise has to be reckoned with. For though Son 1:8 tells a truth which has very real and blessed. meaning in regard to the soul’s way to God, yet it seems to us to have been spoken mockingly, bidding her to whom it was spoken track the footprints of the sheep if she wanted to know where her beloved was, if she would persist in being so foolish. Such is the force of the words rendered, “If thou know not.” They are contemptuous, and contain a sneer. But “cruel mockings” have been the lot of Christ’s people in all ages, and when we have to bear them we are not to be surprised “as if some strange thing had happened” unto us. But these verses tell not of trials alone, but of
II. ITS TRIUMPHS. For:
1. Her soul still clave unto her beloved. (Son 1:4.) And so, notwithstanding the Christian soul may be by one cause or another held in captivity and “walk in darkness,” yet it will all the more cry out after him whom it loveth, and remember his love more than any of the joys of earth. Thus the very design of her adversary is baffled, for her heart beats true to Christ still
2. She is certain that Christ delights in her. Those about her may despise her because she is “black,” because she seems contemptible in their sight. But she knows that the Lord looks upon her with different eyes, that in his sight she is “comely.” Others may think what they wilt, but his estimate is everything to her, and that is as she would have it be.
3. She desires and obtains yet more of happy communion with him. (Son 1:7, Son 1:8.) Often is it with the faithful soul that as the frown of Christ’s foes and her own deepen, the light of Christ’s countenance shines on her more steadily, brightly, and fully than ever. He drew her (Son 1:4) by her need of his grace, and she ran after him, seeking that grace and finding it.
4. She knows that her present for of hardship and trial is not her true portion. “Why should I be as one that is veiled?” (margin), that is, one despised and despicable. She knows that such portion is not hers.
5. She cannot be moved. She is conqueror. So will it ever be.S.C.
Son 1:4-7
The soul’s joy in the love of God.
“The king hath brought me into his chambers,” etc. If we may take this book as only an allegory, we find suggested in these verses this subject of the soul’s joy.
I. SUCH JOY IS BECAUSE OF THE KING‘S CHAMBERS. He has opened for her the unsearchable riches of his grace, “filled with all pleasant and precious riches” (cf. Pro 24:4).
II. IS VERY GREAT. She will be glad and rejoice. She will “remember” his “love more than wine.” That is, the soul’s joy is more than any earthly means of delight and exhilaration can afford.
III. IS SHARED IN BY ALL THE SAINTS OF GOD. “The upright love thee.” “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Our joy is heightened by the fact that those whom we most esteem count it their joy also.
IV. HER OWN UNWORTHINESS DOES NOT SHUT HER OUT FROM IT. “I am black.”
“Since therefore I can hardly bear
What in myself I see,
How vile, how black, I must appear,
Most holy God, to thee!
“But oh! my Saviour stands between,
In garments dyed in blood;
‘Tis he instead of me is seen
When I approach to God.”
The remembrance of her own unworthiness serves as a foil to set off the comeliness with which inwardly he has endowed her. “The king’s daughter is all glorious within” (cf. Eze 16:14). And as she thinks of her unworthiness she tells how it came to be so with herby the cruelty of others and her own neglect. They made her serve in such way that she became “black.” How often our foes are they of our own household! But she, too, was neglectful. “My own vineyard have I not kept.” Nevertheless, the king loved her.
V. HENCE SHE WILL BE SATISFIED WITH NOTHING LESS THAN HIMSELF. “Tell me where thou feedest?” etc. (Son 1:7). She appeals to him to bring her where he is. She desires to know the rest he can give. His “companions” will not compensate for him (cf. “Whom have I in heaven but thee?” etc.; cf. Psa 42:9; Eze 34:1-31.; Psa 25:4, Psa 25:5; Psa 16:2, Psa 16:3).S.C.
Son 1:6 (part)
The pastor’s peril.
“They made me I have not kept.” If we were to understand these words literally, then what is told of might be without either blame or loss. For if, as seems to have been the case, the speaker’s neglect of her own vineyard was forced upon her in order that she might keep the vineyards of others, then no fault attached to her. She could not help herself; she was made to work for others. She might grieve, as it is plain she did, to see her own fair vineyard neglected, and, in consequence, overgrown with weeds, and all prospect of fruit gone; but no blame belonged to her, though there might be loss. And it is quite comprehensible that there might be neither blame nor loss, although her own vineyard was neglected. For it might be far more profitable to cultivate the vineyards of others than one’s own; and if so, why should there be blame, and how could there be loss? But when we come to the spiritual suggestions of our text, when we look upon it as telling of those whose office and duty it is to cultivate the vineyard of the soul, then the conduct told of here can never be without blame and loss both; blame to the vineyard keeper who kept not his own whilst keeping others, and loss both to him and them. For
I. MEN‘S SOULS ARE GOD‘S VINEYARDS. They were created to bring forth fruit for his glory, and for the strengthening, cheering, and every way helping of the souls of their fellows. For this purpose, also, were they redeemed, and for this end are they supplied with manifold Divine giftsthe influences of the Holy Spirit, the aid which the Church, the Scriptures, and the ministers of Christ are appointed to render. Now, such
II. PASTORS ARE THE KEEPERS OF THESE VINEYARDS. They are to watch over them continually. They are to cultivate them with all diligent care. They are to aim ever to render help to those committed to their care in the formation of that character, and in the exercise of those graces which God regards and rejoices in as fruit. They are to remember always that the vineyards are for fruit, and that whatever else they may yield, if they yield not this, their work has failed. Now, this verse suggests that
III. THERE IS A GREAT PERIL WHICH BESETS THESE KEEPERS OF THE VINEYARDS. It is this, that whilst keeping the vineyards of others, their own they should not keep. Now, that this is a very real peril is evident from:
1. Their own confessions. The words of our text are a confession, and a sorrowful one. And they have been adopted by such vineyard keepers again and again. Before God, on their knees, they have owned how marred and faulty their work has been, owing to the ill-prepared condition of their own souls. Pastors, teachers, and all who toil for Christ, in striving to tell of him to their fellow men, and to persuade them to come to him, have mournedoh, how often!that their lips have outrun their hearts; that they have uttered words to which their hearts often gave but faint response. They have declared truths which, alas! they have failed to realize. They have spoken of the love of Christ, and had but little consciousness of it within them. As we read the biographies of such men, or as, in the confidence of friendship, they confess how it has been with them, or as we think over our own experiences, who is there of us that may not make the confession of the text cur own? It is the perpetual struggle of the right-minded servant of God to maintain the balance between the spoken words and the inward thought; and the struggle is never easy, but often the reverse. These facts show how real the peril is.
2. And it is evidently possible to be guilty of that which is here said. For words and work are both external to us, and they can be assumed and adopted even when there is but little or even no spiritual reality behind them. A man can drill himself into saying or doing almost anything. He can become official, perfunctory, and a mere actor in the way of expressing sentiments in which his soul has no share. This is a dreadful possibility, from which may God graciously deliver us all! And our Lord, and the Scriptures generally, declare and denounce such conduct. God says to the wicked in the fiftieth psalm, “What hast thou to do to declare my statutes?” It is certain, therefore, that wicked men can do this and have done it. Our Lord utters his awful warning to those who say “Lord, Lord,” prophesy in his name, and in his name do many wonderful works, to whom at the last he will say, “I never knew you.“ Yes, God’s Word is very plain as to the possibility of this sin and its fearful results.
3. And it is without excuse. There is no need for it. No amount of busy activity in keeping the vineyards of others need hinder our duly keeping our own. On the contrary, diligent care here will help us mightily when we strive to do good to others and to keep their vineyards. For when we remember that it is the spirit which breathes through what we say or do, rather than the words and deeds themselves, which more than aught besides influences our fellow men, it is evident that the right cultivation of our own spiritual life is of unspeakable importance. As one has said, “A holy minister is a mighty instrument in God’s hand for the conversion and sanctification of souls.” Therefore whatever of time and energy we give to the keeping of our own vineyard is the very best preparation and aid in keeping the vineyards of others. Moreover:
4. Not to give this is fatal to our work. There is nothing men detect so soon or despise so much as unreality, want of sincerity. The words may be true and well ordered, and lit up with fine imagination and beautiful illustration; be very interesting to hear, and command rapt attention; but if they be lacking in the indispensable quality of sincerity, they will be nothing but words after all, and will have no real effect. Religion must be a reality to ourselves, or we shall never persuade others to become religious men. “Si vis me flere dolendum est.” And not to be thus real ourselves is:
5. Most perilous for our own souls. Being so busy in keeping others’ vineyards, caring for the interests of others’ souls, what can we lack? Must it not be well with us? And people praise and flatter us, and count us to be all we should be: what wonder, then, that we should be deceived? And all the while the holy truths we tell of, like the heated iron that the blacksmith handles, affect us less and less; we scarcely feel them though we talk so fluently about them. And we have already referred to Scripture which make plain the mind of God on this matter. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord.” Such is the perpetual language of the Word of God. May he help us to remember it, and that always!
IV. BUT IT IS A PERIL INTO WHICH THEY NEED NOT FALL. For Christ, who called us to keep and cultivate the vineyards, our own and others’, which he has entrusted to our charge, will help us therein if continually we look to him. Without him, indeed, we can do nothing; but with him what cannot we do? Therefore, see to it that our souls are committed to him, that day by day we do our all unto him. Only let us abide in him, and then all our outer service will be the natural product of our inner life; not mere fruit fastened on, but fruit grown, produced naturally by our life. And so shall we find that the inner and the outer act and react one upon the other for the mutual good of each. So, whilst we keep the vineyards of others, our own vineyard will also be kept.S.C.
Son 1:6 (part)
Not faithless, yet not faithful.
“They made me the keeper of the vineyards kept.” Text a sorrowful confession, but it is not the most sorrowful of all. That will come from those who cannot say even as much as is said here. For there was, we may readily suppose, the keeping of the vineyards of others, though the speaker’s own was not kept. But the confession suggests sin of a deeper dye, a condition of things more sad than this. Let us speak of it first, and consider
I. THOSE WHO KEEP NEITHERthe vineyards of others nor their own. We take (see previous homily) the vineyard to represent the soul of man. Now, we are all of us, and some especially, appointed to keep the vineyards of othersto watch and tend the spiritual interests of those entrusted to our care; such as our children, our class, our congregation. And all of us, not merely some, are appointed to keep our own vineyard, to care for our own souls. Now, our text speaks of those who did fulfil one part of this dutythey kept the vineyards of others, though they did not keep their own. But partial failure is less terrible than entire failure. And it is of this we speak; of those who keep neither the souls of others nor their own, who neglect both alike. Deplorable is it for those for whom they were appointed to care. What chance have such neglected ones? The mightiest influence that can possibly bear upon themI speak especially of our childrenthe influence of parental love and care to train their souls for God, is kept back. What wonder that in such neglected vineyards “ill weeds grow apace”? But yet more deplorable will it be for those thus guilty to such neglect. What will they say when at the last great day it is asked of them what they have done with the vineyards they were appointed to keep? And of course such persons, as a rule, keep not their own vineyards. The same indifference to spiritual things which made them neglect the vineyards of others makes them neglect their own. They have no hunger after God, no thirst for the living water which Christ alone can give. They care not for any of these things. And so the rank undergrowth which the world, the flesh, and sin propagate, spreads over all their spiritual being, and over that of those whom they were appointed to keep. Godless parents have godless children; they have not sought that it should be otherwise. And the teacher who knows not Christ for himself will never persuade his class to yield themselves to Christ. And the unholy ministerah! what will his congregation be? Oh, dreadful will it be for those who have kept neither the vineyards of those others that have been entrusted to them, nor their own. But our text tells especially of
II. THOSE WHO HAVE KEPT BUT ONE. They have kept the vineyards of others, but not their own. Or it might have been, for it often is, the other wayThey might have kept their own, but not others‘. Let us speak of these first. There are many of them. They think only about their own poor wretched souls, and how they can make them secure. For this they keep up certain religious habits and do many things. But it is all self-contained; it is mere selfishness, for it all centres in the man’s own soul. This is the sin of the Church today. Its members are so busy keeping each their own vineyards that they care but very little indeed for those of others. But such selfishness brings with it its own proper punishment, as it ought to and cannot but do. “The liberal man deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things he shall stand.” But the churlish common Christianity of our day fails to devise liberal things, and therefore does not stand. For is it standing high in men’s esteem? Is its odour fragrant; its name, like his of whom we read in Son 1:8, as “perfume poured forth”? And does it stand strongly, firmly on its faith? Is not that faith faltering in many places? and do not many fall away, and that daily? If we would have our own vineyard yield large luscious fruit to our Lord, care for the vineyards of others as well as our own.
2. But the text tells chiefly of those who kept others and not their own. Of this we have spoken already in the former homily. Therefore we come to speak of that most desirable and blessed condition which is found in
III. THOSE WHO KEEP BOTHthe vineyards of others and their own. Yes, the one we should do, but the other we should not leave undone. Certainly begin with your own. It may be an awful peril to begin with others. But having committed your own soul into Christ’s blessed keeping, and found him your very Lord and Saviour, now go straight away and try and persuade others to do just what you have done. Then you shall find fulfilled for you that parable of reward which all nature is full of. See that running brook. How merrily it prattles over the pebbles that form its bed, as it speeds away to render up its little tribute to the larger river, which will bear it on to the great and wide sea at last! The miry pond hard by the brook sneers at it, and says, “You haven’t got so much water that you can afford to let it all run away in that wasteful fashion; you should take care of what you have got as I do.” But the brook took no heed, and went on singing merrily just as before. And the hot summer came round at last, when, lo! the pond was dried up almost to its last puddle; but the brook went on as before, bright and clear and merry, sparkling and dancing along its appointed way. And we all know the reason why. The brook gave up its strength to the river, and that to the sea; but the sea gave back in vapour all that she had received, and so the fountains from which the brook flowed forth were filled again, and the brook was glad and not sorry that she had given her strength to others, for now her waters had not failed like those of the pond, but were renewed to her day by day. And so, when the water of life flows into our souls, if we let it flow out again to bless the souls of others, be sure that he who first gave us of this grace will give us yet more grace, and we shall find that there is that which scattereth and yet increaseth. The life of the merry healthful child spends itself in the vigorous activity of which it never seems to tire; but that active exercise replenishes the child’s life, and it makes increase in strength daily. So, then, as to the vineyards of your own soul and those of others, resolve and pray that you may not be found amongst those who keep neither. Pray, too, that you be not so unhappy as to be a keeper of but one, and especially if that one be not your own. But let this last condition of which we have been telling be yours. Keep your own vineyard and your brother’s too.S.C.
Son 1:8
How to find God.
The daughters of Jerusalemthe inmates of Solomon’s haremwho scornfully addressed these words to the faithful girl who was mourning after her beloved, never meant to utter a great spiritual truth when they thus spoke; any more than Caiaphas did when he said, “It is expedient that one man die for the people.” The doctrine of the atonement is in that Caiaphas-speech; and so, sacred suggestions for souls that seek their Lord are found in these words of Jerusalem’s daughters. The parallel passage, or comment on this verse, is Heb 11:12, “Be ye followers of them who through faith,” etc. Now, it is suggested by this verse that if we would find God
I. WE MUST GO FORTH. (Cf. Heb 13:13, “Let us go forth unto him,” etc.) We cannot stay
(1) in the world; or
(2) in any known sin; or
(3) amid the common religionism of the day.
II. OUR WAY MUST BE THE WAY OF THE LORD‘S TRUE PEOPLE. We must go by “the footsteps of the flock.” As to who the flock are, cf. Joh 10:1-42. They are the true sheep of Christ; those whom he calls “my sheep.” They consist not of those who are indifferent, still less strangers, and, least of all, hostile to him; but of those who have followed him, and do follow him “whithersoever he goeth.” It is good, oftentimes, when we are in doubt as to what we should do, to ask ourselves what some sincere follower of Christ whom we have known would have done in like circumstances. Such people leave footprints, and they are clearly discernible, and if we track them we shall come where they are.
III. WE MUST FEED OUR SOULS UPON THE WORDS OF THE LORD‘S SHEPHERDS. (Cf. Heb 13:7, “Remember those who have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God,” etc.) Such words are spoken in the Scriptures, and from many a Christian pulpit, and they who seek the Lord have ever found strength and help in the preaching of the Lord’s true pastors. It is easy to joke and jibe at the pulpit, and to say it is time that it were put away amidst old lumber; but let the pulpit be filled by a real Christ-given pastor, the words that are uttered from it shall still feed the flock of God. But especially let us feed upon the Word of him who is “the good Shepherd.” We shall newer find him whom we seek unless we obey these counsels.
IV. THOSE WHO WOULD THUS FIND HIM ARE VERY DEAR TO HIM. The speaker had addressed him as “thou whom my soul loveth,” and now he addresses her as the “fairest among women.” She had said of herself, “I am black,” but he says to her, “Thou fairest,” etc. All this suggests what so many Scriptures teach as to the children of God being “beautiful” in his sight, and as to his rejoicing over them.S.C.
Verse 1:9-2:7
Love assailed, but steadfast.
According to the interpretation we have taken of this poem, Solomon is here introduced as endeavouring to win the maiden’s consent to become his wife by flatteries and promises of rich gifts of jewels and adornments; but he altogether fails. The above-named subject is therefore suggested. Note, therefore
I. LOVE ASSAILED.
1. By flatteries. Solomon compares her to whom he is speaking to the “horses of Pharaoh’s chariot.” This comparison is not so coarse as it sounds. It was not unusual amongst the ancients to compare beautiful women to splendid horses (cf. Exposition). The ideas intended are those of grace in form and movement, courage, generosity, rare beauty. Then (Son 2:15) he tells her that her eyes are like “doves’ eyes.” Then (So Son 2:2) he disparages all other women in comparison with her. They are as thorns, whilst she is amongst them as the lily. All this is just such flattery as Solomon may be well conceived as employing. And it suggests how the soul affianced in God is often assailed. The world seeks to flatter it, that so it may be the more readily bent to evil. What is the self-satisfaction, the pride, the serene content with itself, in which many souls are weak, but just the effects of the world’s flatteries? Satan suggests them to the soul, and his servants repeat them continually, and his victims believe them. Flattery, what harm has it not wrought? So seductive, so powerful, so ruinous always when listened to. If we believe what the world, the flesh, and the devil whisper to us about ourselves and our own excellences, such as they are, we shall never think we need the grace of God, or, if for a while we have thought so, we shall soon give up such thoughts altogether.
2. By promises that the world makes of its pomps, adornments, and wealth. So Solomon here tries to win her to whom he speaks. “Rows of jewels,” for headdress, strings of pearls for her neck, gold chains studded with silver (Son 2:10, Son 2:11). Such gewgaws and finery would he give her. Homer tells (‘Odyssey,’ lib. 15.) how attractive and tempting such things are
“A man of theirs, subtle and shrewd, produced
A splendid collar, gold with amber strung.
With deep delight my mother and her maids
Gazed on it.”
And thus Solomon appealed to the natural love of adornment in a young maiden all unused to such rich presents. How many a woman’s heart has been won by them! how the love of them has made many a home miserable by the extravagance to which they have been the temptation! how many a fair character has been blasted and lives ruined by their deceitful glitter! And are not such facts parables of one of the chief temptations of the soul, whereby it is sought to seduce it from God? Jewels and pearls and gold, how they flash and sparkle] how they dazzle and delight poor human nature! Types are they of more terrible things stillthe pomps and vanities of this wicked world, for the sake of which all too many men are only too ready to sell their souls. How Moses was tempted by them! How brilliant was the career offered him! he, the cast out child of a slave, to be adopted into the house and family, the possessions and honours, of the imperial dynasty, the Pharaohs of Egypt! How our Lord was tempted in like manner! “All these things”all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them”will I give thee if,” etc.
II. LOVE STEADFAST. Solomon did not prevail with her whom he tried to win. All his flatteries and fineries failed. Not one word such as the royal tempter would fain have heard did she address to him, though many to her absent beloved. As showing her steadfastness, note here:
1. How at once her heart turns to him she loved. (Son 2:12.) The king has left her alone, has gone to his banquet. At once the sweet memories of her beloved fill her soul as with the fragrance of myrrh (Son 2:13). “While the king is in his circle, my spikenard sendeth forth,” etc. Her heart is always perfumed with these memories, and is bright therewith as well as fragrant, as with fair flowers and myrrh.
2. See, too, how she transfers all praise from herself to him. The king had told her she was fair (Son 2:15). Her thoughts fly away to him whom she loves, and she gives the praise to him (Son 2:16).
3. And her love consecrates all the scenes where she has been with him. The soft green turf (Son 2:16), on which they had cast themselves down beneath the cedars and fir trees, whose branches over them were as the beams and rafters of a house.
4. And makes her think all lowlily of herself but very loftily of him. She isso she saysbut as a common field flower (cf. So Son 2:1), just nothing at all. But he, her beloved, was as the citron tree, fragrant, stately, fruitful, affording refreshing shade (Son 2:3). Travellers tell of the beauty of this tree. And amid the leafy arcades of the vine, and beneath its o’erarching branches, she had loved to linger with him (Son 2:4); for with him, because of his dear love for her, she was safe as if under the protection of an army, following the banners of a mighty chief.
5. And these are ever the effects of a steadfast love. “Not I, but the grace of God which was in me:” so does Paul transfer praise from himself to God. Places where fellowship with Christ have been enjoyed are consecrated by that fact. And love is lowly. “Less than the least of all saints:” so speaks Paul of himself. But of Christ, what does he not say of him? What is not Christ to him, and all such? Fruit, and shade, and safeguard sure.
III. THE SECRET OF ALL THIS. The heart possessed by the love of Christ. There is no other antidote that will serve as does this against the flatteries and the bribes of the world. Nothing else will make us so deaf to its appeals, so blind to all its blandishments.
“Lord, let thy fear within us dwell,
Thy love our footsteps guide;
That love shall all vain love expel,
That fear all fear beside.”
S.C.
Son 1:9-11, Son 1:15
Characteristics of those whom Christ loves.
We need not mind who said what is written in these verses; or why it was said, according to their literal interpretation. But we may consider what is said, for it is true of all people who are “of the Lord beloved.”
I. THEY ARE HIS BELOVED. This more than justice; for that would have regarded them as they were in themselvesthe reverse of well pleasing to him. It is more than mercy; for that, though it may have spared the wrong doer, would not have received him into affection. It is grace abounding. And Christ does thus regard his people. “Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends.” What rich store of consolation to all cast-down souls there is in this!
II. THEY ARE AS “A COMPANY OF HORSES IN PHARAOH‘S CHARIOT.” (Cf. Zec 10:3, “The Lord hath visited his flock, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the day of battle.”) And such comparison is frequent both in the Scriptures and in the ordinary literature of that age. In this song the ideas intended are their alacrity and vigour, swiftness, strength, grace, courage, etc. The image suggests:
1. The alacrity and vigour of the believer‘s service. (Cf. Psa 119:1-176; “I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart.”) And what so enlarges the heart, so causes it to swell with delightful emotion, as the consciousness that the Lord’s love rests upon us.
2. Their courage. (Cf. Job’s description of the battlehorsehow he “paweth in the valley,” and “rejoiceth in his strength,” “mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted;” “suffereth the quiver to rattle against him, the glittering spear and the shield.”) And how often the dauntless courage, of which the horse is a symbol, has been found in God’s servants (cf. Daniel; the three Hebrew youths; Paul; and many more)! Think of the martyrs who
“Mocked the cross and flame.
They met the tyrant’s brandished steel,
The lion’s gory mane.”
And in less marked and tragic, but in equally real way, has this courage been shownis shownin our own day. Illustrate: Arthur kneeling in prayer before the whole room at Rugby (see ‘Tom Brown’s School days’). And such courage is yet needed, and, thank God, is yet found.
3. The exquisite symmetry of form for which the choicest Arabian steeds were famous tells of that moral symmetry and harmoniousness of character which will one day, and should now, distinguish his Church and people. It is the same idea as in St. Paul’s image of the symmetry of the perfected Church. Hence he tells of its “breadth, and length, and depth, and height,” which “all saints” are to “comprehend,” because they shall share in and exhibit it.
4. His people‘s unity is also suggested by the comparison with “a company” of horses. The Church is militant here upon earth, and therefore the idea of a war chariot is appropriate. But the company of steeds who draw it, are they not so esteemed because of their ordered obedience? Not struggling hither and thither as each wills, nor each struggling to get its own way and so pulling in different directions. Alas! it is a sarcasm to liken the Church of our day to “a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariot.” Would to God it were not, and that what is may not much longer be!
III. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL WITH ADORNMENTS. (Son 1:10; cf. Pro 1:8, Pro 1:9, “My son hear, For they shall “be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.”) What, therefore, these adornments are is evident. They are the graces wrought by the Spirit; what St. Paul calls, “the fruits of the Spirit”love, joy, peace, etc. These are the golden links of the chain, added one by one, each connected with and dependent on its fellow. Frequently is the adornment of the soul set forth in Scripture under the imagery of the adornment of the body. We read of “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,” etc. And thus Christ will array his Church and each individual believing soul.
IV. THEY SHALL RECEIVE “GRACE FOR GRACE;” that is, grace upon gracegrace in addition to grace already given (cf. Son 1:11, “We will make thee,” etc.). And this is so. We are bidden “grow in grace;” and the soul does thus advance, does receive more and more of those beautiful adornments which are the Spirit’s workmanship, those good works for which we were created in Christ Jesus.
V. THE LOVELINESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS SEEN IN THEM. This the suggestion of Son 1:15, “Thine eyes are doves’.” We read of the “evil” eye (Mat 20:15); of “eyes full of adultery” (2Pe 2:14); and of the “high look and proud heart” (Psa 101:5). But what a contrast to all these have we here! Eyes of gentleness, of purity, of heavenly mindedness; eyes through which the Holy Spiritwhose chosen emblem is the dovelooks and is seen. What a description! Would that all we who profess and call ourselves Christians corresponded to it far more than we do!S.C.
Son 1:12
Holy Communion.
The form of expression in this verse has suggested thoughts on this theme to so many devout students of this book that, whilst not admitting their interpretation as correct, we may nevertheless avail ourselves of such suggestions in order to set forth some precious and important truths concerning itthe soul’s communion with Christ. And we note
I. THE ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL ARE CHRIST‘S TABLE. (Cf. Rev 3:20, “If any man will open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.”) In such communion we have the “feast of fat things full of marrow” of which the prophet speaks (cf. also our Lord’s words, “Come, for all things are ready; my oxen,” etc.), Now, such communion is had:
1. In prayer. Not mere saying prayers, but in true prayer.
2. In the worship of the Church. How often have we found this to be so! On the sabbath, and in the sanctuary, how often we have there found that
“The cares which infest our day
Have folded their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away!”
3. The table of the Lord is especially the King’s table. Hence to our service there the name of “holy communion” has been pre-eminently given. All these are opportunities of such communion, and were designed so to be. But
II. THEIR VALIDITY AND VALUE DEPEND ON THE KING‘S PRESENCE. “While the King sitteth,” etc. How poor and wretched are our prayers if there be no realization of the presence of Christ! And the worship of the Church, what an empty form! And at the table of the Lord not to “discern the Lord’s body,” that is to make the service worse than useless; it is to incur his judgment and condemnation. Let us never come to this or to any season of communion without invoking his presence.
III. AND ARE MANIFESTED BY THEIR EFFECTS. “While my spikenard sendeth forth,” etc. “It is in seasons of communion with the Lord that the graces of the Spirit are called forth in most lively exercise.” A holy fragrance, a “sweet smell,” well pleasing and acceptable, is yielded at such seasons by the heart of the Lord’s servants. And:
1. To the Lord himself. Our prayers rise up before him “as incense, and the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice.” He is well pleased. He told Nathanael, “When thou wast under the fig tree I saw thee;” there, where he had poured forth his fervent prayer. And in our assemblies for worship, where that worship is real, the Lord loveth such “gates of Zion.” Of such worshippers it is written, “The Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him.” And of them he says, “They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels.” And at his table, if we do indeed commune with him, the faith and hope and love, the contrition and humility and self-surrender, all which the soul then and there offers to him, these are fragrant indeed, sweet and precious as were the anointings of his sacred body by the penitent Magdalen and by Mary of Bethany.
2. And many others are conscious of, and share in that fragrance. Our fellow guests. What a source of true blessing and manifold help to any Church is the presence of those who live in constant communion with their Lord! What a hallowed influence such exert! what real good they do l Like their Lord’s, in their measure and degree, the name of such is “as ointment poured forth.” And all those with whom such persons have to dotheir children, servants, neighbours, associates, and the world generallywill, as it was with the apostles, “take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus.”
3. And they themselves are blessed. For is it not good to have all that is pure and holy and Christ-like in us quickened, confirmed, strengthened, as is the case through communion with our Lord? Moses’ face shone after he had been in the presence of the Lord. The spiritual help which comes to the real worshipper is so great, and has always been so recognized, that for the sake of having opportunity for such communion Christ’s people have risked everything. If they would only have kept their religion to themselves no one would have said anything; but they would not. They would come together for worship and for communion; and hence, all over the world, they have been led “as sheep to the slaughter,” and for Christ’s sake they “have been slain all the day long.” What proof and evidence this is of the real blessedness of communion with Christ! May he help us to add each one our testimony to this same sure truth!S.C.
Son 1:13, Son 1:14
What Christ is to his people.
He is here said to be as
I. “A BUNDLE OF MYRRH.” See Exposition for explanation of ancient customs alluded to by this “bundle,” or small box, or other such receptacle for perfumes. Its religious teachings are such as arise from the fact’ that:
1. Myrrh was used in the “anointing oil” with which Aaron and the priests were anointed. It was “the oil of gladness” with which Christ was anointed above his fellows (cf. Psa 123:2). The teaching, therefore, is that Christ is the Joy of his people. Cf. “Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding Joy” (Psa 43:4). Then:
2. Myrrh was largely used for incense. Cf. in the Revelation the vision of the angel to whom “was given much incense.” It represented the acceptableness of the prayers of God’s saints. And it is Christ’s Name that gives worth and validity to our poor prayers. We join them on to his all-availing intercession, and we find ourselves “accepted in the Beloved.”
3. Myrrh was used for embalming, so as to prevent corruption and decay. And this is just what Christ is to us. He prevents the moral corruption which would destroy our souls having power over them. It would fasten upon them as it does on those in whom Christ is not; but he arrests its power, and preserves our souls in life. And he will, he does, stay the corruption of the grave. That does, indeed, fasten on the poor cast-off garment of the soul; but on the soul itself Christ suffers corruption to have no power, for he clothes it with the spiritual body, so that “mortality is swallowed up of life,” and “this corruptible puts on incorruption.” But note:
4. In order to be all this to us, he must ever abide in our hearts. (Cf, “He shall lie always on my bosom.”) So speaks the maiden who is the type of the believing, Christ-loving soul. Can we each, then, say of Christ, “He is ‘my Beloved'”? If so, we may go on and say, “He is unto me as myrrh.”
II. “A CLUSTER OF CAMPHIRE.” (Verse 14.) Such flowers were used for the decoration of rooms and for personal adornment. It is not easy to fix what precise flower is meant. We are told its habitat, but not its special characteristics, amongst the many flowers amid which it is found. But its name is very significant.]t is the same word that elsewhere is rendered “propitiation,” or “atonement.” The Jewish rabbis took it as a type of the Messiah. Hence they rendered this verse thus: “My beloved is unto me the man who propitiates all things.” And is not this a most true and beautiful rendering? For is not this just what our blessed Lord does for us? Is not his cross the antitype of that tree which Moses had shown to him, and which, when he had cast it into the bitter waters of Marah, made those waters sweet? The cross of Christ is the sweetener of life’s bitter waters. Well, therefore, might the flower which bore the name of “the propitiation” be taken as telling of him. Is it not he who, by his grace, propitiates the worries and cares of life, so that they no longer irk and fret my will; and the perplexities and mysteries I everywhere meet with, so that they no longer bewilder and beat down my faith; and the temptations which would defile my soul, so that they no more work me such harm; and the sin for which I might have been condemned, so that it is silent forever against me; and the grave and its corruption, so that they will not hold me therein? True, his gracious work is done on me; but it is as if the mouths of the lions themselves were stopped, so powerless to do me harm are they if Christ be to me my Propitiation. Oh, most sweet and blessed flower! May it ever beautify my home, my life, my heart!S.C.
Son 1:16, Son 1:17, and Son 2:4
The house of the Lord.
Before the soul delightedly tells of the house of her Lord, she speaks
I. OF THE LORD OF THE HOUSE. She declares not only that he is fair, but pleasant also. How many of his people fail here! Some are fair, but not pleasant. Some are pleasant, but not fair. Alas! some are neither. But of him supremely can it be said that he is fair and pleasant. Not only fair in outward seeming, but pleasant in his spirit, temper, and demeanour.
II. OF HIS HOUSE. The soul says “our” in speaking of his abode. And so closely are we united with him, that his people may, though out of reverence they seldom do, speak of that which is his as theirs also. The picture drawn in these verses (16, 17) is one of rural delightthe soft and verdant turf, the o’erarching and umbrageous trees, the noble cedar, the stately fir, beneath which those spoken of have cast themselves down. The ideas suggested are those of happy rest. Psa 23:1-6; “Thou makest me to lie down in green pastures,” etc; tells substantially of the same spiritual rest. And the house of the Lord is the place of such blessed rest of heart and soul and mind. Because of this, we find those many impassioned expressions in the Psalms as to the psalmist’s delight in the house of the Lord; how he had rather be a doorkeeper there than hold any place of worldly honour or pleasure, however exalted (Psa 84:1-12.). The agitations and cares of the mind hush themselves to rest there. The psalmist tells in one place how the mystery of the Divine rule over menwicked men often prospering and good men cast downhow this distressed, dismayed, and all but destroyed his faith in God, “until,” he says, “I went into the sanctuary; then I understood.” Yes, the house of the Lord should be, and often is to his people, what this beautiful picture of rest on the green grass, beneath the cool, refreshing shade of fragrant and stately trees, presents to usa place of pure delight, rest, and refreshment of heart.
III. ITS PROVISIONS. It is a “banqueting house.” It is so when the Lord brings us there and is with us there (cf. on verse 12).
IV. ITS DEFENCE. “His banner over me is love.” That is, the soul’s protection and guard, so sure and strong as that of a banner-led host, is the Lord’s love. Is it not so? What guards us there and everywhere but his love? What is the defence of the home but the father’s love? What the safeguard of the wife but her husband’s love? Love is always a mighty protector, a sure defence, a strong bulwark. “How doth the hen protect her brood,” but by her love? And love ever guards the beloved ones. And so with our souls, the Lord’s love is their defence.S.C.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES
Son 1:1-4
The Bridegroom and the bride.
Love’s native language is poetry. When strong and happy feeling dominates the soul, it soon bursts into a song. As young life in a fruit tree breaks out into leaf and blossom, so the spiritual force of love unfolds in metaphor and music. Among the lyrics composed by King David, those which celebrate the Messiah-Prince have the richest glory of fervour, blossom most into Oriental imagery; and inasmuch as Solomon inherited somewhat the poetic genius of his father, it was natural that he should pour out in mystic song the heart throb of a nation’s hopes. The deep and inseparable union between Christ and his saints is by no one set forth so clearly as by Jesus the Christ; hence love is strong and tender, because love’s Object is noble, winsome, kingly, Divine.
I. THE BRIDEGROOM‘S CHARMS.
1. The love of Christ is incomparably precious. “Thy love is better than wine.” All true love is preciousa sacred thing, a mighty force. The love of Jesus is absolutely perfect, without any admixture of alloy. Love is the mightiest force in the universe, a magnet whose attractive power reaches from the throne of God to the very gates of hell. And love is as precious as it is potent. It makes a desert into a paradise; changes base metal into gold; transforms foul rebels into loving sons. It is a banquet for the heart; a perpetual feast; a fountain of purest joy. What the rarest wine is for a fainting body, that the love of Jesus is to a burdened soul.
2. The love of Christ is diffusive. It is as “unguent poured forth.” The love of God’s Son existed long before it was manifested. That love is seen in all the arrangements of creation. That love is unfolded in all the methods of daily providence. “By him all things consist.” That love is shed abroad in the believer’s heart “by the Holy Ghost.” As the flowers in our gardens pour out their essential life in their sweet fragrance, so the love of Christ is Christ’s life poured out for us. All the love which angels cherish is Christ’s love diffused. He is the “Firstborn of the creation of God.” All the parental love that has ever glowed on the altar of human hearts is the love of Christ diffused. All practical benevolence for the well being of mankind is the outflow of Immanuel’s love. The love that constrains me to compassionate deeds and to intercessory prayers is the love of Christ diffused. Discovering the heavenly savour inspires our hearts with joy. Heaven is knit with silken cords to earth.
3. The love of Christ is condescending and gracious. “The King hath brought me into his chambers.” Had we been told that God admitted into his presence chamber the unsinning angels, we should not have been so profoundly moved. They are meet for his service. But to admit the base and degenerate sons of men into his intimate friendship, this reflects a singular glory upon his kindness; this is a miracle of love. By such familiar intercourse he trains us in kingly conduct, communicates to us Divine wisdom, moulds us into his own image. Beyond this deed of grace not even God can go. As there was no depth of humiliation to which he was not willing to stoop for sinners, so there is no height of excellence from which he would exclude us. Such love no human thought can measure. It is higher than heaven: how shall we scale it? It is deeper than hell: how shall we fathom it?
II. THE BRIDE‘S RESPONSE.
1. Her love originates in the high renown of his love. “Thy Name is as ointment poured forth.” So long as this strong force of love was confined within the heart of Christ, no human soul could suspect its existence. On what ground could any dweller on earth conjecture or imagine that he was the object of Immanuel’s love? That love must be unfolded, declared, made clearly known. And this is what Jesus has done. Not content with warm protestations of his affection, he has stooped to perform impressive deeds of kindnessyea, prodigies of compassion. All the romantic stories of heroic love Jesus has immeasurably surpassed. His renown is sung in all the courts of the heavenly palace. He has made for himself a “Name above every name,” human or angelic… This high reputation warrants our approach, our admiration, our trust, our responsive love. “We love him, because he has first loved us.”
2. Our love craves a closer fellowship with his Person. “Draw me!” We have made such discoveries of excellence in our Immanuel that we long for larger acquaintance. To us he is a vast mine of spiritual wealth, and the deeper we go the rarer jewels do we find. His charms seem infinite, and no fear troubles us that we shall exhaust them. We are troubled that our own love is so inadequate, so unworthy; hence we desire a closer approach, that his spiritual beauty may quicken our languid affection. Feeling the magnetic power of his love, we too may be magnetized. We cannot command, by a mere volition or a mere resolve, that our love shall flow out. So the only way to intensify our love is by coming into fuller contact with his. Only life can generate life, and only the love of Christ can stir into activity the principle of true love in us. Therefore we pray, “Draw us into nearer fellowship, into more vital union!”
3. Our love desires a prompt obedience. “We will run after thee.” We love to walk in his footsteps, and when we discover where his haunts lie, we run to seek him there. So sincere is our love, that we long to do his will promptly and heartily. We wish to hear every whisper of his commands. We deprecate that anything on our part should chase the smiles from his face. We long that his thoughts may be our thoughts, his dispositions our dispositions, his purposes our purposes; so that between Christ and us there may be perfect concord. As said Ruth to Naomi, so say we, “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou dwellest, I will dwell.” We can do without food, we can do without friends, we can do without health, but we cannot do without Christ. Wrote Samuel Rutherford to a friend, “If hell fire stood between you and Christ, you would press through in order to reach him.” All service is delight when the feet are winged by love.
4. Love brings us into the best society. “The upright love thee.” The love that draws the best men near to Christ likewise draws them near each other. As the spokes of a wheel get near to the hub they get into closer proximity to each other. The more love we give out the more substantial good we get. The friendship of the pious is a precious treasure; their wisdom enlightens, their piety stimulates, their love enkindles, ours. In their society we are elevated and gladdened. The story of their experience inspires us for new endeavour; their triumphs awaken our most sacred ambitions. With Moses, we learn meekness; with Elijah, we learn how to pray; with Job, we learn endurance; with Martin Luther, we learn courage. The society of saints throws into the shade the society of sages or of kings.
5. Love treasures up the recollection of past favours. “We will remember thy love more than wine.” What Jesus Christ has done for us in the past he will do again. Since his love is infinite, he has not exhausted his love tokens in the past; he has more costly things yet to give, richer dainties yet to place on his banquet table. Still, there are times when we cannot realize a present Saviour, when the conscious possession of his love is suspended, and at such times it is a cordial to our spirits to bring out the memorials and tokens of past affection. Our memory is a vast chamber, hung round with ten thousand mementoes of Immanuel’s love. Thus, in a dark hour of depression, King David sang, “Yet will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the hill Mizar.” In winter’s dark days we will feast upon the fruits of well remembered summer.
6. Love creates the purest joy. “We will be glad and rejoice in thee.” Joy arises when a felt want is satisfied; but so long as we are sensible of needs and cravings for which no supply is at hand we are miserable. A thirsty man upon a scorching desert, leagues removed from any well, is a stranger to gladness. The misery of lost spirits, doubtless, arises from passionate cravings for which there is no supply. On the other hand, when we can feel that Christ is oursours in bonds which nothing can severwe feel that every want is met, every ambition is realized, every aspiration fulfilled. “Then shall I be satisfied, when I awake, in thy likeness.” Therefore, although outward surroundings may tend to depress, we can always find in the fulness of Christ sources of hope and joy. “With him is the fountain of life.”D.
Son 1:5, Son 1:6
Low estimate of self.
A genuine Christian will take a modest estimate of himself. “He has learnt not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think.” Many Christians undervalue themselves; and though this practice is not so obnoxious in the eyes of others as over valuation, yet this also is a fault. It is better to pass no judgment on ourselves; it is seldom called for; it is often a folly.
1. EXTERNAL BLEMISH. “I am black.”
1. This blemish (if it be one) is very superficial; it is only skin deep. A strong comparison is employed to convey more vividly the impression”black as the tents of Kedar.” These were manufactured from camel’s hair, and, from long exposure to sun and dew, were in colour a dingy black. So when a Christian views himself as he appears externally to others, he sees, perhaps, his ignorance, his poverty, his imperfections, his obscurity, the contempt with which he is regarded by others, If the heavenly Friend should view him only in his outward appearance, he is devoid of attraction, destitute of ordinary beauty.
2. This blemish arises from the hard treatment of others. “My mother’s children were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards.” Compulsion was used. The speaker had been coerced into employment which was menial and exhausting. It demanded long exposure to scorching sun and to chilling dews. The effect was to mar the beauty of the countenance. Yet the eye of love would detect beneath the surface a richer beautythe beauty of patient obedience and unmurmuring submission. Men of the world may oppress and persecute; they cannot injure character. Earthly kings and magistrates may scourge and imprison the bride of Christ; they may despoil her of much external comeliness; but in the eye of reasonin the eye of Godshe is more comely than before. Only the dross is consumed; real excellence of soul comes clearer into view.
3. Or this may be a real blemish through self-neglect. “My own vineyard have I not kept.” Possibly, in the endurance of such hardships, it might have been possible to escape the blemish. Suitable precautions were not taken. Under stress of cruel compulsion, there had been a feeling of self-abandonmenta weak yielding to despair. It is hard to maintain a heavenly tempor under daily provocations; yet it can be done. It is hard to cultivate the Christian graces amid scenes of suffering and mockery; yet it ought to be done. The King Omnipotent has said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” We shall render the most faithful and useful service to others when we maintain in vigour our own piety. The healthful face of a holy character must under no circumstances be neglected.
II. INTERNAL BEAUTY. Though black (i.e. sun-browned), she was yet “comely”yea, beauteous “as the curtains of Solomon.” Likely enough, there is in this poetic drama a conversation, the parts of which are not distinctly marked. Likely enough, the daughters of Jerusalem here interject the remarks, “comely;” “as the curtains of Solomon.”
1. The judgment of others respecting us is often more equitable than self-judgment. Some persons, confessedly, have a sad habit of overrating their virtues; but others are diffident and over-modestthey are given to self-depreciation. Through a jealousy for truth, or through a fear of self-delusion, they underrate their real goodness. As we can judge the merit of a painting or a statue a little distance removed, so a judicious onlooker can often more accurately judge us than we can judge ourselves. It is better for our comfort and for our usefulness neither to underrate nor to overrate ourselves. Very precious is the inward spirit of truth.
2. Internal beauty is preferable to external. It is not so apparent to the eye of man, but it is more prized by God, by angels, and by the best class of men. It is superior in itself, because it belongs to the soul. It is more influential for good. It brings more joy to the possessor. It is permanent, and outlasts all changes of time and pain and death. The genuine Christian may be poor in earthly wealth, but he is endowed with the treasures of heaven. He may wear coarse and homespun apparel, yet his soul is clothed in a robe of perfect righteousness. His face may be marred with suffering and ploughed with the effects of arduous toil, yet is he comely with holiness and beautified by the hand of the great Artificer.
3. Internal beauty is obtained through self-sacrificing service. The bride was really comely, though she had been compelled to work, like a slave, in the vineyards; yea, she was comely in character, as the result of this toil. Very true is it that no persecution can injure us; it brings, sooner or later, real advantage. The noblest characters have been fashioned and burnished in the furnace of suffering. Even of the Son of God we are told that “he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.” The statue is not perfected until it has felt ten thousand strokes of the chisel. The diamond does not sparkle at its best until it has been well cut on the wheel of the lapidary. The pearl of great price is the fruit of pain. The verdict of experience records, “It was good for me that I was afflicted.” Suffering is God’s lancet, whereby he produces health. A vital lesson is here taught. Without personal piety there can be no permanent usefulness. A man’s character is the mightiest instrument for recovering and elevating others. If we long to see the vineyards of others fair and fruitful, our own vineyard must be a pattern of good culture. Our first duty is respecting ourselves. If we are full of light, we can lead others along the path to heaven. Personal holiness is the great desideratum.D.
Son 1:7-9
Seeking and finding.
The Christian pilgrim has to pass through a variety of fortunes in his passage to the celestial city. His fluctuations of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, resemble an April day. Sunshine alternates with storm. Now he is on the mountain top; now in the valley of humiliation. Now he looks into his Master’s face, and sees a smile of heavenly love; now that gracious face is hid, like the sun during eclipse.
I. WE HAVE A SENSE OF DESERTION. This is a matter of personal feeling, not an external reality. God does not undergo any change, nor does he ever forsake his friends. But it sometimes happens that we cease to realize our vital interest in Jesus; we lose for a season the enjoyment of his favours. The sun is as near the earthyea, nearerin December as in June; yet, because our northern hemisphere is turned away from the sun, flowers do not bloom, nor do fruits ripen, on our side the globe. So we may unintentionally have drifted away from Christ; our hearts may have flagged in devotion or in zeal; the bloom of our love may have vanished; some cloud of earthliness may have intervened, some mist of doubt may have risen up, and we no longer see the radiant face of our Beloved. In proportion to our appreciation of our heart’s best Friend will be the sorrow we shall endure. No earthly good will compensate for the loss. No other joy can take its place. It seems as if the natural sun were veiled; as if earth were clad in mourning; as if all music had ceased, because Jesus is not a Guest in the soul.
II. HERE, NOTWITHSTANDING, THERE IS AN UNDERCURRENT OF HOPE. We find yet, within the soul, strong love to Jesus, although we no longer realize his love to us. This is solid comfort; for it is evident that our love is real, and not simply a desire for self-advantage. It is not a refined form of selfishness, inasmuch as our love to him abides, although it brings no enjoyment. And we still perceive and appreciate his office. We still regard him as the great Shepherd of the sheep. As such he will not allow a single lamb to stray. It is the part of a good shepherd to care for each member of the flock, and to restore the wanderer. Though we no longer bask in the sunshine of his favour, we are sure that others do, and we love him for his compassion to them. Further, we are sure that he is not far away. He is busy with his flock, feeding them, caring for their needs; so we will seek him out. We will not sullenly wait until he shall come to us; we will search for him, for we are sure that he will approve our search. If we heartily desire him, this is hopeful.
III. WE HAVE ALSO AN EAGER INQUIRY. “Tell me where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon.” So fully conscious is the soul of its loss and injury, that it longs to end this sad experience. Its main difficulty is what to do, what step to take. No hindrance in the way of finding Jesus shall be allowed to remain. If we have been guilty of any misdeed or neglect, we will confess it honestly. One question only perplexes usWhere shall we find our Well-beloved? We want information, guidance, light. Yet this same Jesus is our All in all. He is our Light. He will reveal himself. In due time he will give us light. So we speak to him directly, and we employ a very discreet argument: “For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?” In other words, “Why should I seek for satisfaction elsewhere but in thee?” If I seek, I shall find only disappointment. These fancied joys will be as apples of Sodom, as the grapes of Gomorrah. I must have some object on whom to expend my love. Let it be no other object, no inferior object, than thyself. Only show me thy chosen haunt, and I will find. thee out. Distance shall be annihilated. Mountains shall be levelled.
IV. A GRACIOUS RESPONSE. “Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.” Prayer for light is especially acceptable to God. In him is no darkness, and nothing is further from him than to keep us in darkness. Most of all does he delight in the prayer which yearns after him. It has been his business all through the past eternity to reveal himself, and to come into nearer union with the human soul; hence our prayer is only the echo of his own wish, our desire is his desire, and response is ready. How tender is his rebuke of our ignorance! “If thou know not.” It is as if he said, “Yet surely you ought to know. You have found the way to me aforetime. It is the same way still, for I change not.” Or, “If thou canst not find the way to me directly, then act as my friends act. Learn from the successes of others. I have instructed others how to find me. They have found me, and now they are patterns and helpers for all seekers. Observe the ‘footsteps of the flock.'” If we are earnest in our search after Christ, we shall use all and every means likely to ensure our success. Very often it is not more light we want, but a humble and diligent readiness to use the light we have. Unfaithfulness to our light is a common failing. The instruments employed to convey the electric current must be scrupulously clean, and every law must be delicately observed, or the mystic force refuses to act. Our spiritual sensibilities are far more delicate, and a neglect, which may seem minute or insignificant, will defeat our purpose, and rob us of our joy. They who desire intimate fellowship with Jesus must be companions of the friends of Jesus, and must learn lessons in the humblest school. The footprints of other pilgrims we must carefully note and faithfully follow. Jesus is no respecter of persons. Others have found him: why should not we? They have not exhausted his love; they have merely tasted a sip of the infinite ocean. I may, if I will, drink more deeply than any mortal yet has done.D.
Son 1:12-17
Reciprocal esteem.
Love, manifested and known, will always beget love. As every plant has in its womb seed of its own kind, so, too, love has within itself generative power. If any human heart does not love our Immanuel, it is because that heart is ignorant of him, its eyesight is blurred, its vision is obscured. No sooner is Jesus known as a true and substantial Friend, than love in some form springs up. In the form of gratitude it first appears; then in the form of admiration; then in delight; then in intimacy; then in passionate devotement. Jesus known is Jesus loved.
I. OBSERVE THE CHRISTIAN‘S LOVE FOR JESUS CHRIST.
1. The soul esteems him as its Sovereign King. As love is the mightiest force in the human breast, love’s object is at once promoted to the supreme place. No elevation is too great for our Beloved. It would be a restraint upon our loveyea, a painif we did not give to Jesus the highest throne. We perceive that he has all the qualities of a king, and that it is for our own advantage that he should rule within. And when we make the experiment we find such rest, such security, such triumphs, that we would fain exalt him to a higher place. To be the servantay, the slaveof such a King is honour infinite, joy ineffable.
2. The renewed soul desires to have the closest friendship with Jesus. Where the heavenly King comes, he always spreads a feast for the soul. Out of his fulness he freely bestows. As a fountain spontaneously sends up its limpid waters, so doth Christ our Lord. To be in his presence, to listen to his ripe wisdom, to realize all the advantage of his friendship, this is a spiritual feast. The wisdom he has, he gives. His everlasting righteousness he shares with us. His heavenly peace he conveys to us. His own love is shed abroad in our hearts. All the wealth of his kingdom he conveys to his chosen. We are “heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ.” The friendship of Immanuel is a perpetual feast. They who daily eat at the same table enjoy the closest intimacy with each other.
3. The presence of Jesus Christ draws out our hidden graces. “My perfume sends forth its sweetest odours.” Just as the summer sun draws out the essence of our garden flowers, so the energy of the Saviour’s love stirs into activity the hidden forces of our souls. In every man is a principle of imitation. If we see a splendid deed of generosity, we are impelled to copy it. When the heart is free from sinful bias, it aspires to imitate every excellence it beholds. So, when the glories of Christ’s nature are unfolded, like graces begin to unfold in us. Repentance, gratitude, humility, faith, patience, devoted love, are drawn out in the sunny atmosphere of Jesus’ presence. Fragrant flowers and spicy herbs, which had lain long hidden in the frozen soil, spring up and send out a rare perfume. When Jesus dwelt in the house, Mary was constrained to break the alabaster box, and to set free the delicious odour; and when Jesus dwells in our hearts, every restraint gives way, and the essence of our graces yields a sweet perfume.
4. We esteem the love of Jesus for its constancy. The bundle of myrrh abides with us “all night.” Our beloved Friend is not easily offended. “He hates putting away.” In darkness as well as at noon, in times of pain and calamity as in days of prosperity, his love remains unchanged. If for a season we should neglect him, and be absorbed in other pursuits, he does not abandon us. lie may visit our folly with chastisement, and to the soul there may be temporary night, yet the remembrance of his love will be a sweet and reviving cordial. It will have a healing efficacy. We shall be touched with a sense of shame; and as myrrh soothes and quiets pain, so will the fragrant breath of our Immanuel heal us.
5. The friendship of Jesus satisfies every want. “My Beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.” The cluster of camphire flowers had a renown both for beauty and for fragrance. So the excellence of Jesus has a fascination forevery sense of the renewed man. Every organ is a channel through which Christ’s life flows. We look unto Jesus, and we are charmed with the beauty of his character. We listen, and his words of promise kindle in us a holy rapture. His deeds and sacrifices for us have a sweet-smelling savour. His intercession for us is like the temple incense. “We taste that the Lord is gracious.” He is to us heavenly manna”the Bread of life.” The coming of Christ is like autumn abundance. “He is all our salvation and all our desire;” “My God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus;” “He that cometh to me shall never hunger; he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” Nothing so enchants and satisfies the soul like Jesus. Amongst the verdant and generous vineyards of Engedi, the cluster of camphire was distinguished for fragrance and for usefulness; so among the charms of nature, among the genial society of human friends, Jesus stands out prominently the most precious and the most prized of all. There is nothing on earth we can compare with him. He is without a rival.
II. OBSERVE THE REGARD WHICH JESUS CHRIST HAS FOR HIS FRIENDS.
1. He fully esteems all the good there is in them. “Behold, thou art fair, my love.” The eye of friendship will discover many virtues in a man which the eye of malice can never find. It is not love that is blind; it is malice that is blind. Love has eyesight keener than an eagle, keener than an archangel. The eye of Jesus sees in us excellences which he himself has created; and though as yet these are only in tiny germ, yet, with the magnifying power of love, Jesus beholds them as they shall be, full-orbed and beautiful. There is no future to him. What to us is in the future is with him present. He looks with tenderness upon the tiny blade of pious love, and lo! already ’tis a cedar of Lebanon, among whose branches the feathered minstrels sing. If only a heavenly ambition begins to stir within the breast, he hastens to foster it. Says he, “It is well that it was in thine heart.”
2. He repeats the commendation in order to confirm it. “Thou art fair; thou art fair, my love.” The conscience of the Christian, filled with light from heaven, is painfully sensible of its faults, and asks in astonishment, “Lord, didst thou call me fair?” Then, to banish doubt and to pierce to the heart unbelief, Jesus repeats his approval, “Behold, thou art fair, my love.” “Though it may be that our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.” Full clearly he sees the young germ of newborn love, and this he will make to grow until it shall fill the soul with beauty. Hence he already says, “Thou art fair, my love.” Under the magic wand of love, the nature that had sunk into a beast becomes incarnate beauty. Love creates. Love transfigures.
3. Love makes like unto itself. Because Christ our Lord is beautiful, we shall be beautiful. Because Christ is pleasant, we shall be pleasant. Every quality of mind and heart that Jesus possesses he will communicate unto us. “He emptied himself” that he might fill us. It is a special pleasure to discover a new excellence in our Immanuel, inasmuch as that excellence shall be ours. “We shall be like him when we see him as he is.”
4. Jesus identifies himself completely with his ransomed ones. The couch, or resting place, in the palace garden is said to be “ours.” “Our bed is green.” It is a verdant oasis in this world’s desert. Or, if the palace is described, it is our house. To all the possessions of the Bridegroom the bride is encouraged to lay claim. It is always the result of the marriage tie that the interests and fortunes of the two are identical. One is the complement of the other. Neither is complete alone. There could be no shepherd unless there were sheep. There can be no bridegroom without a bride. There can be no king without subjects. Nor can there be a Saviour unless there are also the saved. The glory of Jesus Christ is seen nowhere but in his ransomed Church. Therefore Jesus completely and generously identifies himself with us. All his possessions are to be our possessions. All his noble qualities are to be our noble qualities. His purity is to be our purity. His throne is to be our throne likewise. It is his everlasting purpose that we shall be “joint heirs.” “They shall have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”D.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
Son 1:1
Holy lyrics.
There are many songs in Old Testament Scripturethe song of deliverance from the Red Sea (Exo 15:1-27.); the song of the well (Num 21:17, Num 21:18); the song of Moses (Deu 32:1-52.); the song of Deborah (Jdg 5:1-31.); the song (pre-eminently such) of David, in Psa 18:1-50.; and the song of Isaiah (5). But this of Solomon is described as the Song of Songs, i.e. of all the most excellent, as it is the richest in imagery, the intensest in feeling, the most complete in poetic form. Although there is something dramatic in the structure of this poem, inasmuch as several speakers are introduced, uttering varying moods of feeling, still the poem is mainly lyrical, inasmuch as its spirit is prevailingly sentiment. Song expresses
I. FEELING GENERALLY; AND FEELING OCCUPIES A PRE–EMINENT PLACE IN RELIGIOUS LIFE. True religion has its root in knowledge and belief; a God not known cannot be truly worshipped, a religion not understood cannot be acceptably practised. Yet religion is not merely an exercise, a possession, of the intellect. Our strongest convictions are naturally accompanied by our deepest emotions. The measure of feeling will, indeed, vary with individual temperament, but a religion with no sentiment is mechanical and unlovely. Now, it is in accordance with human nature that feeling should break forth into song. Cheerfulness finds utterance as in the carol of the lark, and melancholy as in the plaintive warble of the nightingale. The Bible without the Canticles would not correspond with the whole constitution of man.
“The Church delights to raise
Psalms and hymns and songs of praise.”
The words of inspiration, exact or paraphrased and adapted, have ever given shape and form and utterance to the profoundest emotions of God’s worshippers.
II. LOVE, WHICH IS THE CHARACTERISTIC ELEMENT OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE. Human love is the copy, always faint and imperfect, yet not illusive, of love Divine. The love of the Hebrew king and his mountain bride figures forth, as does all true wedded affectionthe love which exists between the Eternal and his intelligent creatures, between the Church and the adorable Bridegroom who deigns to address her as his spouse. The language of the Canticles has often seemed to cold natures extravagant, and so unreal. “Love’s language is a foreign language to those who do not love.” We have the foundation of the Song of Songs laid in the forty-fifth psalmthe “song of love.” Christianity is admitted to have introduced into religion an element of deeper personal feeling than was known before. The love of Christ is declared to “pass knowledge;” and love which passes knowledge, which cannot express itself in propositions, must pour itself forth in song. The nuptials of the soul, of the Church, with Christ, demand a poetic epithalamium. How thoroughly in place, so regarded, seems the “Song of Songs”!
III. JOY, WHICH SPRINGS FROM LOVE FELT AND RETURNED. The history of love is not always one of uninterrupted prosperity and gladness. “Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thought.” And even in the Canticles we have varying moods; shadows lie upon the land for a season as clouds obscure the face of heaven. Yet the main current of feeling throughout this book is a current of gladness; the music is of the nature of a carol of spontaneous sweetness, a chorale of triumphant delight. The king and the bride alternately give utterance to their joyful emotions, for heart finds heart. So with the relations with the redeeming Lord and those whom he has saved. God rejoices over that which was lost but is found; and man rejoices in the great salvation. It is thus that the lyrics, though sacred, are glad, breathing a “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”T.
Son 1:2
Love better than wine.
The desire of the soul awakened to the higher life is a desire which earth cannot satisfy; it is a desire for God, for the manifestations of Divine favour, the proofs of Divine affection. As one has said, “The Christian is not satisfied, like Mary, to kiss the Master’s feet; he would kiss the Master’s face.” The enjoyment of God’s kindness enkindles a desire for more knowledge of God, a closer intercourse with God. This is the result of a sensean imperfect but genuine senseof the incomparable preciousness of Divine friendship and favour. “Thy love is better than wine.”
I. GOD‘S GIFTS ARE GOOD. He is good unto all. Every good gift and every perfect boon must be traced to his bounty. Wine is used here poetically as one of the evidences of Divine provision for man’s needs. Wine maketh glad the heart of man, oil maketh his face to shine, bread strengtheneth his heart. Heaven bestows in abundance gifts which men often accept with ingratitude or misuse to their own detriment.
II. GOD‘S LOVE IS BETTER. Material possessions, temporal enjoyments, the pleasures of sense, are contrasted with what enriches, purifies, and rejoices the spirit. To the spiritual man the favour of Heaven yields more true joy than he experiences in the time when corn and wine increase.
1. This follows from the very nature of man, who is a being made originally in the Divine image, endowed with an immortal nature. Such a being cannot find satisfaction in any lower source of happiness.
2. It follows especially from the fact of man’s sin and salvation. As a dependent being, man is a recipient of Divine bounty; but, as a being who has departed from God, and has been restored by forgiving mercy to favour and fellowship, he is especially in need of constant revelations of Divine love. And as Christians we gratefully recognize that, in bestowing upon us his own Son, God has given unto us that love which is better than wine.
3. In partaking of Divine love we are in no danger of excess. It had been better for many a professing Christian had God’s providence withheld the gifts which have by the abuse of worldliness been prized above the Giver himself. Not wine only, but the wealth and luxuries of life generally, have too often been the occasion of forgetting and departing from God. But Divine love is a draught of which none can drink in excess.
4. The love of God is a lasting blessing, a perennial joy. The gifts of Divine bounty perish, for they are of the earth. The love of God is imperishable as God himself.T.
Son 1:3
The fragrant name.
The sense of smell furnishes much of the imagery of this poetical book. Perfumes not only gratify the smell, they awaken the emotions, and have a remarkable power of reviving, by association, bygone scenes and far-distant friends and companions, in whose society the fragrant wild flowers or blooms of the garden have been enjoyed. Perfumed unguents were in the East employed for anointing the body, for health and comfort. Their use was associated with hospitable reception and entertainment. The Name of our Saviour is as the unguents poured upon his form, diffusing sweet fragrance abroad.
I. THE NAME OF CHRIST IS FRAGRANT TO THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF HIS PEOPLE. In fact, the Christ is “the Anointed,” who, by his appointment and devotion, is marked out as the beloved Son of God, and the honored Saviour of the world. The perfume of Divine grace, treasured up from eternity, was poured forth in abundance upon the Word when he “became flesh, and dwelt among us.”
II. THE NAME OF CHRIST HAS A COSTLY, PRECIOUS FRAGRANCE. It is well known that large sums of money were lavished on the scented unguents stored in vessels, bottles, and vases of alabaster and other expensive materials. The perfumes used were brought in many cases from distant lands; they were distilled from rare and beautiful flowers; they were purchased by the wealthy and used by the luxurious.
III. THE NAME OF CHRIST POSSESSES A DELIGHTFUL AND REFRESHING FRAGRANCE. As the mere mention of the king’s name was welcome to the bride and to her companions, so is the Name of our Saviour, when pronounced in the hearing of his friends, the occasion of delight. The Name of Jesus is music to the ear, and is as “ointment poured forth.” It dispels the lassitude, the discouragement, the despondency, which are sometimes apt to steal into the soul of the disciple during the Master’s bodily and temporary absence. It is a “Name above every name.” “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart.”
IV. THE NAME OF JESUS DIFFUSES A FAR–REACHING FRAGRANCE. The penetrating power of odours is well known. Poets tell of the “spicy breezes” that “blow soft o’er Ceylon’s isle;” how “filled with balm the gale sighs on, though the flowers are sunk in death.” Thus the precious Name of Christ sheds its sweetness far and wide, bringing life, hope, and salvation to those in remotest lands. The Plant of Renown which was bruised upon the soil of Palestine has given forth perfume of blessing which has reached the uttermost ends of the earth, reviving those ready to perish with its refreshing and reinvigorating power.
V. THE NAME OF CHRIST DIFFUSES A LASTING AND PERMANENT FRAGRANCE. It is known that some perfumes, such as musk, will continue to pour forth their sweetness day after day and year after year, diffusing effluvia unceasingly, and. yet suffering no perceptible loss of bulk, no diminution of power to give forth their special odour. Similarly is it with the power of Christ to bless mankind. Generation after generation has found healing, life, and blessing in the gospel; yet is its freshness undimmed and its power undiminished. And today more are rejoicing in the ever-fragrant Name than at any former time. Nor shall that Name ever lose its sweetness or its power.T.
Son 1:4
Divine attraction.
There is evidence of attraction throughout the physical universe. The earth draws all things upon it towards its centre; it draws the moon and keeps it revolving round itself. The sun draws the planets, which in their regular orbits unconsciously yield to the influence which he unconsciously exerts. We cannot study any bodies, however distant and however vast, without perceiving the power of attraction. And this power is as manifest in the molecule as in the mass; there is attraction in the smallest as in the greatest of material bodies. As the planets by gravitation are held in their courses by the sun, so are souls led to feel the attraction of our Saviour God. But whilst material things obey unwittingly, it is for spiritual natures consciously and voluntarily to yield to the spiritual attraction of him who is the Centre, the Law, the Life of all.
I. THE SPIRITUAL DRAWING OF THE KING OF LOVE.
1. The language reveals a dread of being far from God. The soul cries, “Quicken me! lest I remain in death; turn me! lest I continue in error; draw me! lest I live at a distance from thee.”
2. The language reveals a recognition of authority. The cry is to the King. Many are the attractions of the world. Trahit sua quemque voluptas. Yet these attractions should always be suspected, should sometimes be resisted. But when God draws, his is the drawing of royalty and of right.
3. The language reveals the power of love. “I drew them with cords of a man, with hands of love.” “I will draw all men unto myself.” Such are the declarations of infinite grace. Those whose souls they reach and touch cannot but seek to be laid hold of by the silken chains, and led and kept near their Lord.
“O Christ, who hast prepared a place
For us beside thy throne of grace,
Draw us, we pray, with cords of love
From exile to our home above.”
II. THE OBEDIENT FOLLOWING– OF THOSE WHO FEEL THE DIVINE ATTRACTION.
1. The drawing of the King proves its own effectiveness. “With loving kindness have I drawn thee.” The charm is felt, the summons is obeyed, the presence and society which bring spiritual blessing are sought.
2. There is eagerness and haste in the response.
“He drew me, and I followed on,
Glad to confess the voice Divine.”
Running denotes interest and zeal. The willing following becomes a diligent and strenuous race. The soul finds in Christ a Divine Friend and Lover and Spouse, and in his society satisfaction that never cloys, and joy that never fails.
APPLICATION. Here we have the history of the Divine life in man, related in a few words. In providence, in revelation, in the incarnate Word, in the power of the spiritual dispensation,in all this God is drawing us. And every movement of the spirit, every impulse towards holiness, every true endeavour after obedience, may be regarded as the practical yielding to the Divine attraction. God’s work on earth is just “drawing” us; our religious life is just “running” after him.T.
Son 1:4
The joyful celebration of Divine love.
The king is represented as conducting his friends and guests into his splendid palace, admitting them to the apartments reserved for his most intimate and favoured courtiers, and thus revealing to them his condescension and affection. Such treatment awakens their joy, and calls forth the celebration of his love. The whole scene is symbolical of the privileges and the sacred delights of those who share in the “shining of God’s countenance.”
I. DIVINE LOVE IS WORTHY OF BEING CELEBRATED.
1. It is undeserved love, and therefore love of pure compassion.
2. It is condescending love, on the part of the King of heaven towards poor, ignorant, and sinful man.
3. It is too often ill-requited love.
4. Yet it is bountiful and beneficent love.
5. It is sacrificing lovelove to display which costs God much.
6. It is forbearing, patient, constant love.
II. THERE ARE MANY WAYS IN WHICH REDEEMED MEN MAY CELEBRATE THE DIVINE LOVE REVEALED TO THEM.
1. Its pre-eminence may be maintained. There may be other prerogatives and privileges which we may be tempted to make our boast and cause of rejoicing, but we must ever keep before our minds the supreme excellence of the love of God; “more than wine,” and more than blessings far more desirable and precious than this.
2. Its most glorious proof may be commemorated. First and foremost among the meanings of the eucharistic meal celebrated in the Church of the Redeemer is its beauty and justice as a memorial of that love “whose height, whose depth unfathomed, no man knows.”
3. Its natural power to awaken joy and praise should be practically confessed. To “be glad and rejoice” in God is only just and becoming; and Christians should not so steadfastly contemplate their own unworthiness as to lose sight of the infinite worthiness of him to whom they owe their salvation.
4. Love may be celebrated in the exercise of willing obedience. There is on our part no response to God’s kindness so acceptable as consecrated service. “The love of Christ constraineth us;” this is the practical principle of the new life. There is a world of meaning in the language of the text, “In uprightness do they love thee.”T.
Son 1:6
The keeper of the vineyards.
Men have put into their charge responsibilities concerning others, and these they may to some extent worthily observe. They may promote the interest of their family, the comfort of their household and dependants. They may even give time and money to advance schemes of benevolence and religion. But the question suggested by the language of the text is thisWhat are they the better for regarding the welfare of others if they neglect their own? if, being guardians of vineyards, they must acknowledge in all sincerity that their own vineyard they have not kept?
I. OUR RELIGION IS LIKELY TO CONSIST, TO A VERY LARGE EXTENT, IN A SENSE OF OUR PROPER RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WELFARE OF OUR FELLOW MEN.
1. The very position of Britain among the nations of the world favours this view. Our range of influence is immense, our power is vast, our work of colonizing and of governing is heavy and serious. How can we serve our generation according to the will of God?
2. Add to this, the efforts which are called for on behalf of the ignorant and irreligious millions around us, and which seem to demand all the attention and zealous energies of the Church of Christ.
3. Hence a conception of the Christian life as one of constant activity and progressive usefulness.
II. THIS VERY SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WELFARE OF OUR FELLOW MEN MAY OCCASION THE NEGLECT OF PERSONAL DEVOUTNESS AND SPIRITUALITY. To explain the action of this principle it may be remarked:
1. When we care for others, we naturally take it for granted that all is well with ourselves. In any work and enterprise, if we are engaged in teaching and in leading others, it is natural that we should overlook the importance of examining our own qualifications.
2. The opinion of others acts as an auxiliary in bringing about this state of feeling. Not only do we take it for granted that all is well with ourselves; others do the same, and their attitude encourages us in our good opinion of ourselves.
3. Time and thought may be so taken up in the service in which we are engaged, that attention is drawn away from our own condition, our own obligation to ourselves. A man may awaken to the fact of his own foolish and sinful neglect of his own spiritual state, and may cry aloud, in anguish and remorse, “They made me keeper of the vineyards, and mine own vineyard have I not kept!”
III. YET THERE IS NO NECESSARY CONNECTION BETWEEN USEFULNESS TO OTHERS AND NEGLECT OF ONE‘S OWN SPIRITUAL SAFETY AND GROWTH. One duty does not conflict with another. It is in the cultivation of our own hearts that we gain strength and wisdom to be of benefit and service to others. Works of Christian benevolence are to be undertaken, not under the influence of superficial excitement, not under the contagion of enthusiastic example, but from sober conviction, and with a clear understanding of the law that only those who themselves have received can to any purpose give to others.
APPLICATION. Let those whose position is described in the text bestir themselves at once, apply with diligence to their proper work, restore the hedges, dig about the vine roots, take the “foxes that spoil the grapes,” and climb the watch tower, that they may discern the approach and resist the incursions of their foes. Then shall they be privileged to present, even from their own vineyard, some fruit which shall be acceptable to the Divine Master and Lord, to whom all must at last give in their great account.T.
Son 1:7, Son 1:8
The shepherd’s care.
As the beloved maiden or bride seeks her shepherd lover who is yet the king, she makes use of language which gives an insight into pastoral duty and care, and which serves to suggest the relations borne by the flock to the good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep.
I. THE GOOD SHEPHERD FEEDS THE FLOCK.
II. THE GOOD SHEPHERD PROVIDES NOONDAY REST FOR THE FLOCK.
III. THE GOOD SHEPHERD PROTECTS THE FLOCK, KEEPING HIS SHEEP NEAR THE WELL–GUARDED TENTS.
IV. THE GOOD SHEPHERD GUIDES HIS SHEEP, LEADING THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE FLOCK ACCORDING TO HIS OWN KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM.
V. THE GOOD SHEPHERD CARES FOR THE KIDSTHE YOUNG OF THE FLOCK.T.
Son 1:9-15
Love and admirations.
It requires imagination and a knowledge of Oriental habits of thinking fully to appreciate the language of this passage, which otherwise to our colder and less fanciful natures may appear extravagant. But expressions which may be open to the charge of extravagance as applied to ordinary human affection, may well come short of the truth if interpreted as indicating the emotions which distinguish those spiritual relations of absorbed delight subsisting between Christ and his spouse, the Church. Beneath the rich metaphors of the poet we discern certain principles which are of deepest moment and beauty.
I. CHRIST‘S INTEREST IN HIS PEOPLE IS INTEREST IN HIS OWN WORKMANSHIP, IN HIS OWN PURCHASE AND POSSESSION. The descriptions of the charms of the beloved, couched in the figurative language of Eastern poetry, can only be applied in any sense to the Church of the Lord Christ upon the distinct understanding that whatever excellences she may possess she owes to the Divine care and munificence of the heavenly Spouse. She owes her existence to his power, her safety to his faithful watching, her gifts and excellences to the provision of his love and care, her position to his compassion. Nothing has she which she did not receive from him; nothing of which she can be vain, of which she can boast. For all, her lowly acknowledgments of gratitude are forever due to her Almighty Lord.
II. CHRIST‘S PERFECTIONS DESERVE AND DEMAND THE ADORING AND AFFECTIONATE ADMIRATION OF HIS CHURCH.
1. She admires him for what he is in himself. In him is all that is excellent and valuable, sweet and lovable. His beauty is spiritual, incomparable, delightful, unfading, and unwearying.
2. She adores him for his treatment of herself and his regard for her. The Church knows, from her Lord’s own revelation, that he holds her dear, precious, fragrant; that, having laid down his life for her redemption, he never can or will forget her, or cease to cherish towards her the affection of his Divine and loving heart.
3. Hence she commemorates his love in the Eucharist, honours him by her obedience, and by her witness and her praise commends him to the world.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Son 1:1. The song of songs, which is Solomon’s This is a Hebraism, which signifies the most excellent song: the latter part of the title ought perhaps to have been rendered, which is concerning Solomon. The first day’s eclogue commences at this chapter, and is continued to ch. Son 2:7.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
CONTENTS
The Chapter opens with giving the title of the book. The Church then takes up the subject with expressing her love to Christ, and desiring fresh manifestations of his affection to her. She compares his love to the fragrancy of the richest ointment. She prays to be drawn by him, and professeth her readiness to run after him. She describes her blackness as in herself, and comeliness as in him: complains of the unkindness of her relations; and desires to know where Jesus feeds his flock, longing to be in his and his people’s company. In return to these vehement desires of the church, Jesus now takes up the subject, and distinguishing her by the title of the fairest among women, directs her in her enquiry where to find him and his fold. Jesus then enlargeth upon her beauty, and gives her many sweet and precious promises. The church, in return, commends the loveliness of Jesus, and the chapter concludes in mutual congratulations.
Son 1:1
The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
The first object which calls our attention in opening this blessed book of God, is the title of it, namely, A Song. And as it is Solomon’s Song, by which is evidently meant, as will hereafter more plainly appear, Jesus Christ, (for a greater than Solomon is here); we may, without violence to the expression, call it a gospel song; for its whole contents is of salvation by Jesus Christ. When a soul is taught by the Holy Ghost to sing this song, then is that scripture fulfilled, In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: we have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Isa 26:1 . And Reader! when Christ is truly formed in the heart, the Lord hath put a new song in the mouth. Psa 98:1 . But it is not only a song, but the song of songs; and if it treats wholly of Jesus and his great salvation, well may it merit this distinguished name. Well, indeed, may that be called the excellency of all excellencies, which hath Jesus for its object, and his love to his Church for the subject matter. How very sweet and precious to trace in it the several marks, and testimonies of his love. And on the other hand, delightful to behold the goings forth of the Church’s love, awakened by the Holy Ghost on the person of Jesus. Surely such a person as the Lord Jesus is, and such subject-matter as the mutual love and union between Jesus and his people forms, may well be called the song of songs. Oh! for grace to bear a part in it with all the redeemed of the Lord! But we must not stop here. It is not only the song of songs, but it is Solomon’s. I do not deny but that Solomon king of Israel was the penman of it; nay, I have no doubt but that Solomon, David’s son, was the writer of it: but I hesitate not to believe, that in the writing of it he acted only as the penman to the Holy Ghost, as his Father David had done before him in the Psalms: and in those scriptures, they, with all the other inspired writers, wrote as the Apostle tells us the prophets and holy men of old spake, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2Pe 1:21 . I venture to believe, that there is not a line in it which hath the smallest reference to Solomon king of Israel. So far from being, as some impious men have said, the love-Song and Pharaoh’s daughter, that it carries with it a contradiction in many places. Whoever consults the life and reign of Solomon, will discover that his marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter was full twenty years before this book was written. Seven years was Solomon in building the temple, and thirteen years more in building his own house. Compare 1Ki 6:38 , with 1Ki 7:1 ; after which we are told he built the house of the forest of Lebanon, which is noticed in Son 7:4 compared with 1Ki 7:2 , and 1Ki 3:1 . And if it be proved, as I think this one view of the subject fully proves it, that it could have no reference to Solomon’s marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter, it will as fully prove also that it is not, as some have ventured to think, typical: for how can that be a representation by type concerning Solomon’s marriage, when the subject itself could never arise out of it. Besides, Pharaoh’s daughter was never what the Church is said to be, a keeper of vineyards: neither beaten by watchmen, nor running about by night in quest of her beloved. These accounts figuratively considered, have a sweet reference to the Church looking after Jesus; but would be ridiculous and false, if read with an eye to the daughter of Pharaoh. See Son 3:2Son 3:2 . But if by Solomon’s Song we accept the expression as it might have been rendered, the Song of Songs concerning Solomon; meaning the true Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, then we shall at once enter into the proper apprehension of what is meant by the expression, and be led to a right conclusion, that it is indeed the Song of Songs, as infinitely transcending all other songs, in treating of Him, who is the altogether lovely, and the chiefest among ten thousand.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Song of Solomon the Unutterable
Son 1:1
‘The Song of songs’ the Song that holds all other songs and makes them poor; the Song that has in it all the notes and all the gamut and all the instruments and all the vocal miracles, with something added. It is that plus quantity that puzzles the algebra of the Church.
I. Take an instance which goes well with ‘Song of songs,’ ‘Holy of holies,’ of which we read in Exo 26:33 , In the Authorized Version it is ‘the most holy,’ in other places it is ‘the Holy of holies’ as ‘the Song of songs,’ the upper holiness, the holiest holiness, the holiness that has got rid of the flesh, dropped the accursed body into its proper place, the grave, and got away where every shining star is a chorister, and all the silent heavens are only silent because they have no medium worthy of the purpose of their music. Who can adequately express the holiness of holiness? Who can say beyond what is already known a still whiter whiteness? There language dies, there the instrument is broken, for it cannot tell the music.
In the Bible language is often sorely put to it There are many unfinished sentences as well as unfinished thoughts in the Bible. I have never known language, so as to say, so cruelly put to it as in the Bible. All the most musical language is in the Scriptures, yet here and there and again, yea, and oftentimes, language seems to beg the speaker not to drive at such a pace.
II. There are other cases which match ‘the Song of songs’ and ‘the Holy of holies’; notably one in 1Ki 8:27 a word that has often lifted me up out of the dust ‘ The heaven and heaven of heavens’. They are not mere Hebraisms. When a man built his little pillar, we think he only put a number of stones together, but the Hebrew says he ‘pillared a pillar’. It was a pillar before he began; there was a pillar in the soul before there was a pillar on the ground. And ‘heaven and heaven of heavens’ simply represents language at its weakest.
III. Then all is gathered up in the Christ always. Did Solomon say ‘The Song of songs’? I hear another voice greater than Solomon, saying, ‘King of kings, Lord of lords’. And they mingle well, these great surges of song Song of songs, Holy of holies, Heaven of heavens, King of kings, Lord of lords. And what voice was that I heard between? It was a voice that spake of ‘joy unspeakable’.
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. Iv. p. 165.
References. I. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2469; see also vol. xliii. No. 2516. B. J. Snell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. p. 218.
The Kiss of the Prince of Peace
Son 1:2
So it is that the Bride begins her conversation with that dear Lord: so it is that she utters the first words of that book, in which so many holy souls, now in the joy of their King, have found such singular sweetness and blessing.
And the Song of the Prince of Peace begins fitly: for it commences with the perfect sign of peace and love namely, a kiss.
I. Notice that word ‘Him’. How should we understand it? To whom should we apply it? There is nothing that goes before nothing that can explain it nothing, that is, save love. That has a knowledge of its own. That very word ‘Him’ implies a whole life of affection. It tells where all her thoughts were it tells to whom it was natural that she should turn. There may come times when outward acts, when especial hours of prayer, are almost impossible. Then, as He would say Himself, ‘Let not your heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid’. Only strive so to be His that, almost unconsciously, you are thinking of Him that every act, whether formally or not, is dedicated to Him and what matters all the rest? The Bride here makes no long opening uses no formal words encumbers herself with no laboured commencement. She is in the heart of her desires at once. ‘Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.’
II. And how boldly she asks for the greatest of all blessings!
As holy men have delighted to remind us, the very mention of a kiss teaches us a great mystery. It implies, not “one single motion, but the movement of both lips. And so here. It is because, having one Nature that of the Godhead from all eternity, He assumed the other in the womb of the Virgin, that He is able to raise us to the perfection of all blessedness. Able, both in what He did while He walked upon earth, and able in what He does now that He has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High. He took our nature, first of all, that He might be able to suffer. He weal’s it still, that He may be able to sympathize. He assumed it, first of all, because Divinity could not have been nailed to the Cross. He retains it still, that humanity may see itself exalted to the Throne.
III. It is because the Bride knows His love, that she comes before Him with such a petition as this. What is that kiss for which she thus asks? If we take it as applying to this militant state, to what does it refer so well as to the Sacrament in which He gives you Himself?
But what, when He shall talk with us face to face, as a man talketh to his friend? What, when that Beatific Vision shall be accomplished, of which Satan once told a saint that, only to retain it for as long a time as a hand might open and shut in, he would willingly endure, to all eternity, the pains of all lost souls as well as his own?
J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 5.
Reference. I. 2. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2459.
Draw Me ( rogation Sunday )
Son 1:4
Here is a Rogation text for Rogation Sunday. For now we are about to lose Him Whose presence with us after His Resurrection has been the cause of our Paschal joy. The Forty Days of His triumphal life on earth of the Lent, if I may so speak, of our gladness are drawing to an end; and the Church, for the first time, breaks in upon our Easter happiness by those three solemn days in which she listens to His voice ‘Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee’.
And the bride answers at once: ‘Draw me, we will run after Thee’.
I. Notice that she makes no reservation of the manner in which she is to be drawn. ‘Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come to Thee upon the water.’ When your Lord seems to call you nearer to Himself by a way that is difficult and painful to flesh and blood, ought you not to rejoice in that very difficulty to be glad of that very pain because it gives you the opportunity of proving to yourselves and manifesting to Him that whatever it may cost, follow Him you will: that you care not how loud the storm is if He be but walking upon the water; you care not how hard the race is if He be but beckoning to you from the goal?
‘Draw me, we will run after Thee.’ And there see how beautiful is her humility. As though she were the most wavering of all His followers the feeblest of all His lambs; as if about her only there was doubt; as if her greater infirmity needed a double portion of help.
II. And why does it continue, ‘The King has brought me into His chambers?’ Surely for this reason. It is as though she world say that, knowing in some faint degree the happiness of His presence, she longs for its perfection; and, remembering that He has already vouchsafed her an earnest of it, she trusts that He will one day give her its fullness.
III. And then notice that expression ‘His chambers’: as if here His graces were divided into different kinds, and bestowed in different ways: as if here there were the chamber of audience, when you kneel before Him in your own prayers; the chamber of pardon, when you draw near to Him in Confession; the chamber of His own more immediate Presence, when He gives Himself to you under the form of Bread and Wine. But there are no such divisions there, where He is All in All; where He, at one and the same time, gives Himself wholly; where He no longer in types and figures, under shadows and veils, bestows Himself fully. The chambers built round about the earthly temple were many and various: the temple itself, thus girt in with them, was one.
J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 19.
References. I. 4. H. E. Manning, Sermons, p. 388. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2294; vol. xlii. 2461; vol. xlviii. No. 2794. Thomas Spurgeon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 193. Sir G. R. Fetherston, A Garden Eastward, p. 42. I. 5. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 30. I. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 990; vol. xxxii. No. 1936. S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Sermons, p. 121.
Tell Me Where Thou Feedest
Son 1:7
I. The title in the prayer shows us how we ought to pray. ‘Tell me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth.’ If we cannot call the Lord by that name, we cannot go on with the request.
II. What is the request? It is twofold. In the first place, Tell me where Thou feedest: in the second, Where Thou causest Thy flock to rest at noon?
1. Where Thou feedest. That is, where, in the evening that glorious evening, when, as the Prophet speaks, there shall be light Thou feedest Thy sheep by the river of the water of life; where Thou foldest them in Thine eternal fold, the fold in which there can be no more danger and no more suffering. That is a request which will not be granted in this world. Therefore the Bride goes on to ask another question:
2. Where Thou causest Thy flock to rest at noon? This world it is a hot, burning noon indeed; and we have to bear the burden and heat of the day in it. But yet here we learn that there is rest in it, if we only knew where to go for it Rest only for one class ‘Thy flock’; rest only in one way ‘Thou causest’. For rest is one of those contraries which make up a Christian’s life. Join these two texts, ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to resist the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers:’ and ‘Peace I leave you, My peace I give unto you’. ‘Tell me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou causest Thy flock to rest at noon?’ Thy flock the flock that rests beneath the shadow of that great rock in a weary land. Call to mind how we, wearied, languid, discouraged with ourselves and this world, have such a shelter from the heat in Him Who, as at noonday, hung on the Cross for us. The shadow of that Cross is the place where His flock now rests where you must rest, too, in the day of this world, if you would have your eternal rest in the glorious evening that remains.
III. It follows ‘Why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of Thy companions?’ We must not misunderstand the question. It is not, Why should I turn to the flocks of Thy companions, and leave Thine? No: wherever His companions are, there is He in the midst of them. If we join ourselves to them, we join ourselves to Him. But the question is, Why should I be the only one that turns aside, when such innumerable multitudes are following Thee?
‘Tell me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest.’ We shall not always have to ask that question. If we have asked it in real earnest here, the time will come when we shall see that more beautiful flock which now lies down in quiet valleys, which now is in the immediate presence of its Shepherd.
J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 40.
References. I. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi. No. 338; vol. xi. No. 636. I. 7, 8 . Ibid. vol. xix. No. 1115. I. 8. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 565.
The Spikenard of the Bride
Son 1:12
I. First we think of that happy penitent who literally was thus privileged to honour the great King who received Him into her house who found her blessed station at His feet who afterwards anointed those feet with the alabaster box of very precious ointment.
But the King still sitteth at His table, and that in more senses than one. That Eternal Marriage Feast has already, in its measure, begun: many happy guests have already entered in thereto, secure now of their own felicity, doubtful only and anxious about ours.
And what in the meanwhile for you? The Bride answers, ‘My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof’. She was not with Him in His immediate presence then; but she could do thus much for Him thus much she could honour Him: the sweet perfume of her spikenard could rise where she herself could not enter.
II. And what is that spikenard but prayer? But prayer, and of what kind? The coal must be alive and glowing if the fragrance of the incense is to arise: love must be glowing and fervent also if the sacrifice of prayer is to come up before the Heavenly Altar with acceptance. The King was not always at His table. He did not sit down, any more than you can, till He had overcome; and, while He was still carrying on His labour, He left us an example how our spikenard should send forth its sweet savour. He Who, towards the beginning of His ministry, taught us how to pray as to words, and at the end of it taught us how to pray as to manner and thoughts He Who was then so soon about to be pierced with Five Wounds for us men and for our salvation, in the same night in which He was betrayed, inflicted a fivefold wound on the great enemy by the fivefold virtue of His prayer in the garden.
1. That He was alone. That He shut out even those who were most dear to Him, when He was about thus to send up His prayers to the Father. ‘Tarry ye here while I go and pray yonder.’
2. His humility He fell on His face.
3. His perseverance. He went away again the second and the third time.
4. His earnestness. ‘Being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.’
5. His resignation.
And thus it was in the coldness and stillness of that night, amidst those olive trees in Gethsemane, while even then Judas and his band were issuing from the eastern gate of the city, and crossing the valley of Jehoshaphat, that the King, then about to enter into His last and greatest struggle, prayed for us. That same King, now seated in His glory at the Heavenly Table, would thus have you pray to Him. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 49.
References. I. 13. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 58; see also Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 130. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x. No. 558.
Religious Solidity
Son 1:17
‘The beams of our house are cedar’ means that their house is solid and permanent, for, of all woods, cedar was esteemed most solid and durable. Christ says to the Church, ‘The beams of our house are cedar’. This is the Church’s ideal. Solidity is the great desideratum of life. Solidity is the necessity of religion.
I. Religious Solidity must be the Ideal of the Church. The Church should be a noble illustration of solidity. We want a cedar-beamed house for our souls. This is now and always the problem of the Church. A house we need, and beams we must have; but they must be solid, for only the solid endures. Quality is the question. Sin, Atonement, Holiness, Eternity: are these the staple teaching of many Church teachers? If they are not, then ‘The beams of our house are not cedar’.
II. Religious Solidity must be the Ideal of the Individual. There is no true solidity in life if it be not religious, and there is no permanent security save in religious solidity.
1. Many life-houses are devoid of cedar beams. Can the atheist say exultantly in all weathers, ‘The beams of our house are cedar’? Atheism is negation. You cannot uphold life upon negations. We need positive props for our house. There is no intellectual solidity about atheism. The moral solidity of atheism is equally dubious. Its whole character is un-solid.
2. Can the drunkard congratulate himself and his associates that the beams of their house are cedar? Everything gives way under the drunkard. Has the voluptuary cedar-beams to his house? Pleasures give no solidity to life. Has the mere moralist a right to say, ‘The beams of our house are cedar’? Morality without God is a horticulture of fruits without roots. Only as we trust in the living God revealed in Christ have we moral solidity and permanence.
3. It is cedar-beams which give solidity to the life-house. It is the supports on which life depends which make it solid or otherwise. Money is the only ‘beams ‘of some houses. Money is not a cedar-beam for our life-house. Business similarly is insufficient.
What, then, are the great upholdings of a life? They are spiritual. Faith which is not simply perception of God, but reliance upon God. Prayer, Bible study, reflection; these, and such as these, are life’s abiding supports.
4. Life’s experiences test the beams of our house. Let that consideration stir you to make religious solidity your ideal.
5. Religious solidity gives truest joy. The lover of my text rejoices with singing because the beams of his house are cedar. And it is a parable. Earthly qualifications do not give the clue to enduring joy. They joy greatly who can say, ‘The beams of our house are cedar’.
6. As a final encouragement to making religious solidity our ideal, let me say that there is abundance of the best material to be had for the beams of our life-house. There is ‘cedar’ in plenty if we be willing to seek it.
Dinsdale T. Young, Unfamiliar Texts, p. 117.
References. II. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2485. II. 1 . Ibid. vol. xiii. No. 784; vol. xlii. No. 2472. II. 2. Ibid. vol. xxvi. No. 1525. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 585. II. 3. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, pp. 70, 76. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1120. II. 4. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 85. C. Silvester Horne, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 369. II. 7. Ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 369. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv. No. 1463.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Song of Songs
Song of Son 1
“The Song of Songs” means the supreme song, the very best song of the kind ever known or ever sung. We have the expression “King of kings,” “Lord of lords,” indicating supremacy; supremacy, if it be possible, of a superlative kind; an undisputed and eternal primacy. The Hebrew delights in this kind of expression, multiplication of words, even to redundance of assurance. This is, therefore, not only a song, it is the Song of songs, the music of music; a high degree of that which is already immeasurably high. Yet there is not a religious word throughout the whole song. It is acknowledged to be a piece of secular literature by the most spiritual and evangelical annotators. The name of God does not occur in it, in any sense signifying adoration or piety. There is an exclamation which simply recognises the greatness of God, but from beginning to end the song is one of Eastern love, and is not to be forced into religious or spiritual uses. It may be accommodated by legitimate adaptation to such purposes; on the other hand, it may be regarded as the sweetest love-song ever sung, and it need not be made to do service in the house of the Lord at all. For a long time it was uncertain whether the song should be put in the sacred canon or not; so to say, it hung in the balance; a vote either way determined its canonicity. Here we find it, however, and there are certain things which we may see in it which may prove to be practical, useful, legitimate.
We are right, for example, in associating the idea of Christ’s union with his Church as one marked by the tenderest love. There is a place for love in religion. This thought, now so commonplace, is nothing less than a revelation from the eternal God. The world has been used to awe, fear, veneration, prostration, abjectness of self-obliteration, in the presence of majestic or frowning heavens; enough of that the world has seen, with all its brood of superstition, ignorance, and uses of the most degrading kind; it was reserved for the Scriptures, as we regard them, a distinct revelation from the Father, to associate love with pity. Love is a child’s word; it is indeed the word of a little child, of a bud-like opening heart. Yet it is a word which cannot be fathomed by highest intellect; it cannot be measured by most comprehensive vision. It is like the word God itself; it has become so familiar that we think we know it, yet with all our knowledge of it we cannot define it. Who can define “God”? or “Love”? or “Home”? or “Truth”? or “Life”? Yet these are the little words of the language. In very deed the little words are the great words. As we increase syllables we seem to lose meaning. There is no thought known to us worth having and worth using which cannot be stated in the shortest words. It would seem to have pleased God that it should be so. Collect all you know, and see how far the knowledge admits of being stated in words of one syllable: the chief of these, of course, is God; the next might be Man; but surely the word that binds these two is Love. “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.” The fear is lest having become accustomed to this word we suppose that it did not require a revelation to disclose it. Point out in other sacred books the function of love. Does not love mean a measure of familiarity? May not love go where fear dare not venture? May not love make great prayers, whilst fear contents itself with sighing and with trembling wonder? Does not love give boldness, courage, hope, confidence? May not love go higher than any other inquirer or worshipper? Many there are on the first step of the throne; some a little higher up; but what figure is that, highest of all, white-clothed, with a face all light, with an eye kindled at the sun? The name of that highest, purest, sweetest worshipper is Love. It is therefore not strange that there should be in the Bible even a book steeped in love, a soul sick of love, a heart without a dividing passion, a consecrated flame of affection. That such a book may be put to wrong uses is perfectly true; but what is there that may not be abused? What flower is there which a villain may not pluck and put upon his breast as a seal of honour? What bird is there which the cruellest hand may not kill? What word is there in all speech which a perverted imagination may not use for immoral or corrupting purposes? The Song of Solomon sanctified is a necessary element in the constitution of the Church’s work. Every syllable of it is needed, not perhaps as Solomon used it, but as it may be used by a heart sanctified and sweetened by the grace of God. There comes a period in the history of the Church when it must have all signs, figures, emblems, charged with meanings that the heart wishes to convey, yea, cypher signs which only the heart itself can make out in all their profound and tender significance.
We are right in thinking of Christ himself as the cause or origin of all this love. “Draw me, we will run after thee” ( Son 1:4 ). There is a drawing force in life, a gracious impulse; not an impulse that thrusts men forward by eager violence, but that lures them, beckons them, draws them, by an unspeakable but most mighty magnetism. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” Observe the difference between the words to draw and to drive. It is the special function of love to attract, to fascinate, to shut out all other charms, and to fix the vision upon itself; and under that sweet compulsion men will dare any peril, face any darkness, traverse any distance, though the road be lined by ravenous beasts. “We love him because he first loved us.” God does not ask from us an affection which he himself has not first felt: the love is not on our side, except as an answer; the love is on God’s part, as origin, fountain, spring, inspiration. “God is love.” If God were only “loving” he might be something else a mixture, a composition of elements and characteristics: God is more than loving, or he is loving because he is love. We say of some men, They are not musical, they are music; they are not eloquent, they are eloquence. In the one case you would but describe a feature or a characteristic; in the other you indicate an essence, a vitality, an individualism bound up with the thing which is signified. This love may be resisted; this drawing may be put aside. We may say even to him who is chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely, We will not have thee to reign over us; we have made up our minds to turn the day into night, and the night into one horrible revelry, and we would not have thy presence amongst our orgies and supper or feast of hell. Thou wouldst plague us; the feast would turn to poison under thy look or touch; so we banish thee, and enclose ourselves with evil spirits, that we may make night hideous. A tremendous power is thus given to man. He could not be man without it. Every man has the power to leave God, but no man has the right to do it. Am I asked what is this drawing? Hear the apostle when he puts the inquiry, “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Do not mercies break thee down in tears? Does not daily kindness penetrate thy obstinacy, and turn thy stubbornness into prayer? This is an appeal which is manifest, and not merely sentimental. The appeal is founded upon the goodness of God, and the goodness of God is the common story of the day; it begins to be seen when the dawn flushes the awakening earth with earliest light; it grows with the growing sun; it burns visibly and comfortingly in the setting day; all night it breathes its whispered gospel upon the heart of man; it is written on the front-door of the house; it is inscribed on every window-pane through which the light comes with its needed blessing; it is in every loaf, turning it into sacramental bread; it is in the cup, stirring the contents into holy wine, as sacramental blood; the goodness of God was at the birth of the child, rocked the cradle of the child, watched over the growing life of the child, and will never forsake the advancing life, unless indeed that life shall grieve the Spirit, and quench the Holy Ghost. Doth not the goodness of God lead thee to repentance charm thee, lure thee, fascinate thee? It was not meant to be a providence only, but a gospel; a gospel speaking through Providence; a great spiritual revelation incarnating itself in the house and home, and bread and garments, and all that makes life substantial and enjoyable. Where men do love the Son of God they are the first to acknowledge that their love is only an answer; they say, We love Christ, because he first loved us; when his love began to operate we cannot tell; we have searched into the history of this Man Christ Jesus, and we read that he was slain from before the foundation of the world; and verily that is true, for all his love comes to us with an impress of venerableness, a touch of eternity, a mystery not time-bound; it must be a love ancient as the duration of God.
This is what is meant by it being “all of grace.” It never occurred to the heart of man to seek God or to love God. Who can love omnipotence? Who can love omniscience; or who can love ubiquitousness, omnipresence a mere occupation of space? Love does not answer such ideas; there may be a bowing of the head, a closing of the eyes, a wondering of the imagination, a standing back as from an intolerable glory; but love does not know that sphere, love does not speak that language. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son”: now we begin to feel a new emotion, there is upon our arm a human touch; there is mingling with our fellowship a human voice; there is a shrouded Deity, a concealed God. “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” Accompanying that revelation there is a drawing power, and having been once drawn we wish to be closer still; our cry every day is, Draw me: there is another height to be conquered, there is another land to be seen, there are other gardens growing with all the fulness and odour of the paradise of God: draw me, and I shall not see the danger; draw me, and I shall fly where I cannot walk. This is the ministry of grace; this is the ministry of providence; this is that spiritual ministry which operates without bound or time or space—the very ghost of life; the spiritual action that invests even matter itself with a strange sacredness.
So far, then, we are right in associating this Song of Songs with the worship of Christ, with the love of God, with the right cultivation of those affections which make not men only, but religious or spiritual men.
We are right in thinking that vital union with Christ is associated, not only with joy, but with supreme joy “We will be glad and rejoice in thee”: we will be glad with gladness, joyful with joy. This is more than Hebraistic amplification of words; this redundance is necessary to the expression of our emotion. There is a joy which seems to be spread over all living things; but our gladness must be higher than that transient rapture; we must have a rational joy, an intellectual gladness, a spiritual realisation of ecstasies that lie beyond language and form. We are to “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” So the Greek can be as redundant as the Hebrew; it is not any one language that thus speaks, but the heart that talks, and when the heart takes to speech how rapid, urgent, impetuous, ecstatic is the eloquence! Herein the Church is not like the academy or some school of pedantic criticism, where words are measured, and where conciseness is often considered a supreme virtue; the heart wants all things to help it in its unutterable utterance; yea, it would have the floods clap their hands, it would have the hills leap up in holy dancing; yea, it would ask the sea to roar in its fulness, and infuse into the lofty song the needful bass. When the spirit of man is in high religious rapture not lost in fanaticism or folly he asks for organ and harp and trumpet and instrument of ten strings, and constitutes the universe into an orchestra, and says, Now begin the mighty thunder; call the everlasting doors to lift up their heads, and the eternal gates to fall back, that the King of Glory may come in. Let us beware of a cold religion, a religion of paper and mechanism and arrangement; a religion that begins, continues, completes itself, and ends in frigid decency. Religion is nothing without enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is nothing without sacrifice; across everything must lie the sign of sacrifice; the image of the Cross must have its shadow on the sun; yea, it must throw a mournful, yet tender, yet hopeful, significance upon all creation. The Church has lost enthusiasm. We have joy, but it is regulated joy; a joy that is set down in the calendar; a joy of feasting that is appointed for us by external and unapproachable authority; but if we were true to the passion, the inspiration of love, we should say, “Thy love is better than wine… thy love more than wine.” These expressions we find in the opening of this song; we find in the second verse, “Thy love is better than wine”; we find in the fourth verse, “We will remember thy love more than wine”: let “wine” stand for the highest earthly exhilaration or joy. The love which we are to feel towards Christ is not only to be joyous, but supremely joyous; when we have ascended the whole line of earthly love we then, so to say, take wing and become distinctively joyous in Christ; up to that point we have had a common joy with man, and bird, and beast, and every fair thing that lives in all God’s ample house called creation, but at a certain point we begin to separate, to enter into the peculiar joy, the special rapture, and if in that high ecstasy we are alone, having left behind us all meaner choristers, yet we are not alone, for the Father is with us. Have we a supreme joy? Does the Sabbath Day brighten over the whole week like a sun beaming its blessing upon every other day with encouraging benevolence? Is the church the largest house, the highest, brightest house, the house that encloses all our little dwellings, and makes them, as it were, nests in the altar of God? Have we lost enthusiasm, joy, madness? Are men no longer beside themselves for Christ? Or have they sacrificed everything to rigid uniformity, to a scheduled bill of particulars, by which they take their motion day by day, and by which they measure their worship? In the New Testament there is no mere duty. Duty is a cold military word, which has been displaced by Love hot as the heart in infinite pity, and spontaneous as all the blessing in which God himself lives. Let us compare ourselves with Christ, who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross.
We are right in thinking that the love of Christ is connected with a certain quality of personal character. In the fourth verse we read, “The upright love thee.” Whatever may be the varying translation of that word “upright,” we seem here to touch a religious chord; here at all events is a moral line. “The upright love thee.” Where the character is perpendicular there is a corresponding affection for Christ. The upright seek thee, are lonely without thee, cannot live without thee. God has always put his finger upon character, and marked it as his own when good, and written it all over with condemnation when it was self-seeking and evil.
We are right in thinking that the love of Christ does not blind us to our personal defects “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept” ( Son 1:6 ). Here is an acknowledgment of personal shortcoming, neglect, unfaithfulness; and yet the love of Christ is not suspended or withdrawn. Were God to withdraw his love from us because our prayer was short or meagre, because the day was marked by neglect, because we sometimes, in a cowardly spirit, evaded duty, who could live before him? Where sin abounds grace doth much more abound. Some can say, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee: though but yesterday I denied thee, though but a week ago I played the coward, traitor, blasphemer, yet deep, deep down in my heart is a passion which the sea cannot drown. I love thee, thou Son of God! Who does not know that mixed experience, hating oneself, yet loving Christ; doing the forbidden thing, yet turning to the forbidding God with a look all tears, a sigh that trembles with contrition, and a consciousness that within us is the seed of God which cannot die? Have we this love? The signs will be clear: “Perfect love casteth out fear”: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren”: “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Beware of the mere sentiment of love; the flower is more than the fragrance. What did Christ’s own love lead him to do? let that be the standard. O Saviour of the world, thou didst love us: what did thy love lead thee to do? Hear the answer given in the Scriptures: “He was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor”; he “gave himself for our sins”; he “went about doing good.” These are the standards: can we set ourselves beside them, and abide the result? A love that is nothing but song is no love at all. A love that expires in rapture never began in reason. If we have the love of God within us, then shall there be in us the mind “which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.” The joy came after the sorrow; the joy was the blossom of the root of sorrow. If we have not known the same sacrificial love, we shall never know the same triumphant joy. Who shall know the power of the resurrection of Christ? Hear the apostle: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” If we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him.
Note
“Much of the language of the Song of Solomon has been misunderstood by early expositors. Some have erred by adopting a fanciful method of explanation, and attempting to give a mystical meaning to every minute circumstance of the allegory. In all figurative representations there is always much that is mere costume. It is the general truth only that is to be examined and explained. Others, not understanding the spirit and luxuriancy of Eastern poetry, have considered particular passages as defective in delicacy, an impression which the English version has needlessly confirmed, and so have objected to the whole; though the objection does not apply with greater force to this book than to Hesiod and Homer, or even to some of the purest of our own authors. If it be remembered that the figure employed in this allegory is one of the most frequent in Scripture, that in extant Oriental poems it is constantly employed to express religious feeling, that many expressions which are applied in our translation to the person belong properly to the dress (ch. Son 5:10 , Son 5:14 ; Son 7:2 ), that every generation has its own notions of delicacy (the most delicate in this sense being by no means the most virtuous), that nothing is described but chaste affection, that Shulamite speaks and is spoken of collectively, and that it is the general truth only which is to be allegorized, the whole will appear to be no unfit representation of the union between Christ and true believers in every age. It may be added, however, that it was the practice of the Jews to withhold the book from their children till their judgments were matured.” Angus’s Bible Handbook.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
(See the Song of Solomon Book Comments for other methods of interpreting the Song of Solomon)
XXX
AN INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON AS AN ALLEGORY
According to the first verse, the title of this book is “The Song of Songs,” and the author was Solomon. The Vulgate has the title, Canticum Canticorum, from which comes the title, “Canticles,” by which it is sometimes called and to which the references in some English versions are made. This title, as it appears here, implies that it is the choicest of all songs, in keeping with the saying of an early writer that “the entire world, from the beginning until now, does not outweigh the day in which Canticles was given to Israel.”
The parts of the book are marked with a refrain, thus: I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until he please, Song of Son 2:7 ; Song of Son 3:5 ; Song of Son 8:4 .
It will be noted that the second line in Song of Son 8:4 is omitted, perhaps, because it had been given twice before and the shortened form suited better the purpose of the author here.
It is well at this point to fix in mind the representative characters of the book, so as to make clear the interpretation and application. In this allegory the Shulammite may represent souls collectively, but more aptly applied to the individual soul seeking Christ. The daughters of Jerusalem represent the church. Solomon represents Christ, and the watchmen represent the spiritual leaders, such as priests, prophets, and preachers.
The prologue expresses the desire of a soul for Christ, a prayer to be drawn to him, conversion, and a consciousness of unworthiness.
In Part I the soul is instructed to seek its lover at the feeding places of the flock, or places where Christ meets his people; as, in meetings, etc., and upon their meeting they express their love for each other in which the soul is represented as being completely enraptured by its first love to Christ.
In Part II we have the beautiful serenade in which Christ is represented as entreating this new convert to come away and separate herself from her people and everything that might cause alienation. But upon neglect to heed this entreaty the little foxes, that is, little sins creep in and alienation is the result. So she sends him away till the cool of the day so characteristic of the soul that is neglectful of its early Christian duties. But soon she goes out to seek him another characteristic of the sheep that has wandered away from its shepherd and the flock. As she goes out to seek him she meets the city watchmen and inquires of them likewise the soul thus realizing its need at this point makes inquiry of spiritual leaders. She soon finds him and brings him to her mother’s house, thus representing the soul that has not left its former associations.
In Part III we have the procession of Solomon coming out to her to take her to his own home. Here he praises her, wooes her, and pleads with her to come away from her old associations. She is won and agrees to go with him, but when he knocks at the door she is half asleep and does not open to him. Her indifference brings about another alienation, and he leaves. Soon she arises to open, but, alas! he has grown tired of waiting and has gone away. She seeks him again, but the preachers (city watchmen) make it hard for her this time, upon which she appeals to the members of the church (daughters of Jerusalem) and they test her with a question, whereupon she declares her appreciation of him in a most glowing description of him. Then they submit the second test by asking another question as to his whereabouts. Here she understands perfectly as to his abiding place, which she shows them. While this is going on he draws near, speaking of his love. Surely, it is a sweet thought that, while we are talking about Christ and praising him, he draws near and is mindful of us, though we have suffered the little foxes to do their work and have not heeded every knock upon the door by our Lord. As he is thinking and speaking of her he sees her in the distance and exclaims, Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Terrible as an army with banners?
After telling where he had been he pleads again, very earnestly, for her return. In the remaining part of this division they converse with each other and he wooes her again and she agrees to leave all and go with him into the fields and villages.
In Part IV the daughters describe them as they proceed toward his house, conversing with each other of love in which she shows love to be the strongest thing in the world.
The Epilogue contains the vows of the woman to do her part and applies beautifully to the loyalty of the soul espoused to Christ.
Now, I call attention to the prayers of the Shulammite which indicate the conflict and progress of the Christian life. These are as follows: Draw me; we will run after thee: The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee. (Song of Son 1:4 ) Tell me, O thou, whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions? (Song of Son 1:7 ) Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits. (Song of Son 4:16 ) Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; Let us lodge in the villages. (Song of Son 7:11 ) Set me as a seal upon thy heart, As a seal upon thine arm: For love is strong as death; Jealousy is cruel as Sheol; The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, A very flame of Jehovah. (Song of Son 8:6 )
Two of the most beautiful passages in the book are the Serenade, which pictures all nature calling to activity, and the passage on Love and Jealousy, showing love to be “The Greatest Thing in the World.” These passages are well adapted to the theme of the book and furnish an appropriate closing for our discussion on “The Poetical Books of the Bible.” THE SERENADE My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past; The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs, And the vines are in blossom; They give forth their fragrance, Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the steep place, Let me see thy countenance, Let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. The Song of Son 2:10-14
LOVE AND JEALOUSY
Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm: For love is strong as death; Jealousy is cruel as Sheol; The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, A very flame of Jehovah. Many waters cannot quench love, Neither can floods drown it: If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, He would utterly be condemned. The Song of Son 8:6-7
QUESTIONS
1. According to Song of Son 1:1 , what is the title and who is the author of The Song of Solomon?
2. How are the parts of the book marked?
3. Whom does the Shulammite represent?
4. Whom do the daughters of Jerusalem represent?
5. Whom does Solomon represent?
6. Whom do the watchmen represent?
7. What is the spiritual interpretation and application of the Prologue?
8. What is the spiritual interpretation and application of Part I?
9. What is the spiritual interpretation and application of Part II?
10. What is the story and spiritual application of Part III?
11. What is the interpretation of Part IV?
12. What are the contents of the Epilogue and its application?
13. What are the prayers of the Shulammite?
14. What to you are the moat beautiful passages in the book and in what consists their beauty?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Son 1:1 The song of songs, which [is ] Solomon’s.
Ver. 1. The song of songs. ] Not a light love song – as some profane persons have fancied, and have therefore held it no part of the sacred canon – but a most excellent Epithalamium, a very divine ditty, a heavenly allegory, a mystical marriage song, called here the Song of Songs, as God is called the God of gods, Deu 10:17 as Christ is called the King of kings, Rev 19:16 as the Most Holy is called the Holy of holies, to the which the Jewish doctors liken this canticle, as they do Ecclesiastes to the holy place, and Proverbs to the court, to signify that it is the treasury of the most sacred and highest mysteries of holy Scripture. a It streams out all along under the parable of a marriage, that full torrent of spiritual love that is between Christ and the Church b “This is a great mystery,” saith that great apostle. Eph 5:32 It passeth the capacity of man to understand it in the perfection of it. Hence the Jews permitted none to read this sacred song before thirty years of age. Let him that reads think he sees written over this Solomon’s porch, “Holiness to the Lord.” c Procul hinc, procul este profani, nihil hic nisi castum. If any think this kind of dealing to be too light for so grave and weighty a matter, let them take heed, saith one, that in the height of their own hearts they do not proudly censure God and his order, who in many places useth the same similitude of marriage to express his love to his Church by, and interchangeably her duty toward him, as in Hos 2:19 2Co 11:2 Eph 5:25 , with Eph 5:22-24 , where the apostle plainly alludeth and referreth to this song of songs in sundry passages, borrowing both matter and frame of speech from hence.
Which is Solomon’s.] He was the penman, God the author. Of many other songs he was both author and instrument. 1Ki 4:32 Not so of this, which therefore the Chaldee paraphrast here entitleth “songs and hymns,” in the plural, for the surpassing excellence of it, “which Solomon the prophet, the King of Israel, uttered by the spirit of prophecy before the Lord, the Lord of all the earth.” A prophet he was, and is therefore now in the kingdom of heaven, notwithstanding his foul fall, whereof he repented. For as it is not the falling into the water that drowns, but lying in it, so neither is it the failing into sin that damns, but dying in it. Solomon was also King of Israel, and surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom, 2Ch 9:22 yea, he was wiser than all men. 1Ki 4:31 And as himself was a king, so he made this singular song, as David did the 45th Psalm, “concerning the King,” Christ and his spiritual marriage to the Church, who is also called Solomon, Son 3:11 and “greater than Solomon.” Mat 12:42 If, therefore, either the worth of the writer or the weightiness of the matter may make to the commendation of any book, this wants for neither. That is a silly exception of some against this song, as if not canonical, because God is not once named in it; for as oft as the bridegroom is brought in speaking here, so oft Christ himself speaketh, who is “God blessed for ever.” Rom 9:5 Besides, whereas Solomon made “a thousand songs and five,” 1Ki 4:32 this only, as being the chief of all, and part of the holy canon, hath been hitherto kept safe when the rest are lost, in the cabinet of God’s special providence, and in the chest of the Jews, God’s faithful library keepers. Rom 3:1-2 ; Joh 5:39 It being not the will of our heavenly Father that any one hair of that sacred head should fall to the ground.
a Theodoret. lib. v. De Provid. Sic caena a Dionysio caeremonia caeremoniarum, et ab alio Pascha celebritas celebritatum dicitur.
b Jerome, Proaem. in Ezek.
c T. W. on Cantic.
Song of Solomon Chapter 1Ti 2:2
Let us then look briefly into the details of Canticles.
Son 1:1-2:2 .
“The Song of songs which [is] Solomon’s.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
For thy love [is] better than wine.
Thine ointments have sweet fragrance;
Thy name (is) ointment poured forth:
Therefore do the virgins love thee.
Draw me: we will run after thee
(The king hath brought me into his chamber);
We will be glad and rejoice in thee;
We will make mention of thy love more than of wine.
Upright ones love thee.
I [am] black but comely, O daughter of Jerusalem,
As the tents of Kedar,
As the curtains of Solomon.
Look not upon me, because I [am] black,
Because the sun hath looked upon (scorched) me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me keeper of the vineyards: mine own vineyard have I not kept.
Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth,
Where thou feedest [thy flock], where thou makest [it] to rest at noon;
For why should I be as one veiled (wandering) beside the flocks of thy companions?
If thou know not, thou fairest among women,
Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock,
And feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
I have compared thee, my love (friend),
To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
Thy cheeks (are) comely with plaits,
Thy neck with jewel chains.
We will make thee plaits of gold
With studs of silver.
While the king is at his table
My spikenard sendeth forth its fragrance.
My beloved [is] unto me a bundle of myrrh
That lieth between my breasts.
My beloved [is] unto me a cluster of henna-flowers
In the vineyards of Engedi.
Behold, thou [art] fair, my love;
Behold, thou [art] fair:
Thine eyes [are as] doves’.
Behold, thou [art] fair, my beloved, yea pleasant:
Also our couch [is] green.
The beams of our houses [are] cedars,
Our rafters firs.
I [am] a crocus of the Sharon,
A lily of the valley.
As a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters” (vers. 1-17, 2: 1, 2).
Thus the bride expectant acknowledges the preciousness to her of Messiah’s love, and delights to speak of the fragrance of His grace, His name, not only to herself, but to all that kept clear of idolatrous corruptions (the virgins). On this last danger and preservation from it, the early verses of Rev 14 may be compared, to profit those that weigh both. It is certain that the future godly remnant of Jews, when the church is no longer here, will be tried by this evil again bursting forth, not merely among the nations, but in Jerusalem and the temple itself (compare Isa 57:4-9 ; Dan 11:36-39 , Dan 12:11 ; Mat 12:43-45 , Mat 24:15 ; 2Th 2 ). Therefore the bride associates the faithful with herself in this purity of affection, but cleaves to her own special intimacy with the king, while confessing her love too. Then she rehearses the effect of fiery trial on herself (for indeed Jerusalem had suffered long and severely); so that His grace elsewhere declares she had received of His hand double for all her sins. Jealousy and anger had been where it might have been least expected. Yet she who should have been a blessing to the nations around in fruit to God had failed even in her own responsibility. The less would she now trust herself but with Messiah’s flock and those He gave to tend them (vers. 1-7), as indeed others testify (vers. 8).
Thereupon Messiah declares His pleasure in her, as grace delights to tell her (vers. 9-11); and she rejoins in confessing the effect on her heart; to which He answers briefly in ver. 15, and she replies in verses 16, 17 and 2: 1; which all form the general view of their attitude respectively. Testimonies of mutual affection close this portion.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Son 1:1
1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
Son 1:1 Song of Songs This is a superlative form in Hebrew (BDB 1010). It could be translated the best of the Songs (cf. Exo 29:37; Deu 10:17; and Dan 2:37 for other examples). It often referred to love songs (cf. Isa 5:1; Eze 33:32).
which is This Hebrew form (BDB 81) can mean to, for, or concerning. Hebrew linguists note that the form of Son 1:1 is different from this same Hebrew PARTICLE in the rest of the book. This has led many to believe that Son 1:1 is a later addition by a general editor.
Solomon’s The inclusion of the name of Solomon several times in the text (i.e., Son 1:1; Son 1:5; Son 3:7; Son 3:9; Son 3:11; Son 8:11-12) leads to the conclusion that this song is written about Solomon, to Solomon, or by Solomon. It is uncertain exactly which is the case. See Introduction, Authorship.
song of songs, which is Solomon’s. Hebrew title Shir Hashshirim = Song of Songs. In the Septuagint it is Asma Asmaton, and in the Vulgate it is Canticum Canticorum, all with the same meaning. Figure of speech Polyptoton (App-6), meaning the most beautiful or excellent song. It belongs to the third division of the O.T. Canon (see App-1). The order of the five “Megilloth” (or Scrolls) is the order of the festivals on which they are read. The Song is read annually at the Feast of the Passover, as Ruth is read at Pentecost; Lamentations on 9th of Ab; Ecclesiastes at the Feast of Tabernacles; and Esther at the Feast of Purim. From the most ancient times it has formed part of the Hebrew Canonical Scriptures. It is a poem based on the true facts of a story which unfolds itself as it proceeds. Various interpretations have been given of it: the literal, the allegorical, and the typical. The allegorical embrace Jehovah and Israel (which was the view of the Jewish commentators); the Roman Catholic views it of the Virgin Mary; the Protestant commentators view it of “Christ and the Church”; the typical view regards it as a type of Solomon’s nuptials, or as that of Christ and the Gentiles. The allegorical view puts the coarse flatteries and language of a seducer into the lips of “Christ”, which is inconsistent with His dignity and holiness (Compare Son 6:4-10, Son 6:13; Son 7:9). It is the language of seduction put into the mouth of Him “Who spake as never man spake”. The number of speakers forbids all the interpretations which depend on there being only two. There are seven in all, and they can be easily distinguished by the Structures: viz. (1) the Shulamite; (2) the daughters of Jerusalem; (3) Solomon: (4) the shepherd lover of the Shulamite; (5) the brothers of the Shulamite; (6) the companions of the shepherd; (7) the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Shulamite speaks. She has been taken into Solomon’s tents, and soliloquizes about her beloved (verses: Son 1:2, Son 1:3); she implores him to come and rescue her (Son 1:4); she repels the scorn of the court-ladies (Son 1:6); and implores her beloved to tell her where she may find him (Son 1:7); the court-ladies ironically reply (Son 1:8); meanwhile the king comes in and commences by expressing his admiration (verses: Son 1:9-11).
Tonight we want to look at the Song of Songs which is Solomon’s. By the title it indicates that Solomon felt that this was the finest of the one thousand and five songs that he wrote. This is the excellency of the songs that he has written. Of the thousand and five songs, this one is it as far as Solomon is concerned.
In Ecclesiastes, we had a theme: vanity of vanities. In this we have, song of songs. The vanity or the emptiness of the world apart from God. The emptiness of the world in achievement, any achievement that is apart from God. Now he speaks of the song of songs which is Solomon’s and the song of songs is a song of love.
Now there are some people who consider the Song of Solomon no more than just an erotic, oriental love song and feel that it has no place in the scriptures. But others have found tremendous inspiration in the Song of Solomon by looking at a spiritual allegory, seeing it as a spiritual allegory. Now to the Jews, it became a spiritual allegory of God’s special relationship to the nation Israel. As God is seen in the figure of Solomon the king, and Israel as the favorite choice wife, and as they express their love of each other, so God’s expressions of His love for Israel and Israel’s expressions of their love for God.
And of course, through a lot of the prophets we find the same theme as God addresses Israel as His wife. And God tells of His love, His deep love for His people. And the espousals of the youth. “When you first discover Me. Where is that love that we had in the beginning?” God said. “Why have you turned away from the love? Who has drawn you away?” And as Israel turned their hearts from God and began to worship Molech and Mammon and Baal and some of the gods of the Canaanites, God spoke out against it as having forsaken Me, your first love, the true love. And you’ve taken up with these other paramours that are going to leave you desolate. And so to the Jew it became a beautiful spiritual picture of the relationship of the nation Israel, the special relationship the nation Israel experienced with God.
To the church, because the church is often seen in the New Testament as the bride of Christ, it became a picture to the church of the bride of the church, her relationship to Jesus Christ, her bridegroom, her coming King who we look forward to. And so the spiritual allegories are then made applicable to Christ and His love for the church and the church’s response to His love.
John Gill, one of the great Puritan preachers, preached to his congregation a hundred and twenty-two sermons out of the Song of Solomon. So for those that are looking for sermon material, seeking to find it in the spiritual allegories, there’s just a lot of material here. He preached a hundred and twenty-two sermons out of this book. Bernard of Clairvaux preached sixty-two sermons to his congregation just out of chapter 1. So the book is filled with imagery and possible allegorical applications.
Now, I am not one who really goes into the mystic allegorical applications of the scripture. Though I do see here many beautiful allegories, and you can take the text and spiritualize upon them, that just hasn’t been my method of ministry of taking a text and seeking to spiritualize the text. Because different people can see different things in an allegory. And even in the Song of Solomon, there have been various interpretations of the Song of Solomon.
The basic interpretation of the Song of Solomon is that this is a young Shulamite girl that Solomon has fallen deeply in love with. And she is in love with him. And he addresses himself to her declaring his love and declaring her beauty, and she responding to him. While the daughters of Jerusalem are there asking questions of the young girl concerning her love for him, asking Solomon of his love for her, and so the… Actually, again, it’s a song, so you see it’s set up in a dramatic kind of an opera. You have Solomon standing there singing in his rich baritone voice of his love for his bride. And she with her high soprano answering him and singing, “Come, my beloved into my garden and drink. Taste of its fruits,” and so forth. And then you have the chorus over here, the women’s chorus, the female chorus. And they every once in a while sing in, “Tell us of thy beloved. Where is he grazing his flocks and so forth at this time?” And they are interjecting.
Now there is another interpretation of the Song of Solomon, basic overall interpretation. And this one is followed in the Amplified Bible and suggested in the Amplified Bible. And that is, that here is the same beautiful young Shulamite girl that Solomon has fallen madly in love with. And he is seeking to make her a part of his harem, for Solomon had a harem second to none. And he is seeking by his wealth, by his grandeur, by all of the gifts and the wealth to cause her to become a part of his vast harem. Seeking to woo her and to seduce her. And she is brought in with the other virgins and she is telling them, they wonder why she isn’t responding to his love and she is telling them that she has a true love, a shepherd. And she doesn’t respond really to Solomon’s love because her heart is after another, her shepherd lover who she longs for, who she seeks after.
And in the spiritual allegories to this other way of looking at the Song of Solomon, Solomon in this other allegory represents the world. The Shulamite woman, the Christian, and how the world is seeking to allure the Christian away from her love for her Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And she has this deep fervent commitment to her shepherd, even Jesus Christ, and cannot be allured by all of the wealth and the glory and the grandeur of Solomon as he seeks to seduce her and draw her into his harem and all.
And so this is another possible interpretation. But this is the problem, the basic problem of spiritualizing the text and seeing it in an allegorical sense, because as you go through the book, either one fits. But surely they are diametrically opposed to each other as far as an interpretation goes. And yet, you can see and you can read it so that either way it fits. Solomon is the one she loves and they are expressing their love for each other. Or, she is sort of rejecting the love of Solomon because of her true love for her shepherd lover.
The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s ( Son 1:1 ).
It begins with the first singer who is this young Shulamite, beautiful girl, and she sings.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savor of your good ointments [or your perfume] thy name is as ointment [or perfume] poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee: 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 ( Son 1:2-4 ).
Now speaking of herself, she said,
I am black, yet beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, and as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black ( Son 1:5-6 ),
It doesn’t mean that she was an Ethiopian, but she says,
because the sun hath looked upon me ( Son 1:6 ):
She was well tanned.
my mother’s children [my step brothers, actually] were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard [or my own complexion and so forth] I have not kept ( Son 1:6 ).
I’m ruddy and tan and so forth.
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where you make your flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? ( Son 1:7 )
So her opening declaration of having been brought into the king’s chambers. Her addressing the daughters of Jerusalem concerning her own unkept condition because of being outside, keeping vineyards. Sort of a Cinderella kind of a story, the wicked sisters made her do all of the work and she wasn’t able to keep up her own cosmetics and all.
Now the king responds to her.
If thou know not, O thou fairest among women ( Son 1:8 ),
And the question is where you feed your flocks. “If you know not, O fairest among women,”
go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders ( Son 1:8-11 )
Now these are the daughters of Jerusalem, the virgins, the chorus responds. “We will make thee borders,”
of gold with studs of silver ( Son 1:11 ).
And the bride responds.
While the King sits at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is to me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi ( Son 1:12-14 ).
The camphire trees or cypress trees, and just that beautiful smell of the out of doors and trees in blossom there in Engedi.
Behold, thou art fair, [the king answers] my love; behold, thou art fair; you have doves’ eyes ( Son 1:15 ).
She responds to him.
Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir ( Son 1:16-17 ).
So you have the opening of this love drama, the Song of Songs of Solomon.
“
Now, concerning our love to him, let us read a few verses of the Song of Solomon, first chapter. You have been introduced to the Beloved, red with his own blood, but never so lovely as in his passion.
Son 1:1-2. The song of songs, which is Solomons. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth:
No name. Is any name wanted? What name is good enough for him, our best Beloved? He plunges into the subject through excess of love. He forgets the name. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
Son 1:2-3. For thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
There is such a sweetness in the name. It is not like a box of ointment shut up, but like a sweet perfume that fills the room. For the merits of Jesus are so sweet that they perfume heaven itself. It was not on Calvary alone that that sweet ointment was known: it was known in the seventh heaven.
Son 1:4. Draw me, we will run after thee:
We want to get near to Christ, but we cannot. Draw me, we cry, we will run after thee.
Son 1:4. 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 wine shall help us to remember him tonight when we come to his table; but we will remember him more than wine.
Son 1:5. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
A strange contrast is a believer. He is black in himself, but he is comely in Christ. In himself he is foul as the smoke-dried tents of Kedar: but in his Lord he is as comely and rich as the curtains of Solomon.
Son 1:6-7. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me; my mothers children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
A few verses of the next chapter.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psa 22:1-22; and Son 1:1-7; Son 2:1-7.
Son 1:1
Son 1:1
The maiden here stands for all mankind before the coming of Christ. Her longing for her true love to come and take her away from that evil, hopeless place stands for the longing of all righteous people for the coming of the Messiah. The criticism of the harem women stands for the hatred of the world for those who desire to serve God. The maiden’s unhappiness in the harem shows the inability of the secular world to satisfy our souls.
Son 1:1
“The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.”
It is stated in 1Ki 4:32 that Solomon wrote a thousand and five songs; yet only one of them is found in the Bible; and through the ages there have often been questions as to whether or not this one really belongs in the Canon. Most of the interpretations (especially the allegorical explanations) are clearly designed to justify the presence of this book in the Bible; and the utter inability of the scholars of two thousand years to reach an even approximate agreement on what the book teaches leaves the question unanswered.
The only reason that this writer accepts the Song of Solomon’s place in the Holy Bible is that God Himself commissioned Israel to be the trustees of “the oracles of God” (Rom 3:2); and there can be no doubt that the unchallenged opinion of ancient Israel placed it there (in the Canon). Could Israel have made a mistake in this instance? Even if they did (and we do not charge that they did) make a mistake in this matter, it is of no consequence in reference to their major assignment of recognizing, receiving and advocating the worldwide acceptance of the Messiah in his First Advent. In the person of the holy Apostles of Christ and the righteous remnant of the apostate Israel, they gloriously achieved that assignment.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of Israel was blind in their loving adoration of Solomon; and they considered his evil kingdom a type of the Kingdom of God that the Messiah would organize when he came. They desired nothing, either in heaven or on earth, any more than the restoration of that reprobate kingdom of Solomon; and the only reason they crucified Christ came from their recognition that Jesus Christ would never restore anything like Solomon’s kingdom. There is a possibility, although we do not see it as a fact, that Israel might have included in the Bible one of Solomon’s 1,005 songs merely because of their infatuation. We cannot answer this question, nor can we deny the existence of it.
As we explore what the text says, the reader must make up his own mind.
The literal words here are erotic; of that, there is not any doubt.
This verse is a form of expressing the superlative. Like holy of holies or Lord of Lords or King of Kings. Of the many songs that Solomon wrote (one thousand and five, 1Ki 4:32) this is the best. We are eager to learn of its superlative value.
No Book has been provocative of more controversy than this. The question at issue is as to its place and value in Holy Scripture. While there are different varieties of each, the interpretations may be divided into two main classes, the material and the mystical. Without staying to deal with the many interpretations of either kind, may it not be true that the gravest mistake has been to imagine that either method in itself exhausts the meaning? On the extreme left are those who declare it to be simply a voluptuous Eastern love song. On the extreme right are those who at once say it is a portrayal of the love existing between Christ and His Church.
To take the second view first, whatever the Holy Spirit may have caused this to be written for, as ultimate value it is perfectly certain that Solomon did not see in it all that such interpreters find there. I am not denying that these things are there for us, but merely that Solomon did not write to set forth these things, for the Mystery of the Church was hidden under the whole economy of Hebraism.
On the other hand, if some mystical value is recognized as lying within the purpose of the writer, the songs are at once saved from the possibility of being charged with voluptuousness.
In order to understand the value of the Book it seems to me best to recognize a basis in fact, and an increasing understanding of the deepest values with the process of the centuries.
The basis of fact we shall find by recognizing that these songs are idylls, and that behind them is the actual story of the wooing and winning of a bride. As Dr. Moulton lucidly points out, the idyllic form does not proceed in consecutive order in its description, and it is necessary to construct the story by careful examination of the songs themselves.
They first set forth the love existing between bride and bridegroom.
Now the thought of the relationship of bride and bridegroom as setting forth that existing between Jehovah and Israel is peculiarly Hebrew. In the prophets this is subsequently made clearly manifest. Moreover, Jewish expositors have so interpreted these songs, and it is certainly easily probable that Solomon had some such intention in mind.
In the new dispensation, that of the Church, the same figure is the most glorious in setting forth the nature of the relation existing between Christ and His Church. Some of the most sainted writers of the Christian Church have interpreted these songs in the light of this New Testament truth, such, for instance, as Rutherford and McCheyne. Dr. Adeney, in the Expositor’s Bible, while arguing against the mystical interpretation, yet says:
It may be maintained that the experience of Christians has demonstrated the aptness of the expression of the deepest spiritual truths in the imagery of the Song of Solomon.
His later contention that New Testament writers make no use of the poem in this way is of no weight, for we believe in the ever-increasing light on the deepest values of the earlier Scriptures. The fact that Solomon had no intention of setting forth the relation between Christ and His Church is of no moment. If through the songs of human love he did intend to set forth the spiritual idea of the love between Jehovah and His ideal people, the fulfilment of the thought of the songs would come with the working out into history of the realization of that purpose.
The songs should be treated, then, first as simple and yet sublime songs of human affection. When they are thus understood, reverently the thoughts may be lifted into the higher value of setting forth the joys of the communion between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God, and ultimately between the Church and Christ.
OUTLINE NOTES ON
The Song of Solomon
In these notes I propose to do nothing more than to indicate the speakers in each case. As songs of human love they need no other exposition. As songs of the spiritual life they are better interpreted experimentally than in any other way. The arrangement, while not strictly that of chapters, does occupy eight days, and thus maintains the one chapter a day.
SONG OF SONGS
A. The Marriage (Son 1:2-7).
I. The Shulamite and the Virgins
(Son 1:2-6). Ready for the Wedding
1. The Bride (Son 1:2-4 a).
Awaiting the Wedding.
2. The Virgins (Son 1:4 b).
To the Bride.
3. The Bride ( Son 1:4 c).
In the Bridegrooms House.
4. The Virgins (Son 1:4 d).
To the Bridegroom.
5. The Bride (Son 1:4 e-6).
a. To the Bridegroom (Son 1:4 e). b. To the Virgins (Son 1:5-6).
II. The Bride and the Bridegroom (Son 1:7-17; Son 2:1-6).
1. The Bride (Son 1:7).
2. The Bridegroom (Son 1:8-10).
3. The Virgins (Son 1:11). To the Bride.
4. The Bride (Son 1:12-14).
5. The Bridegroom ( Son 1:15).
6. The Bride (Son 1:16-17; Son 2:1).
7. The Bridegroom (Son 2:2).
8. The Bride (Son 2:3-6).
III. The Voice of the Singer: Wisdom (Son 2:7).
Song of Solomon 1
I. Though written very possibly by Solomon with reference to the daughter of Pharaoh, this Song seems evidently to have had a deep symbolical meaning from the very beginning. All things in Scripture are for Christ’s sake from the beginning of the world. The forms which, floating by, cast their shadows on the elder world were shades of that greater Figure which was to absorb the attention of mankind and of the Church for ever and ever. Such is the power which underlies the Song of Solomon. The Church has ever in her days of earnestness and special devotion used the Song of Solomon. It has been the thermometer of her condition; when and where her energy and love were strong, then and there the Song of songs became the mode and form of her expression.
II. The Song of Solomon is peculiarly suited to form a manual of devotion for those who, as penitents or saints, are seeking after Jesus, (1) Its images are the images natural to the earnest-minded. (2) Its expressions of penitence, humility, and self-condemnation make it beautifully fitted to the life of those who “mourn after a godly sort,” and to become a manual of expression for the returning sinner. (3) The yearnings of love are among the most striking parts of the Song. The language is that of the deepest affection; and no expressions seem so natural a channel through which the stream of love may flow as those we find here. (4) The Song is typical of the acts of our Lord’s life. His passion and resurrection are unmistakably shadowed forth in it; so much so, that the natural illustration of the Song would be the scenes of the Gospel.
E. Monro, Practical Sermons, vol. iii., p. 355.
References: Son 1:2.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 92. Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 8; J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 5. Son 1:3.-J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 2nd series, p. 235; A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 317.
Son 1:4
This passage is most appropriate in the mouth of the Church, considered as of Gentile origin, eager to be drawn after Christ; afraid of contempt from the people of Jerusalem, as being of another race, and anxiously inquiring of the Bridegroom where He keepeth His flock-ignorant, up to that moment, of God’s manner of dealing with His chosen.
I. The text brings us across the great mystery of God’s predestination. The cry of man to God is, “Draw me, and I will follow Thee.” In the New Testament we have our blessed Lord declaring, “No man cometh unto Me, except the Father draw him.” In some sense or other, predestination is the eternal truth of God. Wherever predestination is spoken of, it is a predestination which concerns, not our final salvation or condemnation, but simply our call to the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Thousands of years ago it was predestined that we should be blessed with the knowledge of Christ, but it was not predestined whether we should be saved thereby. What the Bible teaches is, that God has predestined some to a knowledge of the truth of Christ, and shut it up from others; not that He has predestined some to heaven and some to hell.
II. Consider these words as the utterance of the bride after her union with Christ. (1) The entire life of man is a period during which there is perpetually being exerted upon the soul a gentle violence, alluring, tempting it to follow the footsteps of Christ. The details of our existence are so planned as to lead us unto heaven. If we would surrender ourselves into God’s hands unreservedly, He would bring us safe to the eternal city. (2) The text implies that the course of the servant of God is one of constant progress and active advance. Christ is ever, as it were, moving onward; He leads us from one height of moral excellence to another.
Bishop Woodford, Occasional Sermons, vol. i., p. 178.
I. The spiritual life has three states through which all who attain to the love of Christ seem to pass; and these states are so marked that we may take them one by one. (1) I suppose that most can remember a time when we were drawn so strongly to the world that the drawing of Christ’s love and spirit was overbalanced by a more powerful attraction. Sin is sweet, and it draws steadily and smoothly, as the shoal water of a whirlpool, with an imperceptible and resistless attraction. One sin will overbear the meek and gentle drawing of Christ. It is not only the greater sin, or the worship of the world, which holds us back against the drawing of Christ, but the soft, pure happiness of home, the easy round of kindly offices, the calm and blameless toil of a literary life, the gentler and more peaceful influences of earthly cheerfulness;-all these, too, with the lights and shades, the anxieties and joys, which fall across an even path, steal away the heart, and wind all its affections about a thousand moorings. (2) Let us take the next state. It may be that by sorrow or chastisement, or by some other of His manifold strokes of love, it has pleased God to break or to relax these bonds, and to dispel the vain show in which they walked. The world draws them less, and the presence of Christ attracts them more. Such persons are in a balanced state, between two attractions, of which, if the one be weaker, it is the nearer and the more sensibly perceived. This condition is at times dreary and overcast, and cannot last long. It must incline one way or the other. (3) And this leads on into the third and last state, in which the balance is so turned against this world, that it can allure no longer; and the hope of God and His kingdom attracts alone. In some special way God is often pleased to break the bonds of this world, and to draw His servants once for all under the abiding attractions of the world to come. Perhaps nothing does this so surely as a realisation of death.
II. Let us suppose that God has, in love, broken your bonds asunder and drawn you unto Himself. How will you answer to this mercy? (1) It would be the plain will of God that you should strive with all your soul and strength to follow whither He is drawing you: that is, to prepare yourselves to dwell with Him for ever. (2) Give your whole heart and strength to perpetuate and perfect what you have learned to the very end of life.
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 388.
There is one point on the very face of the text which it is important to notice. We may come to God collectively, but we are drawn to God each one individually. Draw me: we will run after Thee. Notice how this effectual drawing will begin to show itself in those who have been, indeed, the subjects of it.
I. Obedience to an impulse of God will be instant. A “drawing” never takes effect tomorrow. Real religion is always in the present tense. It is Abraham’s “Here am I!” It is Isaiah’s “Send me!” It is Christ’s “Lo, I come!”
II. A person who is under the drawing of God will be sure to begin to make conscience of little things. Things which were to him as nothing he will consider all-important, because they give him the opportunity of pleasing or displeasing God.
III. Another step-a very early step in the road-is a desire for the salvation of somebody else. Be very suspicious about your religion if you are not anxious about anybody’s soul.
IV. The man who is really drawn so loves the drawing that he always wants to be drawn more and more. He finds that it is so pleasant. He is always trying to get nearer. Therefore he is a man of much prayer-because he is nearer at such times. He wants oneness, closeness, and identity with Christ.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 8th series, p. 141.
References: Son 1:4.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 220; Ibid., Evening by Evening, pp. 1, 23; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 196; J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity Sunday, p. 34; J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 19.
Son 1:4-6
I. Note (1) what it is that the Church desires from Christ-what every pious soul must desire who would make prayer to Christ at all. “Draw me,” allure me, bring my soul under the power of a love-captivity. (2) “And we will run after Thee.” This seems to denote the alacrity with which, after experimental acquaintance with Christ and the power of His grace, we shall persevere in our Christian course. This speed comes of Christ’s drawing, and, as it is in material bodies, the velocity increases as we get nearer to the centre of the attracting influence. (3) Remark next the grounds on which the Church presumes to hope for these glorious manifestations of Christ’s love to her. A large suit should be endorsed by a strong plea, nor could we walk so boldly unless there had been first the extending towards us of the golden sceptre. “The King hath brought me into His chambers;” He hath recognised the rightfulness of my espousals; He hath initiated for me this covenant relation of protection and peace and mercy, and therefore by Him, by the King Himself, we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.
II. “I am black, but comely.” The words may be taken in reference to the triumphs and sorrows of earth. (1) The first reason assigned for the Church’s uncomely visage, for some of her dark spots and blemishes, is persecution. “The sun hath looked upon me.” (2) Opposition, disagreement, strifes, and feuds, among her own children. (3) The winter of her own religious spirit, the fear of loss to her personal spiritual devotion on account of over-zeal to discharge faithfully a public trust. “They made me keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3512.
Son 1:5
The whole volume of spiritual truth lies rolled up in these few words. You might expand them into both the Testaments. Penitence and faith-all the heart knows of itself and all it knows of Jesus-nature and grace-condemnation and peace. God’s great method with man in His everlasting covenant-it is all here, “Black, but comely.” The contrast matches with the experience of every child of God; the contradiction lies in the double being of a renewed man; the solution of the paradox is the gospel of Christ.
I. What is “blackness?” Properly, it is no colour at all. It is that which reflects no tint of all the sun’s prismatic rays. It is not one of the hues of the rainbow. It is the absence of colour. It is a simple negative. Remember, this is blackness,-a negative life. The absence of love and energy, and work for Christ is the great crime in God’s calendar. Nothing more was wanted to place those who were on the left hand on the day of judgment. You are black, because heaven does not reflect itself in you. It is your colourless life.
II. How can the black be comely? There must be something introduced from without. There must be a new nature. David expressed it all in those few words, “Blessed is the man whose sin is covered.” It is the covering which is the comeliness. Jesus lived to make a man’s righteousness which He could give to a man. When a man puts it on, it not only hides all that is underneath it, but it decks that man in more than celestial loveliness. He wears a robe, which is woven of all the tissues of the holiness of Jesus-dipped in the dies of heaven-sparkling in all its splendours. This is the wedding garment which gives to our dull souls their festive sweetness.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 9th series, p. 45.
Son 1:5, Son 1:15; Son 5:16
I. Look first at the saint’s “I am.” It is a sad one. “I am black-black as the tents of Kedar.” Every saint is conscious of innumerable sins, blemishes, and imperfections. The more spiritually-minded the Christian is, the more conscious is he of his blackness; and the nearer a man lives to God, the more intense is his abhorrence of himself.
II. Listen next to Christ’s response: “Behold, thou art fair, My love; behold, thou art fair.” This is not the language of exaggeration. Although the Lord loves His Church intensely He does not love it unreasonably; His love does not blind His eyes to His people’s defects. And yet He says, “Behold, thou art fair.” Though He sees faults and failings in me, He does not see me in my faults and failings, but views me as I am in Himself. When He looks upon us, He sees His own loveliness, and His own righteousness, and so He may well say, “Thou art fair.”
III. Lastly, you have the Church’s “He is.” “Yea, he is altogether lovely.” That Christ is altogether lovely is the united testimony of all saints in every age. In Him all the colours of beauty combine-all the harmonies that can be conceived blend in one ravishing strain. There is no one drawback in Him. He is lovely to my mind’s judgment; lovely to my heart’s affection; lovely to my will’s surrender; lovely in my memory’s treasure-house. He is all beauty, and beauty all round, and the Church gives this as her united testimony concerning Him.
A. G. Brown, Penny Pulpit, No. 1090.
Reference: Son 1:5.-J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 30.
Son 1:6
I. What is this complaint? “Mine own vineyard have I not kept.” The spiritual nature of a godly man is here supposed to be likened to a vineyard. (1) It is a soil in which things are planted and sown. (2). It is a sphere affording full scope for exertion, vigilance and zeal. (3) Judicious labour secures profit and reward. (4) Neglect makes evil fertile and brings miserable barrenness of good.
II. Look at the cause and the occasion of the evil complained of. (1) The cause of self-neglect is not in the vineyard-keeping for others; it must be in the character of the individual concerned. We are all of us apt to charge our faults and failings upon God’s providence, or upon God’s arrangements. The cause may be: (a) False views of a state of salvation, and of our personal obligations; (b) Excess of zeal for the welfare of others; (c) False amiability and accessibility to others; (d) A strong taste for the excitement of caring for others, and the vanity which prefers the position of keeper of the vineyard to the quiet condition of attending to one’s own vineyard. (2) The occasion-“They made me.” A great deal of religious and benevolent work is done evidently as unto man, and not as unto God. We neglect our own vineyards because others call us away, and we obey. We become engrossed. We become too ardent. We are keeping the vineyards of others, just, perhaps, that it may be said that we are keeping their vineyards, and that we may have the praise of the fruit of the vineyard, or that we may please those who are connected with the vineyard. The occasion of self-neglect is suggested in these words:-“They made me keeper of the vineyards.”
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 4th series, No. 14.
Not merely made keeper; you may be put into an office, yet fail to do its duties faithfully and well. But the suggestion here plainly is, that the vineyards of others were diligently kept, while by a fatality which might be thought unparalleled, if it were not one of the commonest of things, the vineyard at home was neglected.
I. Probably there are few who have reached middle age, and have incurred the responsibilities of domestic life, who can think of the text without some inward self-reproach. The matter is one of wide concern when we remember that every Sunday-school teacher, every visitor of the sick or the poor, every human being who is called to say a word of warning to an erring creature, or a word of encouragement to a weary one; every father and mother whose example and conversation and entire life, to its least detail, may affect the impressionable nature of their child; is called to keep the vineyard at home, if they would not have it scatter the slight seeds of mighty evil wide and far. We are all of us watched by far more eyes than we think of; and spiritual characteristics in us may reappear in those who have no intention of imitating us, but who insensibly fall into ways which they continually see.
II. The great lesson of the text is, care for your own soul; care for the souls of your children; care for the souls of your friends; care for the souls of all you know and do not know. Every vineyard under the wide skies, where you can pull up a weed or cast one good seed, the smallest-of that vineyard God has made you keeper.
So much the more diligently see that you keep your own; so much the more earnestly, as you would successfully mind the things of others, look to yourself. If we would do anything in this world, we with our little strength, we must begin with what lies to our hand; we must begin with the nearest. When things are right at home, we shall be abler to meddle with good result in things far away.
A. K. H. B., Towards the Sunset, p. 25.
References: Son 1:6.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 990; A. K. H. B., Sunday Magazine, 1881, p. 28; J. Vaughan, Children’s Sermons, 3rd series, p. 111. Son 1:7.-J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 40; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi., No. 338, and vol. xi., No. 636; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 34. Son 1:7, Son 1:8.-Ibid., vol. xix., No. 1115; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 247; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 324.
Son 1:8
I. Keep on familiar ground; do not stray away from the line of footsteps; be near where you can hear the pipe, or the flute, or the trumpet of the camp. Do not detach yourselves from the great company of the church, but wherever you are see that your method of communication is in good working order. This is not the exhortation of fear, it is the precept of sense, it is the dictate of reason, it is the calm, strong, solemn view of history and experience.
II. Loneliness has its perils in the religious life. When the devil gets a man absolutely alone, who will win? Not the man-in the vast proportion of cases. There was only one man that won in single fight, and that man was the Lord from heaven. The poor woman in the song had lost her loved one, and she was told that if she wanted to find him she would find him on accustomed beats and familiar paths. God leaves His footprints on the earth, and if we follow His footprints we shall find Himself.
III. Feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. Then you will have communion. Christianity institutes a fellowship, a community of interest and spirit and purpose. We are the complement of one another. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together; beware of the independence which is isolation; seek for communion, for music, for protection, for security, for all that comes of organised life, household delight, and trust; thus the enemy will never find you alone and at a disadvantage, but always surrounded by those who can recall the sweetest memories to your recollection, and enrich your hearts by reminders of the infinite promises of God, and thus a commonwealth shall be the basis of victory.
IV. Let us see that our footprints are all shaping towards home, that the foot is always set in the direction of home. Do not let us deceive and mislead anybody who may put their feet into our footprints under the impression that they are going home, when they are really going to their ruin.
Parker, Fountain, June 19th, 1879.
Son 1:9
It is thus that love multiplies itself by many images. Love sees the image of its dearest one everywhere, and claims it as its own. Look at the power of fancy, this creative and symbolising power, this power of reading the inner mysticism and ideality of things (1) as a joy, (2) as a danger, (3) as a responsibility.
I. A joy. In finding new symbols we find new pleasures, and in the inspiration of our love we turn all things visible to new and sacred uses. This is the joy of Christ Himself in the 13th chapter of the Gospel by Matthew. The object of His love was the kingdom of heaven, and day by day He compared it with new comparisons, and so gave His Church the treasure of His parables.
II. Not only is this power of fancy a keen and thrilling joy, but it is a positive and an immediate danger. The danger arises from the fact that we may consider our duty done when we have instituted a beautiful comparison. Our religion may perish in sentimental expressions; you may die in words. The danger is, that if we live the parabolical life we may never advance to Gethsemane and Golgotha. We may create a kind of artificial life, and thus miss the great utilities of our being. Not the heart that is swiftest and surest in the creation of symbols is always to be trusted in the hour of pain and distress.
III. A responsibility. We are to be transformed by the beauty that we admire. In comparing Christ with things beautiful, noble, grand, we are writing a heavy indictment against ourselves if we profess to be His followers, and do not rise to the grandeur of the occasion. As he who passes through a garden of roses brings with him part of the fragrance breathed from the beauteous flowers, so we who come forth from the fellowship of Christ are to show somewhat of the radiance of His countenance, and to speak somewhat with the eloquence of His accent.
Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii., p. 289.
References: Son 1:9.-Parker, Fountain, March 31st, 1881. Son 1:9-14.-D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3520. Son 1:12.-J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 49. Son 1:13.-Ibid., p. 58; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 558. Son 1:16.-Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 143. Son 1:17.-Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 104. Son 2:1.-Ibid., Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 784; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 122; Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 204. Son 2:2.-Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1525. Son 2:3.-Ibid., vol. xix., No. 1120; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 238; J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 76. Son 2:3, Son 2:4.-F. Perry, Penny Pulpit, No. 388. Son 2:3, Son 2:5.-Expositor, 3rd series, vol. i., p. 160.
Annotations
SONG OF SONGS
In studying this Love Song the primary application to the remnant of Israel must not be lost sight of. It is to be kept in mind that we are on Jewish ground and that the perfect assurance of that perfect love, which we know as members of His body, is lacking. The deeper spiritual applications which the individual believer may make in heart communion with the Lord, must be left to each person. In a certain sense we are here in the Holiest of all, for love-communion with our Saviour-Lord is the most precious thing. It produces that worship and adoration which is so acceptable in His sight, the worship in the Spirit. Our annotations will therefore be more of a general nature, but, we trust, under God, helpful to a deeper study of the book.
CHAPTER 1
The bride speaks first. She is occupied with the Beloved One. What He is, and all His kindness and loveliness have produced in her heart the love and admiration she expresses. The first rapturous outburst is, Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth; for Thy love is better than wine. She does not mention the Beloved by name; for her there is but One, beautifully illustrated by Mary when she came to the sepulchre and seeking Him said to the one she supposed to be the gardener, If thou has borne Him hence. The kiss expresseth reconciliation Luk 15:20, it is the token of peace, and above all, of affection. Thus the remnant of Israel will long for Him, for reconciliation, peace, and His affections. But true believers, the members of Himself, know in fullest assurance their reconciliation in Him; that He is peace and enjoy His affection. His love is better than wine. Wine is the symbol of earthly joys and pleasures; far better than anything under the sun is His love.
In Son 1:3 His worthy Name is described as ointment poured forth. It is because of all He is and all He gives. Well do we sing, How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds in a believers ear. The passage reminds us of Mar 14:3. For all who know Him His Name is the Name above every other name. But while we know His Name in all its preciousness, His own people Israel, the godly among them, will know Him likewise in the future. The virgins mentioned here, loving Him, are those separated ones in Israel who refuse to fall in line with the antichristian delusion of the great tribulation. We find them mentioned in Rev 14:1-5.
The bride desires to be drawn by Him and knows that if He draws all will run after Him. Then the King appears and brings her into His chambers, typifying full communion of love. Joy and rejoicing are the results.
Son 1:5-6 are the brides confession. She confesseth she is black, which does not denote at all, as some have taken it, that she was an Ethiopian. It means sunburnt, as she declares, Look not upon me because I am black, because the sun has looked upon me. She passed through the scorching heat of affliction and sorrow, yet she is comely Eze 16:10; through His mercy and kindness not forsaken. The daughters of Jerusalem the bride addresses are those of the nation, who do not yet share her knowledge of the Beloved, the Messiah. Israel had been called to be the keeper of the vineyards, that is, the keeper of nations and to be a blessing to them; but she had failed; not even her own vineyard did she keep. It is her confession to Him whom she now knows and longs for.
And she wants to belong to Him only, and be with Him where He is. She seeks shelter in the place where He makes His flock to rest at noon; for her soul loves Him. For her He is become the shepherd of Israel, who has found His sheep Isa 49:10; Eze 34:13-31). And if the remnant of Israel thus longs for Him and His precious fellowship, how much more should we, His heavenly people, love Him and be attached to Him only! Then He speaks in verse 8. Because of her confession He calls her the fairest among women. She is to go forth by the footsteps of the flock. What He says of her, what she is, He Himself has produced in her and for her. The horses imply energy and swiftness (same as in the New Testament); the ornaments the gifts of His love Eze 16:11. Interesting is Son 1:11, We will make beadrows of gold with studs of silver. The Jews believe that both God and the Messiah are Kings. We denotes the Father and the Son; the beadrows of gold and studs of silver denote the joy and the nuptial crown for the bride Est 2:17; Eze 16:12. Thus Messiah will crown His faithful ones in Israel, while His church will be crowned in glory.
Then the bride speaks again of her affections in the rest of the chapter. While the bridegroom calls her fair, she in return cries out, Behold, Thou art fair, my Beloved, yea, pleasant.
1.
Why do we love Him
Son 1:1-4
The song of songs, which is Solomons. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee: 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.
In many ways the Song of Solomon is the most precious and most refreshing of the Books of Inspiration. It is a book altogether about fellowship and communion with Christ. It is not in any sense to be interpreted literally. It is spiritual. It is an allegory, a spiritual dialogue between Christ our heavenly Bridegroom and the church his Bride.
John Gill wrote, The whole Song is figurative and allegorical; expressing, in a variety of lively metaphors, the love, union, and communion between Christ and his church; setting forth the several different frames, cases, and circumstances of believers in this life. There is no case, no circumstance, no spiritual condition that we may be in, regarding our relationship to Christ, which is not expressed in this sacred Song of Love.
C. H. Spurgeon said, This Book stands like the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and no man shall ever be able to pluck its fruit, and eat thereof, until first he has been brought by Christ past the sword of the cherubim, and led to rejoice in the love which hath delivered him from death. The Song of Solomon is only to be comprehended by men whose standing is within the veil. The outer court worshippers, and even those who only enter the court of the priests, think the Book a very strange one; but they who come very near Christ can often see in this Song of Solomon the only expression which their love to their Lord desires.
In these opening verses of this song of songs we see the cry of a renewed heart to Christ, the great Object of its love. These verses are not so much a description of our Lord as they are an expression of love to Christ and the desire of a renewed heart for his fellowship and some token of his love.
All who know the Lord Jesus Christ love him (1Co 16:22; 1Jn 4:19; Joh 21:17). A true, saving revelation and knowledge of Christ always creates an ardent love for Christ. To know him is to love him. It is not possible for a person to have a saving knowledge of Christ without a true heart of love for Christ. Any who do not love Christ, truly, sincerely, and above all others, simply to not know him.
Communion
Here is the first things that I want you to see. I hope that you can enter into it. The one thing all believers want is for Christ to manifest his love to their hearts in sweet, intimate communion. Our hearts desire is expressed in the words of verse two, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
The Song begins very abruptly, without any introduction. It opens with a cry of love to Christ, a desire for some manifestation of his love. It is the picture of a bride whose husband has been away for some time. But now she is anticipating his return. With hope, expectation, and delight she cries, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Oh, that our Redeemer might return to us and smother us with the kisses of his grace!
Jeremiah Burrowes once wrote, Permission to kiss the hand of a sovereign is considered an honor; but for that sovereign to give another the kisses of his mouth, is evidence of the tenderest affection, and is the highest possible honor.
What we want is some fresh manifestation of our Saviors love, some fresh evidence of his affection to us. Nothing could have been more delightful to the returning prodigal than the fact that his father ran to greet him and that, He fell on his neck and kissed him. Nothing is sweeter or more precious to our souls than the kisses of mercy, love, and grace. Oh, that he might smother us with the kisses of his mouth! A kiss from the Saviors mouth is a token of his deep love. A kiss from his mouth is an evidence of complete pardon, forgiveness, and acceptance. The ardent kisses of his mouth are so many evidences of his great love, deeply felt and freely bestowed.
We rejoice in his daily providence. We give thanks for his covenant mercy. We delight in his written Word. But what we ardently desire is for Christ himself to manifest himself to us by the gracious influences of his Spirit. We give thanks for his providence. We rest in his promises. We rejoice in his power. But we want his presence.We want him!
We long for Christ himself, because we know by experience that his love is better than wine. Wine is a comforting, strengthening, exhilarating beverage. It rejoices the heart, revives the spirits, and soothes the nerves of a man. But the love of Christ is far better than the best of wine. When the love of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, it is like drinking some heavenly wine. Oh, that we might have this blessed intoxication that we might be filled with the wine of his love.
We rejoice in the knowledge of his love. It is without beginning. It is without change. It is without measure. It is without end.Electing Love! — Redeeming Love! — Saving Love! — Preserving Love! — Everlasting Love! Still, we long to taste his love in our daily experience. It revives languishing spirits. It comforts troubled hearts. It strengthens weak souls. It refreshes thirsty hearts.
If . . .
If the Lord is pleased to draw us by the cords of his love, we will run after him. Draw me, we will run after thee (Son 1:4). I hope we recognize our need. We need Christ. We want him. We want him to revive our hearts, enliven our souls, and quicken us. But I know that he must do the work for us. We cannot revive ourselves.
Here is an acknowledgment and a prayer.Draw me. We acknowledge our own weakness and inability. Though we may know our need of and truly long for an awakening of our souls and the reviving of our hearts, Christ alone can revive and awaken us. We cannot work up a revival, or even pray it down. Revival does not depend upon the actions of the church or the abilities of the preacher. It is the work of Christ alone. Make this your prayer. If you want him, so earnestly want him that your heart aches for a manifestation of his love, pray like this – Draw me, O Lord, Draw me to thyself.
How does Christ draw his people to himself? He draws us by the gracious influence of his Spirit, by the manifestation of himself through the Word of his gospel, and by the irresistible power of His love.
If the Lord will draw us to himself, then we will follow him. If he makes us know the constraint and attraction of his love, we will run after him. Then, no service will be too demanding. No obstacle will be too hard. No sacrifice will be too great.
Knowledge
Our hearts burn with love for Christ, because we know him.Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee (Son 1:3). I repeat myself deliberately.If we truly know Christ by faith, if he has been revealed in our hearts, we love him supremely. We love him because he first loved us (1Jn 4:19). This is the true testimony of every true believer. His love for us precedes our love for him. His love for us causes our love for him. But we do truly love him.
His many attributes are to us a sweet smelling ointment. There is no aspect of his character, no attribute of his nature that is in the least measure repugnant to us. We love him because he is who he is. Believing sinners love Christ as he is revealed in the Scriptures (Psa 45:1-9; Rev 1:10-20). His holiness and his goodness, his justice and his mercy, his righteousness and his grace, his power and his tenderness, his immutability and his compassion, his wisdom and his sympathy, his wrath and his love, his judgment and his salvation, are all good ointments in the estimation of our souls.
We have looked him over from every point of view, as the Holy Spirit has revealed him to us, and this is our conclusion: — He is altogether lovely. There is not one attribute, not one word, not one act of our Lord that does not enhance his beauty to our hearts. In his humiliation, in his life, in his death, in his resurrection, in his exaltation, in his majestic sovereignty, in his glorious coming, in his strict judgment, and in his everlasting gloryHe is altogether lovely!
His name, by which he has revealed himself, is like an enchanting perfume to our souls. The virgins, those who have been made pure by him, love the Lord because of his name. His name is Immanuel – God with us. His name is Jesus – Jah-Hosea. Divine Savior. His name is Christ – Gods anointed. His name is The LORD Our Righteousness.
In the eyes of others our adorable Savior has no form, nor comeliness for which they might desire him. But in the eyes of his own he is truly precious. He is fairer than ten thousand. In comparison with him, all others must be despised. We are made to cry, Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth I desire beside thee.
Charles Simeon said this of Christs church and Bride: She is altogether occupied with the savor of her Beloveds name, the perfume of which makes every other odor worthless at least, if not nauseous and offensive. In a word, so entirely does this beloved Object fill her soul, that with him a dungeon would be heaven; and without him, heaven itself would be a dungeon.
Rejoice
I do not know what the Lord may be pleased to do for us in this day. In the midst of wrath, I pray that he will remember mercy, that he will revive his work. It is my earnest hope, it is the burden of my heart, it is the cry of my soul that he may be pleased to send us a mighty awakening. I pray that he will reveal himself in our midst. Yet, whatever he does, or does not do, we must, even in our times of spiritual emptiness and barrenness, rejoice in our Savior and in his love. 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 (Son 1:4).
We must not despise the grace he has bestowed upon us. We must not murmur against his providence. When he speaks and when he is silent, when he sends refreshing and when he sends barrenness, when he reveals himself and when he hides himself, let us rejoice in the Lord. We have abundant reason to rejoice and be glad.
Christ has accepted us as his own. The King has brought us into his chambers! Let us ever remember his love. We have many proofs of it. He may for a time hide his face from us, but he loves us still. Even now, though our hearts may seem dull and heavy, we love the Lord our Redeemer. We will wait before him in loving submission. Whatever he is pleased to do, we will love him. We have reason enough to do so, who can say, — My Beloved is mine, and I am his!
song: Psa 14:1, *title Isa 5:1
Solomon’s: 1Ki 4:32
Reciprocal: Psa 45:1 – A song Son 2:4 – banqueting house Eph 5:32 – speak Col 3:16 – and spiritual
For the following we are indebted to An Exposition and Vindication of Solomons Song by James Strong, S. T. D., who combines the literal and allegorical modes of interpretation the idea that the poem celebrates the royal marriage, and is also symbolic of the relation of Jehovah and His people in both dispensations. The details apply to the former, while the spiritual conceptions are foreshadowed in the latter.
Hebrew wedding festivities usually lasted a week, the marriage being consummated at the close of the first day, but here the nuptials seemed to have been postponed till the last day. The description, therefore, is not that of the honeymoon, but the wooing.
Strong distributes the drama into six acts corresponding to as many days- not extending into the Sabbath and subdivides each into two scenes, morning and evening.
Acts 1, SCENE 1 This subsection comprises Son 1:2-8. The bride is an Egyptian princess, whose train of attendants has reached the royal portico at Jerusalem and is met by the Israelitish maids of honor. Her thoughts are busy with anticipation of the greeting from her intended, and she expresses them, almost unconsciously, in the words, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth (Son 1:1-2). The ladies respond to the close of Son 1:3.
The bride orders the attendants to proceed (she being carried in a palanquin, a covered conveyance borne on the shoulders of men), and she exclaims, Draw me, or Bear me forward. The ladies respond, We will run after thee! Passing within the palace, she says, The king hath brought me into his chambers, and the ladies respond, to the close of Son 1:4.
The bride disparages her charms in Son 1:5, and a dialogue ensues between her and the ladies to the end of Son 1:8, where she is left awaiting the bridegroom in an anti-room.
If we seek the spiritual application of this, it is found in the expectant desire of true believers for the second coming of Christ.
Acts 1, SCENE 1 This scene runs from 1:9 to 2:6, and describes the introduction of the lovers to each other, in one of the interior reception chambers, in presence of the attendants.
The bridegroom expresses his admiration of the bride (Son 1:9-10), and the attendants respond, Son 1:11. Probably the bride speaks (Son 1:12-14), her observations inspired by a glimpse of the nosegay (spikenard) at her bosom. Compliments are passed between her and the bridegroom (Son 1:15 to Son 2:3), and probably the symbolic language is suggested by the garden and its fountains that lie before them.
The bridegroom and his attendants retire, but the bride continues addressing the ladies (Son 2:4-6). Overpowered with emotion at her lovers favor toward her, she begs restoratives from them, although she sighs for his personal support to keep her from sinking.
The scene is emblematic of the churchs rapturous contemplation of her glorified state with Christ. And there is that in it which suggests the declaration of John the Baptist: He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegrooms voice (Joh 3:29).
Acts 2, SCENE 1 This scene (Son 2:7-17) opens on the next morning, and represents the royal lover starting on a hunting trip. He serenades his sweetheart beneath her chamber window, urging her maidens not to awaken her (Son 2:7). Her quick ear detects his voice, and she calls to her maidens concerning him (Son 2:8-10), and repeats his song (Son 2:10-14). A rougher voice, that of the gardener, is heard (Son 2:15). Meanwhile the bride, having finished her toilet, is at the window acknowledging the song (Son 2:16-17).
Son 1:1. The song of songs The most excellent of all songs. And so this might well be called, whether we consider the author of it, who was a great prince, and the wisest of all mortal men; or the subject of it, which is not Solomon, but a greater than Solomon, even Christ, and his marriage with the church; or the matter of it, which is most lofty, containing in it the noblest of all the mysteries contained either in the Old or the New Testament; most pious and pathetical, breathing forth the hottest flames of love between Christ and his people, most sweet and comfortable, and useful to all that read it with serious and Christian eyes.
Son 1:1. The Song of songs, which is Solomons. Here our version varies from the Hebrew. The particle prefixed to the noun Solomon is rendered in the genitive, instead of the dative case. The particle so occurring in many other texts is rendered touching, concerning, &c. So Isa 5:1. A song touching his vineyard. Psa 45:1. Things touching the king. Gen 19:21, where the Lord says to Lot, I have accepted thee concerning this thing.
We must remark also, that the Hebrews often designate the superlative degree by repeating the noun, as Oh Lord, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. 1 Kings 8. So here, the Song of songs is equivalent to a song of the highest strain, or sublimest magnitude. Isaiah says of the church, The Lord thy Maker is thy husband: and St. Paul, Christ hath loved the church, and given himself for her. In this view, the ancient rabbins understood the book when they put it in their canon, and called it in relation to other books, the holy of holies. The sneers at this book are occasioned by not understanding the communion between Christ and the church. In old Hesiods theogony or generation of the gods, &c., we have the amours of Jupiter. But these were hallowed mysteries: no one ever understood them in an unhallowed sense. For instance, the brightness of Jupiter consumed Semele. The child Bacchus dropped from the uterus during pregnancy, and was according to the learned French bishop Huet, sewed up in his Fathers queve to complete the time of pregnancy. Our Dr. William Stukely, a principal founder of the Royal Society, says on this part of pagan fable, that the divine and the human geniture of the Messiah are designated. Solomon, no doubt, had ancient models for this kind of composition. The whole poem is highly oriental, with whose languages, or their dialects of the Persic, he appears to have been fully acquainted, and also with their flowery mode of writing.
Son 1:5. I am black, but comely. The rabbins very generally refer these words to the glorious state of the gentile church, as described in the fifty fourth chapter of Isaiah.
Son 1:7. Where thou feedest thy flock? The meaning here is spiritual and hallowed; for neither Solomon nor his princess ever fed a flock night and day, leading them to pens at night, to shades and to still waters at noon. Sheep will lap a little water in the course of the day, but when there is a heavy dew on the grass in the morning, they are indifferent about water.
Son 1:12-14. Spikenarda bundle of myrrh a cluster of camphire. These fragrant perfumes were carried in the bosom, or otherwise disposed in the rooms. The Chinese put them in large jars with holes at the top, to perfume the rooms when full of company. These sweet odours are emblematical of the glory and grace of Christ; the perfumes of his merit ascending as sweet incense before the throne of God, and all the graces of his Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS.
Solomon opens his sacred drama by a tender sentiment, the longing of the spouse for her Lords return after some absence, that she might receive the accustomed caresses, and rejoice in his presence; for his love, accompanied with all the agrement, as the French say, of domestic bliss, was better than wine. So it is with the soul longing for the Saviours return, and for the light of his countenance to shine with new lustre. The church, refreshed with divine love shed abroad in the heart, can follow the Lord, as giants refreshed with wine. Christ himself has taught us so to improve this thought; for when he tasted the cup in the last supper he said, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until I drink it new in my Fathers kingdom. Hence those only must expect this high mark of the divine favour, who prefer it to wine, and every earthly love.
We have the harmony of grace and will. Draw me; let my Lord signify his pleasure to walk; and I and my virgins will run after thee. Knowing thy purity and worth, they love thee as the first of kings, and the best of masters. Hence, as the sun first warms the earth, and then the plants grow, so grace must first touch the heart, and warm the affections. But the soul is not afterwards to revolt and check the hallowing influences, but to run after him with all the ardour of prayer, praise and love. So said the Sire: when thou shalt enlarge my heart, I will run the ways of thy commandments. Psa 119:32. Then the banqueting follows; and then the upright display their loyalty and love to JEHOVAH their King.
The church owns her defects. I am black, but comely. The Egyptian princess was no doubt of darker complexion than the Hebrew women; and the church is black in her original birth, and spotted by practice; but she is comely through the comeliness which the Lord puts upon her. She is tattered and defiled as the weather-worn tent of Kedar; but the adornings of grace array her in beauty fairer than the curtains of Solomon, whose texture, tints and embroidery were exquisite.
The world hate the church; and yet when it is their interest, they will entrust their property with saints in preference to sinners. They made me keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept. So ministers, and very pious men often make sacrifices of worldly good, and neglect their secular interests for the salvation of souls.
The church solicits communion with Christ, though in persecution and poverty. She desires to be with him when he feeds his flock at noon; for he somehow wonderfully shelters his faithful people, even when the sun of persecution is up. And when the poor saints in hot climates are obliged to work at noon, he promises that by and bye the sun shall not alight upon them, nor any heat; but he will shelter and refresh them for ever.
He directs her to go by the footsteps of the flock, the surest way not to err. Let us follow the steps of good men with an honest heart, and we shall soon come to their repose. Let us pray as they prayed, let us do good as they did, and never cease to trust in God; and then we shall be made perfect in one; for they without us cannot be made perfect.
The church is compared to a stud of horses in Pharaohs chariot. The state coach of that king was splendid for peace, and strong for war. So the Lord, who makes the clouds his chariots, shall surround himself with angels and saints. Then who will resemble them in majesty, or stand before their banners? In this sense Zechariah regards the church: Zec 10:3. Dr. Gill, by talking of the price, the food, and the harness of Pharaohs horses, appears to err: we greatly disfigure the majesty of the sacred scriptures by excess of allegory. Surely, if the prophets were permitted to call some preachers to an account for mangling their words, it would be in mortifying reproof.
The King sits at the table with his saints. Then the perfumes of grace are sweeter than bags of myrrh, or bundles of camphire in the gardens of Engedi, near the sea of Sodom. These bunches of flowers, much used on nuptial occasions, and all feasts, designate the fragrance of the Redeemers merits. Then the church is all fair, all glorious within, for his throne of glory in the heart makes her so. Then she has doves eyes: for purity of heart and infantine innocence, gives I know not what of heaven, and divine simplicity to the countenance of a saint. The face of Moses shone when he descended from the mount, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold him.
Son 1:1. Superscription by the collector or a later editor describing the whole book as the noblest or the most beautiful of Solomons songs (1Ki 4:32).
Son 1:2-4. A brief song by the bride or one of the wedding guests expressive of the brides love for the bridegroom, and suggesting by the symbols of perfume and wine the power of his attraction.
Son 1:2. The exchange of person is puzzling, and it is proposed to change thy to his, or the reverse, but MT is supported by LXX, and there may have been much freedom in dramatio songs of this type, helped out by gestures.love, etc., i.e. caresses (LXX has breasts) are pleasanter than wine (Son 1:4, Son 4:10).
Son 1:3. In the original the words for name and ointment are similar in sound (cf. Ecc 7:1*); in such word-play the ancients took delight. The name is not a mere label, it has a close connexion with the person (Gen 32:29*); even as the fine ointment or perfume that he uses, he spreads abroad an air of pleasantness. Perhaps for poured forth, costly should be read.virgins, the young women, companions of the bride.
Son 1:4. It has been suggested that the second clause of this verse should be placed at the beginning of the following verse; it suits very well there, and is difficult to explain here.make mention of thy love: better celebrate thy caresses; but some scholars suggest a verb of similar sound meaning to intoxicate with.
Son 1:5 f. The Bride Rejoices in her Beauty.She has lived an open-air life and been exposed to the sun, so that she has not the white, delicate complexion of the city-dweller, but the ruddy appearance (1Sa 16:12) of the peasant woman. Her brothers, her natural guardians, have been severe with her, for what reason we cannot tell; they have set her to this work of keeping the family vineyard, but her own vineyard they could not compel her to keep, her heart has been given to another. Love conquers disadvantages and spurns unreasonable restraints.Kedar, name of a nomad tribe (Isa 21:16 f.*, Psa 12:05*), used here because of its resemblance to a word meaning black. It is possible to take the curtains of Solomon to refer to the other member of the statement, the beauty not the blackness; there is then no need to change Solomon to Salma (another nomad tribe).daughters of Jerusalem, if original, may refer to the bridal companions who represent court ladies.
Son 1:7 f. An Inquiry and Reply.There is difficulty in fixing the connexion of this small piece, the first specimen of dialogue that we meet. It has the motive of seeking and finding (Son 2:8 ff., Son 3:1). The woman addressing her lover, or the bride speaking to the bridegroom, wishes to know where he and his flock spend the hour of rest at noon-tide (2Sa 4:5), so that she may visit it and enjoy his company (Gen 37:16). She is advised by her lover, or the chorus of girls, to go forth with her kids, following the track of the flocks, till she comes to the shepherds tents (cf. Gen 38:17, Jdg 15:1). The one difficult phrase in the passage is as one that is veiled (AV that turneth aside). This suggests, why should she incur suspicion or run into danger as a woman of loose character? (Gen 38:15). But on the whole, it is better to translate, with the versions (mg.), as a wandering woman i.e. a female tramp.
Canticle 1. Son 1:2-17; Son 2:1-7.
The Assurance of Love.
The Bride. (2-7) .
2. Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.
The song opens with the voice of the bride. Her first words express the ardent longing of her heart for a pledge of the Bridegroom’s love. This is not the language of a stranger to the Bridegroom, nor of one who is indifferent to his love. These are the words of one who has been attracted by the Bridegroom, and longs for, yet lacks, the assurance of his personal love.
At the close of this first canticle she obtains the desire of her heart, for she can say, with great delight, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.” The desire expressed at the outset is realized at the end. She will have other lessons to learn in the course of the Song, but she has obtained the assurance and enjoyment of the Bridegroom’s love. This then is the great theme of the first canticle – The way love takes to confirm the heart of the bride in the love of the Bridegroom.
To lack the assurance of the love of Christ is far indeed from true Christian experience, and yet at the outset of our history with God our souls are not always confirmed in the love of Christ. And when the assurance of His love is possessed it is not always enjoyed; and thus the language of the bride expresses the longing of many a child of God. But the enjoyment of the love of Christ is the secret of all true devotedness. As we trace the devoted life of the Apostle Paul, the persecutions he suffered, the perils he faced, and the hardships he endured, we ask, what was the hidden secret of this marvellous life? And we hear him answer, “The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Here was the hidden spring of his life, a heart kept in the assurance and enjoyment of Christ’s individual love. How deeply important that our souls should be thoroughly assured of the love of Christ. There are other loves in this world, but His love alone can satisfy the heart, – “Let Him kiss me.” For satisfaction of heart His love must be consciously known, and this is the import of the kiss, – “Let Him kiss me.” But, further, His love must be known as an individual and personal love, “Let Him kiss me.”
2. For thy love is better than wine.
3. Thine ointments savour sweetly;
Thy name is an ointment poured forth:
Therefore do the virgins love thee.
Addressing the Bridegroom, the bride discovers to us the secret of her desire for the assurance of His love. She has learnt the preciousness of His love and the excellence of His name. The thought of His love fills her heart with a deeper gladness than “wine which maketh glad the heart of man.” His love is better than wine, and His name is like an ointment poured forth. It is the soul’s discovery of the infinite worth of Christ that creates the longing for the assurance of His love. His love is better than all earthly joys, of which wine is but the symbol; and His name, when revealed, is like an ointment poured forth. In the Bethany scene of John 12 we see the happy result of the ointment poured forth. In the alabaster box the odour was confined, but when poured forth, “the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” Prophets, priests, and kings, had foretold the coming of Christ and the names He would bear, but in their day the odour of His name was confined, as it were, to the alabaster box. When, however, Christ became incarnate and dwelt among us full of grace and truth, then indeed His name was poured forth: then the name of Jesus stood revealed as the perfect expression of meekness, gentleness, patience, longsuffering, holiness, and love. Other names may stink in the nostrils of men by reason of the cruelty and wickedness of those that bear them, this name is fragrant with every grace. The odour of this name filled the little company gathered around Him on earth; it fills the courts of heaven with its fragrance; it will become excellent in all the earth; it will fill the new heavens and the new earth. But it is only the virgins – the pure in heart – who value His name, and appreciate His love. “Therefore do the virgins love thee.” They love because of His love. “We love Him because He first loved us.”
4. Draw me, we will run after thee!
– The King hath brought me into his chambers –
We will be glad and rejoice in thee,
We will remember thy love more than wine.
They love thee uprightly.
The preciousness of His love, and the excellence of His name, not only create the longing for the assurance of His love, but also the desire for His company. The bride expresses this desire, as, in company with the virgins, she says, “Draw me, we will run after Thee.” She is loved into loving and drawn into running. And, thus drawn, the Bridegroom leads into the secret place of His presence – the chambers of the King. In due time the bride will be a worshipper of the King at His table (12), and yet a little later she will rest with infinite delight in the banqueting house of the King (Cant. 2: 4); but first she must be a learner in the chambers of the King. In that secret place she forgets herself, rejoices in the Bridegroom, and remembers His love. There the King is loved with a pure love – they love Him uprightly. Thus it is that Christ becomes exceedingly attractive to our souls; He draws us after Him; He brings us into His presence, that, alone with Him, we may forget ourselves and rejoice only in Him and His love.
5. I am black, but comely, daughters of Jerusalem,
As the tents of Kedar,
As the curtains of Solomon.
In the presence of the Bridegroom, the bride can only rejoice in Him and His love; but, as the result of having been in the King’s chambers, she gets a true estimate of herself, so that before others she owns her true condition. Discovering what we are in the presence of all that Christ is, we can use the language of the bride and say, “I am black,” – black as the tents of Kedar. But if we learn what we are in the presence of Him who is the King, we also learn what His grace has made us, and thus while owning we are black we can also add, “but comely” like the beautiful curtains of Solomon’s temple. These are lessons that all God’s people have to learn. In the presence of God, Job had to say, “I am vile.” In the sanctuary, the psalmist had to say, “I was as a beast before Thee.” In the presence of the glory, Isaiah says, “I am unclean”; and, as a result of being in the chambers of the King, the bride has to own, “I am black.” The soul will be restless and the assurance and the enjoyment of the love of Christ be lacking, until, in the secret chambers of the King, we have learnt these three great truths: (1) The infinite worth of Christ and His love: (2) the utter vileness of all that we are by nature; and (3) the comeliness His grace has put upon us.
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 keeper of the vineyards;
Mine own vineyard have I not kept.
Having seen the King in His beauty and herself in her blackness, she has no desire to attract attention to herself. If she speaks of herself, it is not to draw attention to herself. “Look not upon me,” she says, “because I am black.” The heat of this world’s trials, persecution from those that were nearest to her, slavery in the vineyards of others and neglect of her own things had, all left their mark upon her. And in like manner, having discovered our blackness in the light of Christ’s perfection, we realize that we are no pattern for others. As we think of our many failures under fiery trials, how often we have broken down in the presence of the opposition of men of the world, how much we have slaved in the world’s vineyards, and how much we have neglected our own things, are we not constrained to say with the bride, “Look not upon me?” And yet how often our words and ways betray the vanity of our hearts which practically says, “Look upon me.” The effort to attract to ourselves tells how little we have been in the chambers of the King.
7. Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth,
Where thou feedest (thy flock),
Where thou makest it to rest at noon;
For why should I be as one that turneth aside
Beside the flocks of thy companions?
The bride, who has been speaking to the daughters of Jerusalem now turns to the Bridegroom – the one whom she loves. Questions may arise in her heart as to His love for one who is so black, but she has no doubt as to her love for the King. ,She does not say, “Thou whom my soul ought to love,” or even “desires to love,” but “Thou whom my soul loveth.” And loving Him she desires to feed where He feeds and rest where He rests. Attracted by His love she has no desire to turn aside. And so with ourselves, it is the love of Christ filling the heart, that alone can keep us from turning aside. And yet, alas, have we not each to confess that too often, we are “as one that turneth aside” to seek our food and rest in earthly things. And then we wonder why we make such little progress, and yet, if feeding on the husks of this poor world, the wonder would be if we made any spiritual growth. The philosophy, science and literature of this world will not attract, still less feed, the souls of the lovers of Christ. If we truly say, “Thou whom my soul loveth,” we shall surely desire the heavenly food and the divine rest; and the ardent desire for spiritual food is the best antidote against turning aside to earthly supplies.
The Bridegroom. (8 – 11).
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 shepherds’ tents.
Here for the first time we hear the Bridegroom’s voice. He addresses the bride as the “fairest among women.” Black in her own sight she may be, hated too and persecuted by others, but in His sight she is the “fairest among women.” Nothing will alter Christ’s estimate of His people. Neither the failure of the saints, nor the slander of the world, will alter His appreciation of His own. He ever views them in all the value of His own work, and according to the counsels of His grace. Would we know where to find food and rest for our souls we must follow in the footsteps of the flock. Christ has His flock and His shepherds in this world. And Christ, the chief Shepherd of the sheep, leads His flock into green pastures. Would we be fed, then let us follow in the footsteps of the flock. But there is further instruction for the bride. Let her feed the lambs beside the shepherd’s tents, and in feeding others she will herself be fed. What is this but the anticipation of that last scene in the gospel of John with the Lord’s touching words to a restored backslider, “Follow Me,” and “Feed my lambs.” To feed the lambs we must follow Christ, and if we follow Christ we shall delight to feed the lambs. The secret of obtaining rest and food for our souls is found in following Christ and feeding His lambs.
9. I compare thee, my love,
To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10. Thy cheeks are comely with bead-rows,
Thy neck with ornamental chains.
11 We will make thee bead-rows of gold
With studs of silver.
Having answered her questions, the Bridegroom is free to express the thoughts of His heart concerning the bride. Like a horse in Pharaoh’s chariot, adorned with all the trappings of royalty, so the bride was comely, in His sight, with the beauty He had put upon her; as the Lord can say, by the mouth of Ezekiel, “I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck” (Eze 16:11). Does not Christ delight to unfold His thoughts of love towards His own? And more, to let us into the secret of things which God hath prepared for them that love Him – things that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man? And so the Bridegroom not only expresses His present delight in the bride, but lets her into the secret of all the glory that is purposed for her, “We will make thee bead-rows of gold with studs of silver,” doubtless referring to the crown she shall yet wear. There is the present comeliness in which Christ sees His people – for as He is so are we in this present world; and there is the future glory in which the saints will be displayed, when the marriage of the Lamb is come. Beautiful are the saints in His sight even now, but the crowning day is coming by and by.
The Bride.
(12-14).
12. While the king is at his table,
My spikenard sendeth forth its fragrance.
13. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved unto me;
That passeth the night between my breasts.
14. My beloved is unto me a cluster of henna-flowers
In the vineyards of Engedi.
The glowing thoughts of the Bridegroom for the bride calls forth her immediate response. While the King sitteth at his table, the worship of her heart ascends as a sweet odour. The King at his table gives us a lovely picture of Christ in the midst of His own. Not Christ with the girded loins, in lowly service, washing sin-soiled feet; not Christ as the Captain of the Lord’s host leading His own in the fight with the powers of evil; not Christ with the tears of divine compassion comforting a sorrowing heart, but Christ at rest, finding joy and delight in the midst of His own. Not Bethany with its sorrow, but Bethany with its feasting – that happy moment when loving hearts “made Him a supper.” It was not often in this sad world that any one made a supper for Him. Once in the house of Levi a feast was made that Christ might bless poor sinners, and once in the home at Bethany that Christ might commune with saints. There at last they spread a feast for Him who spread a feast for all the world. There the King sat at His table, and there the spikenard of the bride sent forth its fragrance. It was blessed to sit at His feet as a learner and hear His word, but Mary’s spikenard sent forth no fragrance there. It was blessed to fall at His feet in the day of sorrow and receive the comfort of His tears, but it drew no fragrant spikenard from Mary’s broken heart. But when the King sat at His table in the midst of His own, – no longer sustaining them in the pathway, comforting them in their sorrows, dealing with their weakness or correcting their mistakes, but now resting in His love in holy communion and intimacy with His own, – then indeed the suited moment had come to bring forth the alabaster box and pour out the precious spikenard upon the King, and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. It is the presence of the King at His table that calls forth the worship of His own. Only a heart set free from its sorrows, and its exercises, and busy service, can worship in the presence of the King.
To learn at His feet is good, but learning is not worship. To be comforted by His tears of sympathy is sweet, but comfort is not worship. In learning, I am conscious of my ignorance, in comfort, I am thinking of my sorrow. But when we spread a feast for Christ – when the King sits at His table – it is no time for instruction or comfort. There we leave our sorrows, our ignorance, our daily cares behind, and at His supper, He alone engrosses the mind and holds the affections; and when the heart is filled with Christ we worship – “Our spikenard sendeth forth its fragrance.”
Worship is the overflow of a heart filled with Christ. When Christ fills the heart we can say, in the language of the bride, “A bundle of myrrh is my beloved unto me.” The myrrh speaks of Christ, but not Christ as an object before our gaze, but Christ dwelling in the heart by faith. Myrrh does not attract by its beauty’ like the flower. It is a resin precious by reason of its sweet odour. The myrrh, too, is wrapped in a bundle; it is unseen but its fragrance is enjoyed. Such was the beloved to the bride, and such is Christ to the believer when dwelling in his heart by faith. And, says the bride, the bundle of myrrh shall lie all night between my breasts. All through the darkness of this world’s night, until the dawn of endless day, the believer has Christ enshrined in the secret of his affections.
But further, the bride likens the Bridegroom to the beauty of a cluster of henna-flowers in the vineyards of Engedi. She would delight in her beloved in the secret of her affections, but she would also enjoy him as the object of her enraptured gaze. So too we need Christ not only dwelling in the heart by faith, but as the attractive Object of our souls, that gazing upon Him with unveiled face we may behold the glory of the Lord and be changed into the same image from glory to glory.
We need Christ to draw forth the fragrance of the spikenard at the feast; we need Christ as the bundle of myrrh throughout the long dark night; and we need Christ as the cluster of flowers in the vineyards of Engedi enshrined, as it were, in His own glory.
The Bridegroom.
(15).
16. Behold, thou art fair, my love,
Behold, thou art fair: thou hast doves’ eyes.
The spikenard of the bride has sent forth its fragrance, expressive of her delight in the Bridegroom; now he expresses his delight in the bride. She had said, “I am black,” but the Bridegroom says, “Behold thou art fair.” Christ, ever viewing His people in the light of His purpose, and on the ground of His work, can say of each one, “Thou art fair.” Thus the Apostle John can write, “As He is so are we, in this world.” Moreover, the King adds, “Thou hast doves’ eyes.” The dove mourns and languishes when separated from its mate. Hezekiah could say in his sickness, “I did mourn as a dove.” The dove has no eye but for its loved object; and it is those who have before them one object – and that object Christ – of whom He can say, “Thou hast doves’ eyes.”
The Bride.
(16-2: 1).
16. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea pleasant;
Also our bed is green.
17. The beams of our houses are cedars,
Our rafters are firs.
The Bridegroom had said, “Behold, thou art fair, my love”; and with great delight the bride at once responds, “Behold, thou art fair, my beloved” Her comeliness is the counterpart of his. Is Christ fair? So are His people. The beauty of the Lord God is upon us (Psa 90:17). But not only does the bride say, “Thou art fair,” but she can add, “Yea, pleasant.” Of others it may be said, many are “fair” that are not “pleasant,” and some are pleasant that are not fair. Christ is not only fair to look upon, but He is wholly pleasant to engage the thoughts. How “pleasant” was Christ to the Psalmist when he said, ”My heart is welling forth with a good matter”; and how “fair” when he added, “Thou art fairer than the children of men.” Well we may sing,
“Each thought of Thee doth constant yield
Unchanging fresh delight.”
But more. Not only is the King “fair” and “pleasant,” but in his presence there is rest, security, and shelter. “Our bed is green.” The bed refers to the couch on which the King and the bride recline at the King’s table, and gives the thought of rest. When Christ takes His place in the midst of His own there is found a green spot in this barren world. In His presence there is rest. But it is “our” bed, the rest is mutual. “I with Him, and He with me.” In His presence, too, we shall find security and shelter. “The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters fir.” The “beams” support the building and make it secure, the rafters support the roof and make it a place of shelter. In the presence of the King we have security and shelter. What kind of setting has the Bethany scene, when the King sits at His table? Immediately before we read of the great ones of the earth consulting to put the King to death, immediately after Judas covenants to betray Him for thirty pieces of silver. Outside the storm is rising, inside there is shelter and security from the coming storm. One, indeed, will find fault with Mary, but at once the sheltering care of the Lord is seen: “Let her alone, she hath done what she could.” No power of the enemy can touch the one of whom the King says “Let her alone.”
“In heavenly love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear;
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without me.
My heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me,
And can I be dismayed?”
I. THE SUPERSCRIPTION 1:1
The writer of this book claimed to be Solomon. [Note: See Delitzsch, pp. 11-12, et al.] Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1Ki 4:32), and this book appears to be one of them (cf. Psalms 72; Psalms 127). "Which is Solomon’s" has led many interpreters to conclude that Solomon was the writer. Another interpretation follows.
""Here Solomon, as the king and symbol of wisdom and love, becomes an image for the male lover in the poem. Thus the female speaker, who dominates the poem, dedicates it to her Solomon, a figure who embodies her greatest desires for the fulfillment of love." [Note: Hess, p. 39.]
"Song of songs" means that this is a superlative song (cf. the terms "holy of holies," "vanity of vanities," or "King of kings"), not that it is one song made up of several other songs, which it is. The divine Author probably intended us to view this book as a superlative song, the best song. The lack of reference to God in the superscription does not, of course, rule out divine inspiration of the book.
"God’s name is absent from the entire setting. But who would deny that his presence is strongly felt? From whom come such purity and passion? Whose creative touch can ignite hearts and bodies with such a capacity to bring unsullied delight to another? Who kindled the senses that savor every sight, touch, scent, taste, and sound of a loved one? Whose very character is comprised of the love that is the central subject of the Song? None of this is to allegorize either the minute details or the main sense of the book. It is about human love at its best. But behind it, above it, and through it, the Song, as part of the divinely ordered repertoire of Scripture, is a paean of praise to the Lord of creation who makes possible such exquisite love and to the Lord of redemption who demonstrated love’s fullness on a cross." [Note: Hubbard, pp. 273-74.]
Another peculiarity of the book is the absence of any identifiable theological theme. The Bible has much to say about marriage.
"But the Song of Songs is different. Here sex is for joy, for union, for relationship, for celebration. Its lyrics contain no aspirations to pregnancy, no anticipations of parenthood. The focus is not on progeny to assure the continuity of the line but on passion to express the commitment to covenant between husband and wife." [Note: Ibid., p. 268.]
TRUE LOVE TESTED
Son 1:1-17; Son 2:1-17; Son 3:1-11; Son 4:1-16; Son 5:1
THE poem opens with a scene in Solomons palace. A country maiden has just been introduced to the royal harem. The situation is painful enough in itself, for the poor, shy girl is experiencing the miserable loneliness of finding herself in an unsympathetic crowd. But that is not all. She is at once the object of general observation; every eye is turned towards her; and curiosity is only succeeded by ill-concealed disgust. Still the slavish women, presumably acting on command, set themselves to excite the new-comers admiration for their lord and master. First one speaks some bold amorous words, {Son 1:2} and then the whole chorus follows. {Son 1:3} All this is distressing and alarming to the captive, who calls on her absent lover to fetch her away from such an uncongenial scene; she longs to run after him; for it is the king who has brought her into his chambers, not her own will; {Son 1:4} The women of the harem take no notice of this interruption, but finish their ode on the charms of Solomon. All the while they are staring at the rustic maiden, and she now becomes conscious of a growing contempt in their looks. What is she that the attractions of the king before which the dainty ladies of the court prostrate themselves should have no fascination for her? She notices the contrast between the swarthy hue of her sunburnt countenance and the pale complexion of these pampered products of palace seclusion. She is so dark in comparison with them that she likens herself to the black goatshair tents of the Arabs. {Son 1:5} The explanation is that her brothers have made her work in their vineyards. Meanwhile she has not kept her own vineyard. (Son 1:6) She has not guarded her beauty as these idle women, who have nothing else to do, have guarded theirs: but perhaps she has a sadder thought-she could not protect herself when out alone at her task in the country or she would never have been captured and carried off to prison where she now sits disconsolate. Possibly the vineyard she has not kept is the lover whom she has lost. (See Son 8:12). Still she is a woman, and with a touch of piqued pride she reminds her critics that if she is dark-black compared with them-she is comely. They cannot deny that. It is the cause of all her misery; she owes her imprisonment to her beauty. She knows that their secret feeling is one of envy of her, the latest favourite. Then their affected contempt is groundless. But, indeed, she has no desire to stand as their rival. She would gladly make her escape. She speaks in a half soliloquy. Will not somebody tell her where he is whom her soul loveth? Where is her lost shepherd lad? Where is he feeding his flock? Where is he resting it at noon? Such questions only provoke mockery. Addressing the simple girl as the “fairest among women,” the court ladies bid her find her lover for herself. Let her go back to her country life and feed her kids by the shepherds tents. Doubtless if she is bold enough to court her swain in that way she will not miss seeing him.
Hitherto Solomon has not appeared. Now he comes on the scene, and proceeds to accost his new acquisition in highly complimentary language, with the ease of an expert in the art of courtship. At this point we encounter the most serious difficulty for the theory of a shepherd lover. To all appearances a dialogue between the king and the Shulammite here ensues. {Son 1:9-17; Son 2:1-6} But if this were the case, the country girl would be addressing Solomon in terms of the utmost endearment-conduct utterly incompatible with the “shepherd hypothesis.” The only alternative is to suppose that the hard-pressed girl takes refuge from the importunity of her royal flatterer by turning aside to an imaginary, half dream-like conversation with her absent lover. This is not by any means a probable position, it must be allowed; it seems to put a strained interpretation on the text. Undoubtedly if the passage before us stood by itself, there would not be any difference of opinion about it; everybody would take it in its obvious meaning as a conversation between two lovers. But it does not stand by itself-unless, indeed, we are to give up the unity of the book. Therefore it must be interpreted so as not to contradict the whole course of the poem, which shews that another than Solomon is the true lover of the disconsolate maiden.
The king begins with the familiar device by which rich men all the world over try to win the confidence of poor girls when there is no love on either side, -a device which has been only too successful in the case of many a weak Marguerite though her tempter has not always been a handsome Faust; but in the present case innocence is fortified by true love, and the trick is a failure. The king notices that this peasant girl has but simple plaited hair and homely ornaments. She shall have plaits of gold and studs of silver! Splendid as one of Pharaohs chariot horses, she shall be decorated as magnificently as they are decorated! What is this to our staunch heroine? She treats it with absolute indifference, and begins to soliloquise, with a touch of scorn in her language. She has been loaded with scent after the manner of the luxurious court, and the king while seated feasting at his table has caught the odour of the rich perfumes. That is why he is now by her side. Does he think that she will serve as a new dainty for the great banquet, as a fresh fillip for the jaded appetite of the royal voluptuary? If so he is much mistaken. The kings promises have no attraction for her, and she turns for relief to dear memories of her true love. The thought of him is fragrant as the bundle of myrrh she carries in her bosom, as the henna-flowers that bloom in the vineyards of far-off Engedi.
Clearly Solomon has made a clumsy move. This shy bird is not of the common species with which he is familiar. He must aim higher if he would bring down his quarry. She is not to be classed with the wares of the matrimonial market that are only waiting to be assigned to the richest bidder. She cannot be bought even by the wealth of a kings treasury. But if there is a woman who can resist the charms of finery, is there one who can stand against the admiration of her personal beauty? A man of Solomons experience would scarcely believe that such was to be found. Nevertheless now the sex he estimates too lightly is to be vindicated, while the king himself is to be taught a wholesome lesson. He may call her fair; he may praise her dove-like eyes. {Son 1:15} His flattery is lost upon her. She only thinks of the beauty of her shepherd lad, and pictures to herself the green bank on which they used to sit, with the cedars and firs for the beams and roof of their trysting-place. (Son 1:16-17) Her language carries us away from the gilded splendour and close, perfumed atmosphere of the royal palace to scenes such as Shakespeare presents in the forest of Arden and the haunts of Titania, and Milton in the Mask of “Comus.” Here is a Hebrew lady longing to escape from the clutches of one who for all his glory is not without some of the offensive traits of the monster Comus. She thinks of herself as a wild flower, like the crocus that grows on the plains of Sharon or the lily (literally the anemone) that is sprinkled so freely over the upland valleys. {Son 2:1} The open country is the natural habitat of such a plant, not the stifling court. Solomon catches at her beautiful imagery. Compared with other maidens she is like a lily among thorns. {Son 2:2}
And now these scenes of nature carry the persecuted girl away in a sort of reverie. If she is like the tender flower, her lover resembles the apple tree at the foot of which it nestles, a tree the shadow of which is delightful and its fruit sweet. {Son 2:3} She remembers how he brought her to his banqueting house; that rustic bower was a very different place from the grand divan on which she had seen Solomon sitting at his table. No purple hangings like those of the kings palace there screened her from the sun. The only banner her shepherd could spread over her was love, his own. {Son 2:4} But what could be a more perfect shelter?
She is fainting. How she longs for her lover to comfort her! She has just compared him to an apple tree; now the refreshment she hungers for is the fruit of this tree; that is to say, his love. {Son 2:5} Oh that he would put his arms round her and support her, as in the old happy days before she had been snatched away from him! {Son 2:6}
Next follows a verse which is repeated later, and so serves as a sort of refrain. {Son 2:7} The Shulammite adjures the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love. This verse is misrendered in the Authorised Version, which inserts the pronoun “my” before “love” without any warrant in the Hebrew text. The poor girl has spoken of apples. But the court ladies must not misunderstand her. She wants none of their love apples, {See Gen 30:14} no philtre, no charm to turn her affections away from her shepherd lover and pervert them to the importunate royal suitor. The opening words of the poem which celebrated the charms of Solomon had been aimed in that direction. The motive of the worm seems to be the Shulammites resistance to various attempts to move her from loyalty to her true love. It is natural, therefore, that an appeal to desist from all such attempts should come out emphatically.
The poet takes a new turn. In imagination the Shulammite hears the voice of her beloved. She pictures him standing at the foot of the lofty rock on which the harem is built, and crying, –
“Oh, my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the cover of the steep place,
Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice;
For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.” {Son 2:14}
He is like a troubadour singing to his imprisoned lady-love; and she, in her soliloquies, though not by any means a “high-born maiden,” may call to mind the simile in Shelleys “Skylark”:
“Like a high-born maiden In a palace tower,
Soothing her love-laden Soul in secret hour,
With music sweet as love, which overflows her bower.”
She remembers how her lover had come to her bounding over the hills “like a roe or a young hart,” {Son 2:9} and peeping in at her lattice; and she repeats the song with which he had called her out-one of the sweetest songs of spring that ever was sung. {Son 2:11-13} In our own green island we acknowledge that this is the most beautiful season of all the round year; but in Palestine it stands out in more strongly marked contrast to the three other seasons, and it is in itself exceedingly lovely. While summer and autumn are there parched with drought, barren and desolate, and while winter is often dreary with snowstorms and floods of rain, in spring the whole land is one lovely garden, ablaze with richest hues, hill and dale, wilderness and farm-land vying in the luxuriance of their wild flowers, from the red anemone that fires the steep sides of the mountains to the purple and white cyclamen that nestles among the rocks at their feet. Much of the beauty of this poem is found in the fact that it is pervaded by the spirit of an eastern spring. This makes it possible to introduce a wealth of beautiful imagery which would not have been appropriate if any other season had been chosen. Even more lovely in March than England is in May, Palestine comes nearest to the appearance of our country in the former month; so that this poem, that is so completely bathed in the atmosphere of early spring, calls up echoes of the exquisite English garden pictures in Shelleys “Sensitive Plant” and Tennysons “Maud.” But it is not only beauty of imagery that our poet gains by setting his work in this lovely season. His ideas are all ill harmony with the period of the year he describes so charmingly. It is the time of youth and hope, of joy and love-especially of love, for,
“In the spring a young mans fancy
Lightly turns to thoughts of love.”
There is even a deeper association between the ideas of the poem and the season in which it is set. None of the freshness of spring is to be found about Solomon and his harem, but it is all present in the Shulammite and her shepherd; and spring scenes and thoughts powerfully aid the motive of the poem in accentuating the contrast between the tawdry magnificence of the court and the pure, simple beauty of the country life to which the heroine of the poem clings so faithfully.
The Shulammite answers her lover in an old ditty about “the little foxes that spoil the vineyards.” {Son 2:15} He would recognise that, and so discover her presence. We are reminded of the legend of Richards page finding his master by singing a familiar ballad outside the walls of the castle in the Tyrol where the captive crusader was imprisoned. This is all imaginary. And yet the faithful girl knows in her heart that her beloved is hers and that she is his, although in sober reality he is now feeding his flocks in the far-off flowery fields of her old home. {Son 2:16} There he must remain till the cool of the evening, till the shadows melt into the darkness of night, when she would fain he returned to her, coming over the rugged mountains “like a roe or a young hart.” {Son 2:17}
Now the Shulammite tells a painful dream. {Son 3:1-4} She dreamed that she had lost her lover, and that she rose up at night and went out into the streets seeking him. At first she failed to find him. She asked the watchmen whom she met on their round, if they had seen him whom her soul loved. They could not help her quest. But a little while after leaving them she discovered her missing lover, and brought him safely into her mothers house.
After a repetition of the warning to the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love, {Son 3:5} we are introduced to a new scene. {Son 3:6-11} It is by one of the gates of Jerusalem, where the country maiden has been brought in order that she may be impressed by the gorgeous spectacle of Solomon returning from a royal progress. The king comes up from the wilderness in clouds of perfume, guarded by sixty men-at-arms, and borne in a magnificent palanquin of cedar-wood, with silver posts, a floor of gold, and purple cushions, wearing on his head the crown with which his mother had crowned him. Is the mention of the mother of Solomon intended to be specially significant? Remember-she was Bathsheba! The allusion to such a woman would not be likely to conciliate the pure young girl, who was not in the least degree moved by this attempt to charm her with a scene of exceptional magnificence.
Solomon now appears again, praising his captive in extravagant language of courtly flattery. He praises her dove-like eyes, her voluminous black hair, her rosy lips, her noble brow (not even disguised by her veil), her towering neck, her tender bosom-lovely as twin gazelles that feed among the lilies. Like her lover, who is necessarily away with his flock, Solomon will leave her till the cool of the evening, till the shadows melt into night; but he has no pastoral duties to attend to, and though the delicate balancing and assimilation of phrase and idea is gracefully manipulated, there is a change. The king will go to “mountains of myrrh” and “hills of frankincense,” {Son 4:6} to make his person more fragrant, and so, as he hopes, more welcome.
If we adopt the “shepherd hypothesis” the next section of the poem must be assigned to the rustic lover. {Son 4:8-15} It is difficult to believe that this peasant would be allowed to speak to a lady in the royal harem. We might suppose that here and perhaps also in the earlier scene the shepherd is represented as actually present at the foot of the rock on which the palace stands. Otherwise this also must be taken as an imaginary scene, or as a reminiscence of the dreamy girl. Although a thread of unity runs through the whole poem. Goethe was clearly correct in calling it “a medley.” Scenes real and imaginary melting one into another cannot take their places in a regular drama. But when we grant full liberty to the imaginary element there is less necessity to ask what is subjective and what objective, what only fancied by the Shulammite and what intended to be taken as an actual occurrence. Strictly speaking, nothing is actual; the whole poem is a highly imaginative series of fancy pictures illustrating the development of its leading ideas.
Next-whether we take it as in imagination or in fact-the shepherd lover calls his bride to follow him from the most remote regions. His language is entirely different from that of the magnificent monarch. He does not waste his breath in formal compliments, high-flown imagery, wearisome lists of the charms of the girl he loves. That was the clumsy method of the king; clumsy, though, reflecting the finished manners of the court, in comparison with the genuine outpourings of the heart of a country lad. The shepherd is eloquent with the inspiration of true love; his words throb and glow with genuine emotion; there is a fine, wholesome passion in them. The love of his bride has ravished his heart. How beautiful is her love! He is intoxicated with it more than with wine. How sweet are her words of tender affection, like milk and honey! She is so pure. there is something sisterly in her love with all its warmth. And she is so near to him that she is almost like a part of himself, as his own sister. This holy and close relationship is in startling contrast to the only thing known as love in the royal harem. It is as much more lofty and noble as it is more strong and deep than the jaded emotions of the court. The sweet pure maiden is to the shepherd like a garden the gate of which is barred against trespassers, like a spring shut off from casual access, like a sealed fountain-sealed to all but one, and, happy man, he is that one. To him she belongs, to him alone. She is a garden, yes, a most fragrant garden, an orchard of pomegranates full of rich fruit, crowded with sweet-scented plants-henna and spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon and all kinds of frankincense, myrrh and aloes and the best of spices. She is a fountain in the garden, sealed to all others, but not stinted towards the one she loves. To him she is as a well of living waters, like the full-fed streams that flow from Lebanon.
The maiden is supposed to hear the song of love. She replies in fearless words of welcome, bidding the north wind awake, and the south wind too that the fragrance of which her lover has spoken so enthusiastically may flow out more richly than ever. For his sake she would be more sweet and loving. All she possesses is for him. Let him come and take possession of his own. {Son 4:16}
What lover could turn aside from such a rapturous invitation? The shepherd takes his bride; he enters his garden, gathers his myrrh and spice, eats his honey and drinks his wine and milk, and calls on his friends to feast and drink with him. {Son 5:1} This seems to point to the marriage of the couple and their wedding feast; a view of the passage which interpreters who regard Solomon as the lover throughout for the most part take, but one which has this fatal objection, that it leaves the second half of the poem without a motive. On the hypothesis of the shepherd lover it is still more difficult to suppose the wedding to have occurred at the point we have now reached, for the distraction of the royal courtship still proceeds in subsequent passages of the poem. It would seem, then, that we must regard this as quite an ideal scene. It may, however, be taken as a reminiscence of an earlier passage in the lives of the two lovers. It is not impossible that it refers to their wedding, and that they had been married before the action of the whole story began. In that case we should suppose that Solomons officers had carried off a young bride to the royal harem. The intensity of the love and the bitterness of the separation apparent throughout the poem would be the more intelligible if this were the situation. It is to be remembered that Shakespeare ascribes the climax of the love and grief of Romeo and Juliet to a time after their marriage. But the difficulty of accepting this view lies in the improbability that so outrageous a crime would be attributed to Solomon, although it must be admitted that the guilty conduct of his father and mother had gone a long way in setting an example for the violation of the marriage tie. In dealing with vague and dreamy poetry such as that of the Song of Solomon, it is not possible to determine a point like this with precision; nor is it necessary to do so. The beauty and force of the passage now before us centre in the perfect mutual love of the two young hearts that here show themselves to he knit together as one, whether already actually married or not yet thus externally united.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary