Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 1:12
While the king [sitteth] at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
12. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof ] R.V. sat sent forth. So long she says as the king was on his divan her spikenard gave forth its perfume.
his table ] Heb. msabh or msbh, probably a divan or seat set round a room. Ewald and Delitzsch, following the usual rendering of 1Sa 16:11, translate “a round table,” but see Oxf. Heb. Lex. Here it would mean a seat, in some public reception-room probably, in any case outside the hareem. The meaning seems here to be that so long as Solomon was absent from her, her nard, “a figure,” as Delitzsch says, “for the happiness of love,” gave forth its fragrance. She was then free to let her thoughts go out to her rustic lover. In the succeeding verses her thoughts of him are compared to perfumes, myrrh and henna flowers; here the delight she had in thinking of him is likened to nard and its fragrance.
my spikenard ] Heb. nrd. Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 485, says, “Spikenard or nard is exclusively an Indian product, procured from the Nardostachys jatamansi, a plant of the order Valerianaceae, growing in the Himalaya mountains, in Nepal and Bhotan. It has many hairy spikes shooting from one root. It is from this part of the plant that the perfume is procured, and prepared simply by drying it.”
sendeth forth ] This should be, gave forth.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12 14. The Shulammite replies to Solomon’s wooing.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Son 1:12
While the King sitteth at His table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
The Churchs testimony to Christ
These words are the Churchs testimony from experience of the blessed effects which Christs presence in His ordinances hath upon pious souls which wait upon Him under them.
1. The title The Church gives Christ, The King: as showing thereby the sense she had of His dignity and dominion, and also of her subjection to Him, and dependence upon Him.
2. What she says of Him from her own experience, as a witness to His condescension and grace, the King sitteth at his table: which may refer to all the ordinances of the Gospel, in which, as at a feast, He meets and entertains His people, supping with them, and they with Him, as His own expression is (Rev 3:20).
3. The happy fruit or effect of Christs sitting at His table upon the believer who is admitted to sit with Him. My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. Grace is compared to spikenard for its preciousness and value; and the sending forth of its smell denotes that grace as discovering itself in a lively, fresh and vigorous manner. It is as ointment poured forth, most pleasing to Christ, and to all that love Him, too; they rejoicing in the honour paid Him by themselves and others through a lively exercise of grace.
4. The connection of this effect with its cause, or the presence of Christ, and the dependence of this upon it.
I. Grace in the friends of Christ is highly valuable and precious.
1. Grace in Scripture most usually denotes these two things, namely, Gods goodwill to us, and His good work in us.
(1) His goodwill to us lost sinners in and through His Son, and this as revealed and tendered to us in the Gospel (Tit 2:11; Eph 2:8).
(2) God s good work in us, in all His people, which is the fruit or effect of that goodwill which He had in His heart concerning them (Eph 4:7; Joh 1:16).
2. From whence its worth and excellency may he collected.
(1) Grace in the friends of Christ may be said to be valuable and precious, as having so much of heaven in it.
(a) It comes from heaven;
(b) It marks out for it;
(c) It leads to it;
(d) It will issue in it.
(2) The necessity of grace is a further evidence of its value. Without grace we cannot please God upon earth, nor be admitted to the enjoyment of Him in heaven. It is grace that crowns all outward mercies, and speaks and makes them mercies indeed; and nothing but this can sweeten afflictions, and make our heaviest crosses light.
(3) The excellency of grace may be argued from the happy distinction it makes in them, from fallen angels, from the rest of mankind, and from their former selves.
(4) The value of grace may be gathered from the price that went to purchase it, which was no less than the blood of Christ.
(5) It is precious in regard of its Author, the Spirit of God: hence He is called the Sprat of Grace. Under this character He is promised where a saving change is designed (Zec 12:10). And it is wrought by His agency wherever it is wrought. The instrument He ordinarily makes use of is the Word; but all the influence it hath, and the saving impression it makes, is from Him.
(6) It is precious in its nature. No two things can more widely differ than the old and the new; the corruption propagated with the common nature by the first birth, and the grace infused in regeneration.
(7) The excellency of grace is proved by its effects: particularly as it ennobles, enriches, secures and comforts. Application:
1. Is grace so valuable? How blind are they that see not its worth I What enemies to their souls are they who labour not after it I
2. How much hath God done for them on whom He hath bestowed His grace, so excellent in itself, and leading to glory 1
3. How greatly are the partakers of grace obliged to Christ, by whose blood it is purchased, and for whose sake it is bestowed! 4-How glad should they be of all the opportunities to meet Him, by His presence and influence, to have grace drawn into act!
5. How thankful should they be who can say with the Church, While the King sat at His table, my spikenard sent forth the smell thereof I
6. How willing should they he whose grace hath been drawn forth by the presence of Christ here, to behold Him in His glory, and dwell with Him for ever. (D. Wilcox.)
A Sacrament sermon
In acts of special communion with Christ, grace cannot lie hid, hut will breathe out with great fragrancy; or, at the table of the Lord our graces should be specially and in a most lively manner exercised.
1. There is a reverence common to all worship, for God will be sanctified in all that draw nigh unto Him (Lev 10:3).
2. There is a special delight and affection which should accompany every act of communion with God (Psa 73:28; Isa 56:7).
3. Besides, in all acts of communion with God there is an interchange of donatives and duties. Where we expect to receive much grace, there it must be much exercised and acted (Mar 4:24).
4. Christ may more sensibly manifest Himself in one duty than another, for He is not tied to means, or to time and season; and it is His presence that maketh an ordinance comfortable, and doth revive the exercise of grace.
5. One duty must not be set against another. They are all instituted by God, and accompanied with His blessing, and are means of our communion with Him, yet they all have their special use and tendency, and one is to be preferred in this respect, another in that, as the ends are for which they are appointed; as in the Word we come to Christ as our teacher, in prayer as our advocate, in baptism as our head and lord, into whose mystical body we are planted; in the Lords Supper as the master of the feast, or our royal entertainer.
6. Though the Lords Supper he a special means, yet it is the spirit of grace which doth stir up faith, hope and love in us.
(1) The duty is a means accommodated and fitted to this end, or God would never have instituted it.
(2) The Spirit is the author both of grace and the exercise of grace; He first infuseth and then quickeneth and stirreth up grace in us by this means: It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing (Joh 6:63).
(3) You must stir up your own hearts (Isa 64:7; 2Ti 1:6).
7. Allowing all this, yet it is a truth that at the Lords table graces should be exercised in a special lively manner, which will appear if we consider–
I. What a sacrament hath beyond other duties. It is the most mysterious instrument of our sanctification and preservation in a state of grace, and therefore requireth a special exercise of grace.
1. In a Sacrament there is a more sensible assurance. In other duties we see Gods goodness, or readiness to do us good, in this His solicitous and anxious care for our good (Heb 6:17-18).
2. A closer application. A general invitation is not so much as an express injunction. We have the universal proposal in the Word, the particular application in the Sacraments (Act 2:38).
3. A solemn investiture, or taking possession by certain instituted rites. As we are put in possession by certain formalities of law, as of a house by the delivery of a key, or of afield by the delivery of a turf, so we take possession of Christ and all His benefits, This is my body.
4. A visible representation of the mysteries of godliness; and so it doth excite us to the more serious consideration of them when they are transmitted to the soul not by the ears only, but by the eyes (Gal 3:1).
5. An express means of union and communion with Christ. We draw nigh to God in prayer, and God draweth nigh to us in the Word; but here is not only an approximation, but a communion (1Co 10:16).
6. It is Gods feast, where we come to eat and drink at His table as those that are in friendship with Him.
7. This is the sum of all other duties and privileges, the abridgment of Christian religion, the land of promise in a map (Luk 22:20).
II. What is the special use and intent of this duty? It was instituted for the remembrance of Christ (1Co 11:24-25), and (verse 26) it is an annunciating or showing forth the Lords death till He come.
1. The occasion and necessity of it, why Christ should he given for us, our guilt, and misery, which could only be expiated by the blood of the Son of God; so that one great work of the Sacrament is the representation of the evil of sin; for we are to remember the Son of God, Who was made sin for us that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2Co 5:21), and who was made a curse for us (Gal 3:13).
2. The cause of it; the great love of God, or His mercy to poor sinners (Joh 3:16).
3. The act of redemption itself; His obedience to the death of the cross (Php 2:7); or His making His soul an offering for sin (Isa 53:10). Therefore He is represented as crucified before your eyes (Gal 3:1).
4. The consequent benefits which thence result to us. You come not to receive the mercy of an, hour but here is pardon of sin given us without any infringing the honour of Gods justice (Rom 3:25-26); the favour of God (2Co 5:19); the spirit of grace (Tit 3:5-6; Gal 3:14; and 1Co 10:4, compared with Joh 4:14; Joh 7:37). So also eternal life, or hopes of glory (Tit 3:7; Rom 5:1-2, and 1Jn 4:9). And indeed this whole duty is a figure of the eternal banquet.
III. What graces are to be exercised, which is, as it were, the pouring out of our box of precious spikenard on Christs head or feet?
1. With respect to the necessity of our redemption, a humble sense of the odiousness of sin, represented to us in the bruises and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ when He came to be a sacrifice for sin, that we may loath it, condemn it, resolve no more to have to do with it (Rom 8:3).
2. The love of God in Christ, which was the cause, must beget a fervent love to Him again, that we may love Him who hath loved us at so dear a rate (2Co 5:14-15).
3. The act of redemption, or the death of Christ, must breed in us a lively faith in Christ, that we may accept Him as our Redeemer and Saviour upon His own terms, and trust ourselves into His hands, and devote ourselves to His service, crying out, as Thomas, My Lord and my God (Joh 20:28), welcoming Him into our souls with the dearest embraces of thankfulness and hearty affection.
4. With respect to the consequent benefits, there must he
(1) Earnest desire after communion with God in Christ, that you may be partakers both of His renewing and reconciling grace, and that you may get more sensible proof of His love to your souls;
(2) Joy in the sense of the greatness, suitableness and firmness of the mercy represented, offered and applied to you (Son 1:4);
(3) Hope, which is a desirous expectation of the promised glory, looking and longing for it with more earnestness and confidence. This ante-past in the house of our pilgrimage is sweet, but what will be our communion with Him in heaven!
5. That love which is here commemorated must be imitated, and leave a suitable impression upon you. If Christ gave HIS life for those who are sometimes called His enemies, sometimes His people, such an impartial charity must you have to all men; to brethren and neighbours (1Jn 4:11), and to enemies (Eph 4:32). (T. Manton, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. While the king sitteth at his table] bimsibbo, in his circle, probably meaning the circle of his friends at the marriage festivals, or a round table.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The King, my royal Husband,
sitteth at his table; either,
1. With the spirits of just men and blessed angels in heavenly glory, to which Christ was advanced after his sufferings, and from which he poureth down his Spirit upon his people. Or rather,
2. With me in his gospel and ordinances, in which Christ entertaineth his people, and is in a special, and gracious, and glorious manner present with them, Mat 18:20; 28:20, which also is oft represented in Scripture under the motion of a feast or banquet, of which see Pro 9:1-3,5; Isa 25:6; Mat 8:11; 22:2; 1Co 10:21.
My spikenard; the graces of his Spirit conferred upon me, and drawn forth by his powerful presence, which is here compared to those sweet ointments which the master of the feast caused to be poured out upon the beads of the guests, of which see Mar 14:3; Luk 7:38, in which ointments spikenard was a chief ingredient, Joh 12:2,3.
Sendeth forth the smell thereof; which notes the exercise and manifestation of her graces, which is a sweet-smelling savour in the nostrils of her Husband, and of her companions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. WhileIt is the presenceof the Sun of Righteousness that draws out the believer’s odors ofgrace. It was the sight of Him at table that caused the two women tobring forth their ointments for Him (Luk 7:37;Luk 7:38; Joh 12:3;2Co 2:15). Historically fulfilled(Mt 2:11); spiritually (Re3:20); and in church worship (Mt18:20); and at the Lord’s Supper especially, for here publiccommunion with Him at table amidst His friends is spoken of, as So1:4 refers to private communion (1Co 10:16;1Co 10:21); typically (Ex24:9-11); the future perfect fulfilment (Luk 22:30;Rev 19:9). The allegory supposesthe King to have stopped in His movements and to be seated with Hisfriends on the divan. What grace that a table should be prepared forus, while still militant (Ps 23:5)!
my spikenardnotboasting, but owning the Lord’s grace to and in her. Thespikenard is a lowly herb, the emblem of humility. She rejoices thatHe is well pleased with her graces, His own work (Php4:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
While the King [sitteth] at his table,…. These are the words of the church, relating what influence the presence of Christ, her Lord and King, had upon the exercise of her graces, while he was keeping the nuptial feast, on account of his marriage with her. He was anointed King of saints from eternity, before his incarnation, when he was rejoicing before God his Father, as if at a feast; and while he was thus distant, the faith, hope, desire, and expectation of the saints, were exercised on him, as their Lord and King, that was to come: when he did come, he came as a King, as was foretold of him, though his kingdom was not of this world; and while he was here, the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven was preached, and emitted a sweet savour in Judea: and when he went up to heaven, after his resurrection, he was declared Lord and Christ, and sat down at the right hand of God, “in his circuit” f, or at his round table; alluding to such the ancients used, and great personages fed on, peculiar to themselves g; being encircled by angels and glorified saints: and in the mean while, before his second coming as King, when he will appear as such in a more glorious manner, he sits down at his table, in the ordinance of the supper, feasting with, entertaining, and welcoming his church and people. When as follows, she says,
my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof: or “nard”, of which there are many sorts; but that which grows in spikes is reckoned the best, and from thence is called “spikenard”: it was a chief ingredient in ointments, as Pliny says h; see Joh 12:3; and was much used at festivals, to anoint guests with; and with which their head and hair being anointed, gave a fragrant smell, and therefore used to make them acceptable i: in Syria, at royal banquets, as this here was, it was usual to go round the guests, to sprinkle them with Babylonian ointment k. This may have respect to the grace of the Spirit in the church, comparable to the most excellent ointment; and which grace being in exercise in her, both before and after the incarnation of Christ, and since his ascension to heaven, and while he grants his presence in Gospel ordinances, is very delightful and acceptable to Christ; or this spikenard, according to some l, may be meant of Christ himself, just as he is said to be “a bundle of myrrh” in So 1:13, and “a cluster of camphire”, in So 1:14; and as ointments were used at feasts, and the church was at one with Christ, and as he was both master and feast, so he was the ointment of spikenard to her; and it is as if she should say, my beloved is at table with me; he is my food, and he is my spikenard m I need no other; he is instead of spikenard, myrrh, cypress, or any unguents made of these: his person is exceeding precious; his graces, of ointments, have a delightful savour in them; his sacrifice is of a sweet odour; his garments of righteousness and salvation smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; he is all in all.
f “in circuitu suo”, Montanus, Piscator, Michaelis. g Vid. Cuperi Observ. l. 1. c. 2. p. 13. h Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 12. i “Illius puro destillant tempora nardo”, Tibullus, l. 2. Eleg. 2. v. 7. & 1. 3. Eleg. 7. v. 31. “Madidas nardo comas”, Martial. l. 3. Ep. 56. “tinge caput nardi folio”, ibid. “Assyriaque nardo potemus uncti”, Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 11. v. 16, 17. Vid. Ovid. de Arte Amandi, l. 3. k Athenaei Deipnosoph. l. 15. c. 13. p. 692. l Theodoret, Sanctius, and Marckius. m “Tu mihi stacte, tu cinnamomium”, &c. Planti Curculio, Act. 1. Sc. 2. v. 6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now for the first time Shulamith addresses Solomon, who is before her. It might be expected that the first word will either express the joy that she now sees him face to face, or the longing which she had hitherto cherished to see him again. The verse following accords with this expectation:
12 While the king is at his table,
My nard has yielded its fragrance.
or r , with fut. foll., usually means: usque eo , until this and that shall happen, Son 2:7, Son 2:17; with the perf. foll., until something happened, Son 3:4. The idea connected with “until” may, however, be so interpreted that there comes into view not the end of the period as such, but the whole length of the period. So here in the subst. clause following, which in itself is already an expression of continuance, donec = dum ( erat); so also alone, without asher, with the part. foll. (Job 1:18), and the infin. (Jdg 3:26; Exo 33:22; Jon 4:2; cf. 2Ki 9:22); seldomer with the fin. foll., once with the perf. foll. (1Sa 14:19), once (for Job 8:21 is easily explained otherwise) with the fut. foll. (Psa 141:10, according to which Gen 49:10 also is explained by Baur and others, but without in this sense of limited duration: “so long as,” being anywhere proved). is the inflected , which, like the post-bibl. , signifies the circuit of the table; for signifies also, after 1Sa 16:11 (the lxx rightly, after the sense ), to seat themselves around the table, from which it is to be remarked that not till the Greek-Roman period was the Persian custom of reclining at table introduced, but in earlier times they sat (1Sa 20:5; 1Ki 13:20; cf. Psa 128:3). Reclining and eating are to be viewed as separate from each other, Amo 6:4; , “three and three they recline at table,” is in matter as in language mishnic ( Berachoth 42 b; cf. Sanhedrin 2:4, of the king: if he reclines at table, the Tra must be opposite him). Thus: While ( usque eo , so long as), says Shulamith, the king was at his table, my nard gave forth its fragrance.
is an Indian word: nalada , i.e., yielding fragrance, Pers. nard ( nard ), Old Arab. nardin ( nardin ), is the aromatic oil of an Indian plant valeriana, called Nardostachys ‘Gatamansi (hair-tress nard). Interpreters are wont to represent Shulamith as having a stalk of nard in her hand. Hitzig thinks of the nard with which she who is speaking has besprinkled herself, and he can do this because he regards the speaker as one of the court ladies. But that Shulamith has besprinkled herself with nard, is as little to be thought of as that she has in her hand a sprig of nard ( spica nardi), or, as the ancients said, an ear of nard; she comes from a region where no nard grows, and nard-oil is for a country maiden unattainable.
(Note: The nard plant grows in Northern and Eastern India; the hairy part of the stem immediately above the root yields the perfume. Vid., Lassen’s Indische Alterthumskunde, I 338f., III 41f.)
Horace promises Virgil a cadus (= 9 gallons) of the best wine for a small onyx-box full of nard; and Judas estimated at 300 denarii (about 8, 10s.) the genuine nard (how frequently nard was adulterated we learn from Pliny) which Mary of Bethany poured from an alabaster box on the head of Jesus, so that the whole house was filled with the odour of the ointment (Mar 14:5; Joh 12:2). There, in Bethany, the love which is willing to sacrifice all expressed itself in the nard; here, the nard is a figure of the happiness of love, and its fragrance a figure of the longing of love. It is only in the language of flowers that Shulamith makes precious perfume a figure of the love which she bears in the recess of her heart, anl which, so long as Solomon was absent, breathed itself out and, as it were, cast forth its fragrance
(Note: In Arab. ntn = , to give an odour, has the specific signification, to give an ill odour ( mintin, foetidus), which led an Arab. interpreter to understand the expression, “my nard has yielded, etc.,” of the stupifying savour which compels Solomon to go away ( Mittheilung, Goldziher’s).)
(cf. Son 2:13; Son 7:13) in words of longing. She has longed for the king, and has sought to draw him towards her, as she gives him to understand. He is continually in her mind.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Conference between Christ and His Church. | |
12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. 13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. 14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. 15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes. 16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. 17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
Here the conference is carried on between Christ and his spouse, and endearments are mutually exchanged.
I. Believers take a great complacency in Christ, and in communion with him. To you that believe he is precious, above any thing in this world, 1 Pet. ii. 7. Observe,
1. The humble reverence believers have for Christ as their Sovereign, v. 12. He is a King in respect both of dignity and dominion; he wears the crown of honour, he bears the sceptre of power, both which are the unspeakable satisfaction of all his people. This King has his royal table spread in the gospel, in which is made for all nations a feast of fat things, Isa. xxv. 6. Wisdom has furnished her table, Prov. ix. 1. He sits at this table to see his guests (Matt. xxii. 11), to see that nothing be wanting that is fit for them; he sups with them and they with him (Rev. iii. 20); he has fellowship with them and rejoices in them; he sits at his table to bid them welcome, and to carve for them, as Christ broke the five loaves and gave to his disciples, that they might distribute to the multitude. He sits there to receive petitions, as Ahasuerus admitted Esther’s petition at the banquet of wine. He has promised to be present with his people in his ordinances always. Then believers do him all the honour they can, and study how to express their esteem of him and gratitude to him, as Mary did when she anointed his head with the ointment of spikenard that was very costly, one pound of it worth three hundred pence, and so fragrant that the house was filled with the pleasing odour of it (John xii. 3), which story seems as if it were designed to refer to this passage, for Christ was then sitting at table. When good Christians, in any religious duty, especially in the ordinance of the Lord’s supper, where the King is pleased, as it were, to sit with us at his own table, have their graces exercised, their hearts broken by repentance, healed by faith, and inflamed with holy love and desires toward Christ, with joyful expectations of the glory to be revealed, then the spikenard sends forth the smell thereof. Christ is pleased to reckon himself honoured by it, and to accept of it as an instance of respect to him, as it was in the wise men of the east, who paid their homage to the new-born King of the Jews by presenting to him frankincense and myrrh. The graces of God’s Spirit in the hearts of believers are exceedingly precious in themselves and pleasing to Christ, and his presence in ordinances draws them out into act and exercise. If he withdraw, graces wither and languish, as plants in the absence of the sun; if he approach, the face of the soul is renewed, as of the earth in the spring; and then it is time to bestir ourselves, that we may not lose the gleam, not lose the gale; for nothing is done acceptably but what grace does, Heb. xii. 28.
2. The strong affection they have for Christ as their beloved, their well-beloved, v. 13. Christ is not only beloved by all believing souls, but is their well-beloved, their best-beloved, their only beloved; he has that place in their hearts which no rival can be admitted to, the innermost and uppermost place. Observe, (1.) How Christ is accounted of by all believers: He is a bundle of myrrh and a cluster of camphire, something, we may be sure, nay, every thing, that is pleasant and delightful. The doctrine of his gospel, and the comforts of his Spirit, are very refreshing to them, and they rest in his love; none of all the delights of sense are comparable to the spiritual pleasure they have in meditating on Christ and enjoying him. There is a complicated sweetness in Christ and an abundance of it; there is a bundle of myrrh and a cluster of camphire. We are not straitened in him whom there is all fulness. The word translated camphire is copher, the same word that signifies atonement or propitiation. Christ is a cluster of merit and righteousness to all believers; therefore he is dear to them because he is the propitiation for their sins. Observe what stress the spouse lays upon the application: He is unto me, and again unto me, all that is sweet; whatever he is to others, he is so to me. He loved me, and gave himself for me. He is my Lord, and my God. (2.) How he is accepted: He shall lie all night between my breasts, near my heart. Christ lays the beloved disciples in his bosom; why then should not they lay their beloved Saviour in their bosoms? Why should not they embrace him with both arms, and hold him fast, with a resolution never to let him go? Christ must dwell in the heart (Eph. iii. 17), and, in order to that, the adulteries must be put from between the breasts (Hos. ii. 2), no pretender must have his place in the soul. He shall be as a bundle of myrrh, or perfume bag, between my breasts, always sweet to me; or his effigies in miniature, his love-tokens, shall be hung between my breasts, according to the custom of those that are dear to each other. He shall not only be laid their for a while, but shall lie there, shall abide there.
II. Jesus Christ has a great complacency in his church and in every true believer; they are amiable in his eyes (v. 15): Behold, thou art fair, my love; and again, Behold, thou art fair. He says this, not to make her proud (humility is one principal ingredient in spiritual beauty), but, 1. To show that there is a real beauty in holiness, that all who are sanctified are thereby beautified; they are truly fair. 2. That he takes great delight in that good work which his grace has wrought on the souls of believers; so that though they have their infirmities, whatever they think of themselves, and the world thinks of them, he thinks them fair. He calls them friends. The hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, is in the sight of God of great price, 1 Pet. iii. 4. 3. To comfort weak believers, who are discouraged by their own blackness; let them be told again and again that they are fair. 4. To engage all who are sanctified to be very thankful for that grace which has made them fair, who by nature were deformed, and changed the Ethiopian’s skin. One instance of the beauty of the spouse is here mentioned, that she has doves’ eyes, as ch. iv. 1. Those are fair, in Christ’s account, who have, not the piercing eye of the eagle, but the pure and chaste eye of the dove, not like the hawk, who, when he soars upwards, still has his eye upon the prey on earth, but a humble modest eye, such an eye as discovers a simplicity and godly sincerity and a dove-like innocency, eyes enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit, that blessed Dove, weeping eyes. I did mourn as a dove, Ezek. vii. 16.
III. The church expresses her value for Christ, and returns esteem (v. 16): Behold, thou art fair. See how Christ and believers praise one another. Israel saith of God, Who is like thee? Exod. xv. 11. And God saith of Israel, Who is like thee? Deut. xxxiii. 29. Lord, saith the church, “Dost thou call me fair? No; if we speak of strength, thou art strong (Job ix. 19), so, if of beauty, thou art fair. I am fair no otherwise than as I have thy image stamped upon me. Thou art the great Original; I am but a faint and imperfect copy, I am but thy umbra—the shadow of thee,Joh 1:16; Joh 3:34. Thou art fair in thyself and (which is more) pleasant to all that are thine. Many are fair enough to look at, and yet the sourness of their temper renders them unpleasant; but thou art fair, yea, pleasant.” Christ is pleasant, as he is ours, in covenant with us, in relation to us. “Thou art pleasant now, when the King sits at his table.” Christ is always precious to believers, but in a special manner pleasant when they are admitted into communion with him, when they hear his voice, and see his face, and taste his love. It is good to be here. Having expressed her esteem of her husband’s person, she next, like a loving spouse, that is transported with joy for having disposed of herself so well, applauds the accommodations he had for her entertainment, his bed, his house, his rafters or galleries (v. 16), which may be fitly applied to those holy ordinances in which believers have fellowship with Jesus Christ, receive the tokens of his love and return their pious and devout affections to him, increase their acquaintance with him and improve their advantages by him. Now, 1. These she calls ours, Christ and believers having a joint-interest in them. As husband and wife are heirs together (1 Pet. iii. 7), so believers are joint-heirs with Christ, Rom. viii. 17. They are his institutions and their privileges; in them Christ and believers meet. She does not call them mine, for a believer will own nothing as his but what Christ shall have an interest in, nor thine, for Christ has said, All that I have is thine, Luke xv. 31. All is ours if we are Christ’s. Those that can by faith lay claim to Christ may lay claim to all that is his. 2. These are the best of the kind. Does the colour of the bed, and the furniture belonging to it, help to set it off? Our bed is green, a colour which, in a pastoral, is preferred before any other, because it is the colour of the fields and groves where the shepherd’s business and delight are. It is a refreshing colour, good for the eyes; and it denotes fruitfulness. I am like a green olive-tree, Ps. lii. 8. We are married to Christ, that we should bring forth unto God, Rom. vii. 4. The beams of our house are cedar (v. 17), which probably refers to the temple Solomon had lately built for communion between God and Israel, which was of cedar, a strong sort of wood, sweet, durable, and which will never rot, typifying the firmness and continuance of the church, the gospel-temple. The galleries for walking are of fir, or cypress, some sort of wood that was pleasing both to the sight and to the smell, intimating the delight which the saints take in walking with Christ and conversing with him. Every thing in the covenant of grace (on which foot all their treaties are carried on) is very firm, very fine, and very fragrant.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ANTICIPATED JOYS OF THE SHULAMITE
Verses 12-14 reveal the thoughts of the captive Shulamite while the king sits at his table. Her perfumes send forth their pleasant odors. She thinks not of the king, but of her beloved shepherd far away. In a soliloquy she reviews the pleasant experiences anticipated when they are able to consummate their intended marriage. Past delights prompted by rare perfumes, fragrant flowers, exotic spices and the lush growth of En-gedi will not compare with the joys anticipated when she will be with her beloved. The reference to En-gedi, a lush oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea, may indicate that Solomon had taken the Shulamite there earlier in his effort to impress her with the privileges that could be hers.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
BRIDES REPLY TO THE KINGS GREETING
Shulamite expresses her Delight in her Beloved.
Son. 1:12-14
While the King sitteth at his table,
My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me;
He shall lie all night (or, which remains) betwixt my breasts.
My Beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphor
In the vineyards of Engedi.
The Kings commendation and assurance of love reciprocated by the Bride. The language of the 12th versewhile the King sitteth, &c., either the declaration of a fact, expressive of her delight in the King, and the joy his presence afforded her; or a resolution as to what she would do for his honour. Regarded as the latter, it corresponds with the Kings last words. Solomon promises ornaments of gold and silver. Shulamite can only bring her spikenard; which, however, shall not be wanting in order to do him honour and express her love. Historically and literally realized in the life of Jesus, when the woman that was a sinner brought her alabaster box of ointment to anoint His feet in the Pharisees house; and when Mary, the sister of Lazarus, performed a similar service with her costly spikenard in the house of Simon the leper (Luk. 7:37-38; Joh. 12:3; Mat. 26:6-7).
In regard to the RESOLUTION, notice
I. The OCCASION to which it refers. While the King sitteth at his table (or, in his circle [of guests]). Observe, in reference to
The King at His Table.
1. The person referred to. The King. So Shulamite speaks of her Beloved, and the believer of his Lord. Christ a King. Imports his dignity as God and his office as Redeemer. Christ a King both by Divine right and Divine appointment. A King in virtue of his Divine nature as Son of God; and in virtue of His mediatorial undertaking as Son of Man. In His twofold nature as God-man, and in His mediatorial character as Redeemer, Christ is Gods King; King of Zion; King of Saints; Head over all things to His Church. Sits at the Fathers right hand upon His Fathers throne, angels and authorities and powers being made subject, to Him. The King and Lord of glory. Rules and reigns over both the Church and the world as King of Kings and Lord of Lords,Prince of the Kings of the earth. In a lower, literal, and subordinate, though important sense, the King of the Jews, heir to the throne of his father David. The language of the text emphatic. Christ not only a King, but the King. The Churchs own and only King. The great and only Potentate. In Christ, love brings the majesty of the Creator down to the misery of the creature. ObserveThe Church recognizes and acknowledges Christ as King, and as the King. Even in the closest and most endearing fellowship, His dignity and the reverence due to him as King not forgotten. True enjoyment of His fellowship accompanied with an impression on the heart as to His royal character and dignity. Such fellowship thus distinguished from what is spurious, imaginary, fanatical. Nearness to Christ fitted to exalt our views of Him and increase our reverence towards Him. The seraphim in His presence veil their faces and their feet with their wings. The Prophet, beholding His glory in the temple, exclaims: Woe is me; for I am undone, &c.; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts (Isa. 6:1-5; Joh. 12:45). John, the beloved disciple, in like circumstances fell at His feet as dead (Rev. 1:17). Nathanaels adoring testimony at the beginning of the Gospel historyRabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Thomass, at its close,My Lord and My God. The sentiment of the Church well expressed in Ambroses celebrated hymn,Thou art the King of glory, O Christ The title in the text indicative of
(1) The condescension of Christ in admitting sinful men to his fellowship. Subjects seldom admitted to the table of their sovereign. Mephibosheth amazed at Davids condescension in giving a dead dog like him a place at his table. Christ not only admits to His intimate fellowship His own creatures, but creatures who have debased and polluted themselves with sin, and have been in active and open rebellion against Him.
(2) The honour and blessedness of believers. Each believer not only admitted into the Kings presence, but admitted there as the Kings Bride and Beloved. Compared with this, the highest earthly honour and position as worthless as the fallen leaf of autumn. This privilege the believers guarantee of all he needs for time and eternity.
(3) The believers duty and responsibility. If Christ be our King, we are to confess, follow, obey, serve, honour, and trust in Him as such. The believer to aim at shewing himself at, all times and in all places, both by word and deed, the faithful subject of Christ his King.
2. The Kings place. Sitteth at his table. Observe
(1) Christ has a table. Has a table in heaven. A celestial banquet prepared by Him for all the saved. Abraham seen afar off by the rich man in hell, sitting at that table with Lazarus reclining on His bosom. Hereafter follows the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when His Bride hath made herself ready (Rev. 19:9). Has also a table on earth. This that referred to in the text. The earthly rather than the heavenly experience of believers described in the Song. So the New Testament speaks of the Lords, i.e., Christs table, and the Lords Supper (1Co. 10:21; 1Co. 11:20). One of the many connecting links between the Song of Solomon and the New Testament. The Kings Table on earth the ordinances of the Gospel, and especially their central part
The Lords Supper.
This ordinance expressed in the Scripture as a Table, not an altar. The Lords Supper a Feast, after and upon a sacrifice offered up more than eighteen centuries ago, not the sacrifice itself. The Table in the Lords Supper the Kings Table. The King (i.) appointed it; (ii.) provides it; (iii.) presides at it. The Table not mans but the Lords; hence for all who love and belong to the Lord, and only such. Hence, also, His Table to be only what He Himself directs and prescribes. Mans grievous sin in converting His Table into what Christ could no longer recognize as such. The Table appointed by the King for the refreshment, comfort, and strengthening of His Church in the wilderness. The provisions the Kings own; while the outward, visible, and symbolical materials are, according to His appointment, provided by the Church. The provisions nothing less than Himself. Christ as crucified for us, fed upon by faith in the Supper, as exhibited under the symbols of bread and wine. His flesh, or Himself as the incarnate and crucified Redeemer, the true meat; and His blood as shed for the remission of our sins, the true drink of the soul. Christ the bread of life, to be constantly, as well as in the Supper, fed upon by faith. He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you (Joh. 6:35-58; 1Co. 10:16; 1Co. 11:23-29). Christ spiritually fed on by believers, as the Lamb Slain, as the typical lamb was carnally eaten by Israel in the Feast of the Passover. The Kings Table thus richly furnished. Man eats more than angels food. The Table on earth preparatory to the Table in heaven, the marriage supper of the Lamb.
(2) Christ sits at His Table. The Kings Table not only appointed and provided, but presided at by the King. When the disciples prepared the last Passover and first Lords Supper, Jesus sat down with the twelve. Jesus sits at His own Table (Mat. 18:20). Is there for His own sake, delighting in the fellowship of His loving and believing people. I will come in to him and sup with him. More especially, however, for their sake. Affords them quiet fellowship and intimate communion with Himself. Hence, the preciousness of the Lords Table to believers. He is there Himself, not as changed into, or necessarily connected with, the bread and wine; but as revealing Himself graciously and spiritually to the souls of His people. Is there, not only as the provisions, but as the presiding Head; not merely as their crucified Redeemer, but as their living and loving Bridegroom. The Kings Table precious, but more precious the presence of the King Himself. Feeding on Him, as exhibited in the bread and wine, believers have life; realizing his living and loving presence, they have life more abundantly Believers at the Lords Table not only feed on Christ, but have fellowship with Christ. He speaks peace and comfort to their heart. They speak their petitions and desires into His ear. The King sits at His Table(i.) To see that the guests want nothing; (ii.) To give them a loving welcome; (iii.) To gladden them with His presence and smile; (iv.) To receive their petitions; (v.) To bless the provision to their souls.
3. The time the King is at His Table. While the King sitteth, &c. The King not always sitting at His Table. Only now and then, and that for but a limited period. That period often short. Christ at His Table in the upper room at Jerusalem at most for two or three hours. Seasons of special communion in general neither very frequent nor long continued. When the risen Saviour manifested Himself as such to the two disciples at Emmaus, he immediately vanished out of their sight. Such the conditions under which the Lords Table is spread on earth. Too often the causes of abridged communion in ourselves. Hence
(1) earnest prayer to be made, that while the Table is spread the King Himself may be present at it, and present all the time that it is so.
(2) Special care to be taken that there be nothing in us or by us to cause the time of His presence to be abridged.
(3) Diligent improvement to be made of His presence while it continues. The Kings golden sceptre being held out, believers to be ready with their petitions (Est. 5:2-3).
II. The RESOLUTION itself. My spikenard sendeth (or hath sent) forth the smell thereof. Spikenard, a fragrant liquid produced from a lowly shrub of that name. Wont to be poured on the head of guests at table (Luk. 7:46; Mar. 14:3). This, and other perfumes, often carried about by Oriental ladies on their person. Shulamite had hers in order to shew her devotion to her belovedto do him honour, and to minister to his pleasure and refreshment. Her spikenard to give forth its fragrance only while the King reclined at his table or in the circle of his friends, when she should lovingly pour it on his head or even on his feet. Perhaps her language figuratively expressive of the effect the Kings presence had on her affections, in calling them into lively and ardent exercise. Her own love the sweetest spikenard to the King. Observe in regard to
The Believers Spikenard.
1. The believer has spikenard. A spiritual as well as a material spikenard. The soul or spirit capable of being pleased and regaled as well as the senses. Spiritual spikenard, that in an individual or in the Church at large, which is most pleasing and delightful to God, to Christ, and to holy souls. Such the fruits and graces of the Spiritlove, joy, peace, long-suffering, &c. (Gal. 5:22). Holy and spiritual affections exhibited in corresponding actions Gods delight (Psa. 37:23). The Philippians gifts to Paul, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God (Php. 4:18). Believers prayers as incense (Psa. 141:2). These graces and virtues present more or less in every regenerate soul. The spikenard for the Lords table more especially
(1) Faith in Jesus, as the Lamb slain;
(2) love to Jesus, kindled by the display of His dying love to us;
(3) Joy in Him as our God and Saviour, our husband and friend;
(4) Repentance and godly sorrow for the sins that caused Him to suffer;
(5) Self-dedicationO Lord, I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant and the son of Thine handmaid; Thou hast loosed my bonds (Psa. 116:16).
(6) Holy resolution, to live by His grace a life of obedience and devotedness to His service. These graces and their lively exercise agreeable to Christ as most fragrant perfume. Costly and precious as the work of the Spirit and the result of the Saviours own suffering and death. Symbolized in the frankincense and myrrh presented by the wise men to the new-born King, as well as in the spikenard poured on His head and feet by the hands of those whom He had saved.
2. The believers desire that his spikenard give forth its fragrance. Not sufficient that the spikenard is present. Of little use while still only kept close in the vessel. When Mary broke the box, the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. The graces of the Spirit to be not only in our souls, but in lively exercise. Hence the need of the prayer: Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; and blow upon my garden (the garden of Christ in my soul), that the spices thereof may flow out (chap. Son. 4:16).
(3) His desire in order that Christ may receive both honour and delight. The object of the women who poured their spikenard on His head and feet. The desire of the loving believer that all he is and has, feels and does, be for the honour and gratification of his Saviour. The very spikenard all the Kings own, and ours only by his kind and kingly favour; therefore to be for the Kings own enjoyment. We have given Him the vinegar and gall to drink for our sakes; meet, therefore, we should give Him the fragrant spikenard of His own grace. Not only the spikenard itself His; but the emission of its fragrance due to His own presence. His manifested gracious presence like the gentle breeze that passes over the beds of spices, and causes them to exhale their sweets. Raises a cloud of sweet incense from the believers renewed heart. Sitting with Christ, we obtain something of Christ in our spirit and walk. The bride breathes no fragrance but what she imbibes from her beloved. The clay vessel scented by the perfume that fills it. Christ the sun that dissolves the spikenard and extracts its odour. His presence at the table, that which brought forth the fragrance of the womens ointment. The believers graces at the Kings table do not so much impart sweetness to the King, as His presence there imparts sweetness to those graces. Hence, in relation to the Lords Table, the duty of believers
(1) To have lofty views of Christ as the King;
(2) To think much of the Kings condescension and love, and of their high privilege in being permitted to occupy a place at His table;
(3) To pray earnestly that He may be pleased to be graciously present and to manifest Himself there to their souls;
(4) To see that there is nothing in themselves to hinder this;
(5) To be concerned that there be the Spirits graces to please and entertain Him;
(6) To seek that those graces be in full and lively exercise.
Son. 1:11-12, the Brides commendation of her beloved, and her declaration of her love. A bundle (or bag) of myrrh is my well beloved unto me; he shall lie all night (or, which remaineth) &c. Observe how the Bride speaks of the King, my well-beloved. So believers of Christ Jesus, the beloved of every believing soul. Whom having not seen ye love. Christs gifts precious to the believers; but more precious Himself. Love the first and the last thing required by Christ of His people. The object of His greatest desire, and that for which He gave Himself. When well with the believer, no question with himself as to his love to Christ. Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Ardent love its own certificate.Christ commended in the text under a two-fold comparison:
I. A Bundle of Myrrh. Myrrh a fragrant gum exuding from a tree growing in Eastern countries, employed for imparting fragrance to the person, and often for that purpose carried by Eastern females in the bosom (chap. Son. 3:6; Est. 2:12; Psa. 45:8). One of the chief spices in the East, and used in the composition of the Holy Anointing Oil (Exo. 30:23; Exo. 30:34). Christ a
Bundle of Myrrh.
1. In Himself. Includes in Himself all sweetness and fragrance. In Him a combination of all charms and excellencies. The totality of all graces and virtues resident in His person. Himself the concentration of all loveliness and sweetness. In Him a fragrance that fills heaven with delight. His person, names, titles, attributes, words and works, such as ought to diffuse joy in every sinners heart, and actually do so wherever they are known. Not half the sweetness that is in Jesus enjoyed even by those best acquainted with Him on earth. Yet in that which is enjoyed, a joy unspeakable and full of glory.
2. To the Believer. Unto me. The language
(1) Of knowledge and apprehension. The believers happiness to be made to apprehend the excellence and sweetness that is in Jesus. Christ revealed to him and in him by the Father. His eyes opened and anointed by the Spirit to see that Just One. Made by faith to behold the King in His beauty. Enabled to testify from experienceThou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips. We beheld His glory. Whatever He is to others, to them He is a bundle of myrrh. To them that believe, He is precious.
(2) Of choice and appropriation. Christ chosen and appropriated by the believer as his bundle of myrrhhis joy and treasure. Others choose the finite and fading creature for their bundle of myrrh, which perishes in the using. Believers, with Mary, choose Christ. First chosen by Him, they next choose Him. Their choice and appropriation of Him vindicated in the words of the BrideHe shall lie all night (or simplywhich remains) betwixt my breasts. The reference rather to the bundle of myrrh than to the beloved himself, though indicating the brides feelings and purpose regarding him. Like the bag of myrrh that remained constantly in the bosom, he should have the most intimate place in the affections of her heart. The believers earnest desire and resolution to have Christ ever near him and ever with himto enjoy His uninterrupted communion, to satisfy the longings of his soul with His presence and love, and never to part with Him. His desire expressed in the hymn:
Abide with me from morn till eve;
For without Thee I cannot live.
Christ appropriated not as a dress to be put on and off again, but as a perfume to be carried in the bosom day and night. The present world a night to believers (Rom. 13:12). His personal coming brings the day. Himself the Bright and Morning Star. His spiritual manifested presence gives songs in the night. His presence and smile our bundle of myrrh. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace (Joh. 16:33). Christians to be Christ-bearers. Not merely to wear His name but Himself. Not to carry a crucifix, or picture of Him on our person, but His living presence in our heart. That presence the secret of the believers fragrance. The bag of myrrh in the bosom perfumed the whole person. The Spirit and life sweet and savoury, only as far as we have Christ in us and with us.
II. A cluster of camphor. Camphor, or more properly cypress, or henna, an Oriental plant whose fragrant flowers grow in clusters. The spikes or sprigs of it carried about by Eastern females for the fragrance. Engedi, with its vineyards, near the western shores of the Dead Sea, and famous for its aromatic herbs, the place where the best cypresses grew. Christ not only to believers as fragrant cypress, but a cluster of it; not merely a cluster of cypress, but of the best and most fragrant cypress to be found,cypress in the vineyards of Engedi. In Christ a concentration of all graces and virtues, all sweetness and excellence. Abrahams faith, Moses meekness, Jobs patience, Davids devotion, Solomons wisdom, Pauls zeal, and Johns love, all united in Jesus in fullest perfection and concentrated strength. Christ in the world and in the Church like a cluster of cypress in the vineyard of Engedi. Whatever of excellence or sweetness found there, infinitely short of what is in Him. Nature lovely; Christ infinitively lovelier. Some men and women, especially believing ones, charming and attractive both in their spirit and their person. Christ incomparably fairer and more attractive than the children of men. Divine ordinances sweet and refreshing; Christ infinitely more so; and ordinances only sweet as Christ Himself is in them
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT 1:122:7
SHULAMMITE: NARRATION TO COURT LADIES 1:122:7
a. Explanation of her Situation Son. 1:12
12
While the King sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1:12
37.
Why is the King at his table?
38.
Why is it the maiden is perfumed with spikenard?
PARAPHRASE 1:12
12
While the King reclines in the circle of his friends, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
COMMENT 1:12
Exegesis Son. 1:12
The King has made all the provisions necessary for the contemplated weddingor entrance into his harem. The prospective bride (or mistress) is bathed and perfumed with the rare and expensive fragrance of spikenard such as those used in Oriental courts. Such perfume was made from a plant grown in India and was imported for this purpose. Even as she speaks she can catch the impact of her wedding preparations through her olfactory sense.
If Solomon set his table for this maid as he did at other occasions this must have been an impressive feast. Read 1Ki. 4:22-27; 1Ki. 10:21 to visualize Solomons menu. Read also Mar. 14:3 for a reference to the same perfume lavished upon our Lord by a woman in Bethany whose name was Mary. Cf. Joh. 12:3. The fragrance filled the roomat Bethany as it did at the table of Solomon.
Marriage Son. 1:12
At least Solomon was aware of the need to pay attention to the person of his prospective bride. It was much more important to her than to him. He could love one more wife without perfumebut she would not be as responsive to him. We must first of all make it very clear that we love the person of our wife before we make any identity with her body. But it is important that she know we want her total self. The atmosphere is almost as important as the action to our wife.
Communion Son. 1:12
I have thought a number of times that the perfume of the scripture could accompany our reading and meditation on His word and could of themselves contribute an atmosphere of peace and relaxation necessary to total concentration. We are not suggesting such is essential but we are saying the environment of meditation and memorization is important. While the prince of this earth reclines with his friends shall we enjoy the fragrance of His presence?
FACT QUESTIONS 1:12
60.
What is meant by the phraseWhile the King reclineth at his table?
61.
Why was the Shulammite wearing perfume? Tell what you know of the spikenard here mentioned.
62.
Solomon did know something of the needs of women. Discuss.
63.
How can we apply this verse to marriage today? What is so important about atmosphere? Discuss.
64.
Do you accept the suggestion that place and circumstances are important to our study of His word? Discuss.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(12) While the king sitteth.There is no need to imagine a scene where the monarch, having failed in his attempt to allure the shepherdess by fine offers, retires to his banquet, leaving her to console herself with the thoughts of her absent shepherd love. As in Son. 1:2 the poet makes his mistress prefer his love to wine, so here she prefers the thought of union with him to all the imagined pleasures of the royal table.
SpikenardHeb., nerdis exclusively an Indian product, procured from the Nardostachys jatamansi, a plant of the order Valerianace. It was imported into Palestine at a very early period. The perfume is prepared by drying the shaggy stem of the plant (see Tristrams Nat. Hist. of Bible, pp. 484, 485). There is a sketch of the plant in Smiths Bibl. Dict.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. While the king sitteth In spite of these rich offers, as soon as the King has gone within to his table, the Enamoured breaks forth in tender utterances of longing for her Beloved, calling him by titles expressive of many charms. Nard is a perfume yielded by a plant of India, usually procured by way of Arabia, but possibly by Solomon’s fleets, Ophir being India. It was costly. Judas computed that that with which the woman anointed the Saviour’s head at Bethany was worth nearly $50. The Beloved, whose remembrance is so sweet, is called by this lively metaphor.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent out its fragrance. My beloved is to me as a bundle of myrrh, That lies between my breasts. My beloved is to me as a cluster of henna-flowers, In the vineyards of En-gedi.”
The young maiden has found her beloved, and now she is sat at his table in his stately tent sending out her message of love through the perfume that she wears. And it made her think of what he was to her. He was to her like a small bundle of sweet smelling myrrh (myrrh was a symbol of love – Pro 7:17) which hung around her neck on a string and lay between her breasts (the place of love where she wanted him to be), and thus something to be cherished, and like a cluster of henna-flowers in the vineyards of En-gedi, received by a lover and held close to the heart. En-gedi was west of the Dead Sea and the henna flowers would be fragrant white blossoms which could be found growing in the vineyards, suitable for lovers, and found in a place well known to lovers.
The idea of sitting at the king’s table and sharing signs of mutual love is a reminder that that was how God wanted Israel to be with Him. He wanted their love and their fellowship (Exo 24:11; Deu 12:7; Deu 12:12; Gen 31:54; Psa 23:5). That is one reason why the future restoration is depicted in terms of a great feast (Isa 25:6). But the truth was that, with exceptions, their hearts were not towards Him as they should have been.
‘My spikenard sent out its fragrance.’ We can compare with this Psa 141:2, ‘Let my prayers be set forth as incense before You.’ The very purpose of the offering of incense was in order to make Israel a delight, and acceptable to God.
Jesus also regularly depicted Himself as calling us to eat and drink with Him, so that He might feed us with spiritual nourishment. Indeed He calls us to eat and drink with Him day by day as we keep ‘coming’ and ‘trusting’ and looking for sustenance (Joh 6:35), while His parables regularly indicate that His chosen are invited to feast with Him (Mat 22:1-14; Mat 25:1-13; Luk 14:15-24). See also Rev 3:20. And for us as His true people He has even prepared a regular Table at which we too can physically eat and drink in remembrance of Him, and can enjoy His presence (1Co 11:23-26). Consider also His miraculous feeding of the crowds who followed Him which depicted what He had come to bring them, and made some recognize Him as the King (Joh 6:15). If only when we were at worship we were as taken up with our beloved as this young maiden was with her beloved, how glad God would be. He was in all her thoughts. And that is how it should be. For we too can all eat of His delights continually in the secret place, as we feast on His word, (that letter of love that He has given to us), and as we daily go out into our lives with Him. While in our case the incense that goes up to God is ‘the prayers of the saints’ (Rev 5:8).
We may also see the spikenard that sent out its fragrance as for us representing the beauty of Christ’s righteousness with which we have been clothed (Isa 61:10; 2Co 5:21) and which now goes out from us, and the sweet savor of Christ that we are to God as by testifying to others we bring them before God as an offering (2Co 2:16).
As the story moves on we are now privileged to listen in on their conversation at the table. First the BELOVED speaks to the young maiden,
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Beloved Meditates upon Her Lover Literal Interpretation In Son 1:12-14 the Beloved accepts His invitation to dine at His table. Each of these three verses refers to the Shulamite’s sense of smell. She recalls a time when she sat with him at his table (Son 1:12). She later thinks about him on her bed, imagining what it would be like to someday lay with him in the marriage bed (Son 1:13). She then compares him to a cluster of henna blossoms with their sweet fragrance (Son 1:14). In other words, her thoughts of him arouse her emotionally.
Figurative Interpretation These verses may be figurative of a believer’s acceptance of God’s blessings. The aroma of spikenard may represent the prayers of adoration towards God. The bundle of myrrh may represent the eternal nature that she received as a result of being born again through acceptance of the king’s invitation. As the young bride meditates upon her lover, we are to begin our Christian life by meditating upon God’s Word and spending time in prayer.
Son 1:12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
Son 1:12
Figurative Interpretation Mike Bickle suggests Son 1:12 means that fragrance emitting forth is figurative of a person’s adoration and worship of the Lord because of His divine provision. [102]
[102] Mike Bickle, Session 7 – The Bride’s Identity in the Beauty of God (Song of Solomon 1:12-2:7 ), in Song of Songs (Kansas City, Missouri: International House of Prayer, 1998), 3.
Son 1:13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
Son 1:13
Son 1:14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
Son 1:14
Comments – The word “camphire” is an old English spelling of the modern word “camphor.” Webster says camphor is “A solid concrete juice or exudation, from the laurus camphora, or Indian laurel-tree, a large tree growing wild in Borneo, Sumatra, &c.” The VgClem translated the phrase “botrus cypri,” (Son 1:13) which follows the LXX reading “ ,” which means, “ a cluster of camphor.” ( Brenton) Most modern English versions translate this word as henna flowers, or as the cypress tree, both of which have fragrant blossoms.
ASV a cluster of henna flowers
BBE a branch of the cypress tree
Darby – a cluster of henna-flowers
DRC a cluster of cypress
God’sWord – a bouquet of henna flowers
JPS – a bouquet of henna flowers
LITV – a cluster of henna
NIV – a cluster of henna blossoms
Rotherham – A cluster of henna
RSV – a cluster of henna blossoms
YLT – a cluster of cypress
Son 1:14 Word Study on “vineyard” Strong says the Hebrew word “vineyard” “ korem ” ( ) (H3754) means, “a garden, a vineyard.” The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 93 times in the Old Testament, being used in the KJV as “vineyard 89, vines 3, vintage 1.” This word is used 9 times in the book of Songs. A vineyard figuratively refers to the labours that man does while serving the Lord in this life.
Comments – The Song of Songs refers to a garden nine times (Son 4:12; Son 4:15-16; Son 5:1; Son 6:2; Son 6:11; Son 8:13) and to a vineyard nine times (Son 1:6; Son 1:14; Son 2:15; Son 7:12; Son 8:11-12) within its text. A garden is a place of meditation and rest, while a vineyard is a place of bearing fruit as a result of entering into rest and communion with God. For our life of walking in the Spirit and bearing fruit is simply the overflow of being filled with the Spirit while in communion with the Lord. The beloved’s vineyard would figuratively represent a believer who has entered into his calling and ministry and is labouring for the Lord.
Son 1:14 Word Study on “Engedi” Strong says the Hebrew word “Engedi” “`Eyn Gediy” ( ) (H5872) means, “fount of the kid,” and refers to a place in Palestine. Strong says it is derived from two words, ( ) (H5869), which means, “eye” or “fountain,” and from ( ) (H1423), which means, “a young goat, a kid.”
Comments – The city Engedi was also called Hazazontamar, an Amorite town, which name means, “sandy surface of the palm tree.” ( PTW) (see Gen 14:7, 2Ch 20:2)
Gen 14:7, “And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar .”
2Ch 20:2, “Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi .”
Son 1:14 Comments – The city of Engedi was located on the western shore of the Dead Sea. John Gill’s commentary refers to Pliny, who tells us that it was second only to Jerusalem for fertility and groves of palm trees. [103] Josephus says that there grew the best of the palm trees and of the balsum. [104] Therefore, some Jewish scholars believe that Son 1:14 is referring to clusters of dates growing on the date palm rather than “camphire,” which does not grow in clusters and was unknown to the ancient Middle East. Since the LXX uses the word , it may be referring to the cypress tree, which, according to Pliny, grew in this area and bore a white fragrant flower. [105] Gill says i t also may be referring to the cypress vine, which according to Pliny, was a grape vine that derived its name from Cyprus, and would have been accessible to Solomon. [106] This would best reconcile itself with the phrase, “a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi”; or, it may be referring to the henna plant, whose white, fragrant blossoms grow clusters. [107] Most modern English versions translate this word as henna flowers or as the cypress tree, both of which have fragrant blossoms.
[103] Pliny the Elder writes, “Below this people was formerly the town of Engadda, second only to Hierosolyma in the fertility of its soil and its groves of palm-trees; now, like it, it is another heap of ashes.” ( Natural History. 5.17) See Pliny, The Natural History of Pliny, vol. 1, trans. John Bostock and H. T. Riley, in Bohn’s Classical Library (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855), 431.
[104] Josephus writes, “About the same time the Moabites and Ammonites made an expedition against Jehoshaphat, and took with them a great body of Arabians, and pitched their camp at Engedi, a city that is situate at the lake Asphaltitis, and distant three hundred furlongs from Jerusalem. In that place grows the best kind of palm trees, and the opobalsamum.” ( Antiquities 9.1.2)
[105] Pliny the Elder writes, “The Cyprus is a tree of Egypt, with the leaves of the ziziphus, and seeds like coriander, white and odoriferous. These seeds are boiled in olive oil, and then subjected to pressure; the product is known to us as cypros. The price of it is five denarii per pound. The best is that produced on the banks of the Nile, near Canopus, that of second quality coming from Ascalon in Judaea, and the third in estimation for the sweetness of its odour, from the island of Cyprus. Some people will have it that this is the same as the tree which in Italy we call ligustrum.” ( Natural History 12.51) See Pliny, The Natural History of Pliny, vol. 3, trans. John Bostock and H. T. Riley, in Bohn’s Classical Library (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855), 146.
[106] Natural History 14.1. See Pliny, The Natural History of Pliny, vol. 3, trans. John Bostock and H. T. Riley, in Bohn’s Classical Library (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855), 217-218.
[107] John Gill, Song of Solomon, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Song of Solomon 1:14.
Regardless of the type of plant or tree that is referred to in Son 1:14, we can clearly see the picture that is being created by these words of a beautifully manicured vineyard near the shores of the Dead Sea, full of clusters of blossoms part of the year and full of fruits during the time of harvest. It would have been a sight that anyone would have wanted to take their true love to be filled with the sweet smell and pleasant beauty of such a wonder.
Within the context of Son 1:12-14, the Shulamite woman is meditating upon her lover. In Son 1:14 she compares him to a cluster of henna blossoms with their sweet fragrance. In other words, her thoughts of him arouse her emotionally.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Scene 2: The King’s Banquet Table: The Lovers Exchange Words of Love In Son 1:12 to Son 2:7 we see a series of communications exchanged between the two loves as they speak words of love. As a result, the beloved falls more deeply in love and becomes “lovesick” (Son 2:3-5).
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Shulamite’s Response to the King Son 1:12 to Son 2:1
a) The Beloved Meditates upon Her Lover Son 1:12-14
b) The Shulamite’s Response Son 1:16 to Son 2:1
2. The King’s Love for His Beloved Son 2:2
3. The King’s Provision and Her Response Son 2:3-7
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Son 1:12. While the king sitteth at his table While the king shall be in his tent, or pavilion, Houbigant. The New Translation has it, While the king sitteth in the circle of his friends; namely, at the nuptial banquet. The tables of the ancients were so framed that the guests formed a circle.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
At this verse the Church takes up the conversation. And as her Husband had spoken so graciously of her, she now breaks out in commendation of him, and his loveliness, and condescension. By the King, there can be no question who is meant; it could be none but Jesus. By the table, may be understood, either the covenant of grace, the scriptures of truth, the several ordinances of the gospel, or his providences, dispensations or the like: – and as it is said to be his table, no doubt it is intended to express that all are his, and of his own do his people give him. The spikenard is a beautiful figure to represent the state and exercise of a true believing soul. Naturalists tell us that it is a poor, little, contemptible shrub in itself: but yet by a process when made into an ointment, it is most costly and highly esteemed, both for its fragrancy and virtues. And is not this strongly expressive of the soul? When sunk by sin, how low, how despised, and even offensive in the sight of holy angels. But when washed in the blood of Christ, and made comely in his comeliness, how beautiful and graceful to every beholder! By the Church’s expression of her spikenard sending forth a fragrancy while Jesus is sitting at his table, and she with him, is meant to imply what a blessed frame the soul is in, when the graces, which the Holy Spirit hath planted in the heart, are called forth into exercise by the presence of her Lord, similar to the effects wrought on some sweet flower of the garden or field, which, while the sun shines upon it, and melts by its beams the fine oil of its foliage, the air becomes impregnated with the odour; so the Lord Jesus, shining in upon the graces he hath given to the believer, brings forth the sweets thereof in the life and conversation all around. Thus Mary’s spikenard is recorded with peculiar honour, as a token of her love which she poured on Jesus’s feet. And it was at supper at the table when this was done; which should seem to refer to this very scripture; Joh 12:3 . What a beautiful view doth this verse afford, both of the graciousness of the Redeemer, and the happiness of the soul when living under the immediate enjoyment of his presence. He saith himself, that be stands at the door, and doth knock; and that if admitted there shall be a mutual feast. He will sup with his people, and they shall sup with him. Rev 3:20 . And so it is, indeed, for while his grace flows out to them, their exercises of faith, and love, and hope, and desire, are all going forth to him, and upon him, and while blessings come down, praises go up; and all his goodness and his glory is made to pass before them. I must not quit the verse before that I have first observed that some have thought that the Church meant by her spikenard her Beloved, her Jesus: and if so, the expression is still more interesting: for then it is as if the Church had said, While my Lord and King sitteth at his table, my Redeemer who is to me all that is blessed and costly, sendeth forth all his fragrancy. He is the whole of the enjoyment. He is the Altar, the Sacrifice, and the Sacrificer in the sanctuary. And he is the glorious Head, and Provider of the whole feast at his table. Everything here is of Jesus. Everything is in Jesus. Everything is from Jesus. And everything to Jesus. He is the Lord my Righteousness. And he is made of God to me wisdom, and righteousness, sanctification and redemption; that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 1Co 1:30-31 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Son 1:12 While the king [sitteth] at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
Ver. 12. While the king sitteth at his table, &c. ] Heb., At his round table, or ring sitting. In accubitu circulari: in orbem enim antiquitus ad mensam sedebant. “Send and fetch him, for we will not sit round till he come hither.” 1Sa 16:11 The manner of the Turks to this day is to sit around at meat on the bare ground, with their legs gathered under them. a By the king is here meant “Messiah the prince,” Dan 9:25 “Christ the Lord.” Act 2:36 Et omnes sancti in circuitu eius, All his saints sit round about him; Psa 76:11 as the twelve tribes were round about the tabernacle; Num 2:2 as the twenty-four elders are round about the throne Rev 4:4 – they are “a people near unto him”; Psa 148:14 they are those “Blessed that eat and drink with him in his kingdom,” Luk 14:15 first of grace, and then of glory. And while they thus sit with their King – a sign of sweetest friendsblp and fellowship – it was held a great honour and happiness to “stand before Solomon” 1Ki 10:8 in his circled session.
My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
a Turkish History.
b Cyprian.
c Indulgence or connoisseurship in ‘good eating’
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Son 1:12-14
12While the king was at his table,
My perfume gave forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
In the vineyards of Engedi.
Son 1:12 While the king was at his table Again, the interpretation depends on, who is the king?
The term (BDB 687) translated by NASB and NKJV as table, can also mean couch (cf. NRSV, JPSOA, TEV, REB) or room (NJB). Its basic meaning is that which surrounds.
It could surely be the elaborate sleeping tent and couch of Solomon or a simple bed mat of a shepherd expressed in hyperbole.
NASB, TEVperfume
NKJVspikenard
NRSV, NJBnard
This (BDB 669) was an oily extract from a sweet smelling plant from the Himalayas region of India (Sanskrit root). It was used as an aromatic aphrodisiac in the ancient Near East.
Son 1:13 This refers to the ancient method of perfuming. In symbolism it refers to one of the lovers dreaming/thinking of the other all night!
myrrh This (BDB 600) was a plant resin from Arabia and the northeast coast of Africa. It was bitter to the taste, but sweet smelling and long lasting. In Psa 45:8 it is also connected to a wedding (i.e., physical love). It has connotations of erotic love (cf. Son 1:13; Son 3:6; Son 4:6; Son 4:14; Son 5:5; Son 5:13; Pro 7:17).
breast This term (BDB 994) is used several times in the book (Son 1:13; Son 4:5; Son 7:3; Son 7:7-8; Son 8:8; Son 8:10). This same phrase, between breasts, is used by Hosea to denote pagan fertility worship (cf. Hos 2:2).
Son 1:14 a cluster of henna blossoms These are small fragrant white flowers (BDB 499) that comes from a bush that grow abundantly in the Middle East. They are still used by Arab women today who use these flowers to dye parts of their bodies either orange or yellow.
Engedi This (BDB 745) is a famous oasis midway down the western shore of the Dead Sea known for its beauty and fertility. It is mentioned several times in the OT.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
While the king sitteth, &c. Solomon’s advances fail; for, to his flattery she opposes her unabated love for her shepherd lover, with whom she has an interview in Son 1:12 Son 2:7.
sitteth. Supply “was”.
my spikenard: i.e. her shepherd lover.
sendeth = sent.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Son 1:12-14
Son 1:12-14
THE SHULAMITE’S NEGATIVE RESPONSE
“While the king sat at his table,
My spikenard sent forth its fragrance.
My beloved is to 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.”
“While the king sat at his table” (Son 1:12). This means, “in the king’s absence.” He was either eating “at his table” or conducting the affairs of state. In the meanwhile, the Shulamite maiden possessed a small box of a very precious ointment which she carried between her breasts, reminding her continually of her real lover. Her imagination was not stirred at all by Solomon’s promise of gold jewelry; instead her mind went back to a bouquet of henna-flowers from the vineyards of Engedi, which had most likely come to her from her shepherd lover. The origin of that gift of flowers points to the true lover, not to Solomon. Scholars dispute it; but we see these as wild flowers.
Exegesis Son 1:12
The King has made all the provisions necessary for the contemplated wedding-or entrance into his harem. The prospective bride (or mistress) is bathed and perfumed with the rare and expensive fragrance of spikenard such as those used in Oriental courts. Such perfume was made from a plant grown in India and was imported for this purpose. Even as she speaks she can catch the impact of her wedding preparations through her olfactory sense.
If Solomon set his table for this maid as he did at other occasions this must have been an impressive feast. Read 1Ki 4:22-27; 1Ki 10:21 to visualize Solomons menu. Read also Mar 14:3 for a reference to the same perfume lavished upon our Lord by a woman in Bethany whose name was Mary. Cf. Joh 12:3. The fragrance filled the room-at Bethany as it did at the table of Solomon.
Marriage Son 1:12
At least Solomon was aware of the need to pay attention to the person of his prospective bride. It was much more important to her than to him. He could love one more wife without perfume-but she would not be as responsive to him. We must first of all make it very clear that we love the person of our wife before we make any identity with her body. But it is important that she know we want her total self. The atmosphere is almost as important as the action to our wife.
Communion Son 1:12
I have thought a number of times that the perfume of the scripture could accompany our reading and meditation on His word and could of themselves contribute an atmosphere of peace and relaxation necessary to total concentration. We are not suggesting such is essential but we are saying the environment of meditation and memorization is important. While the prince of this earth reclines with his friends shall we enjoy the fragrance of His presence?
Exegesis Son 1:13-14
The term my beloved here used twice by the bride-to-be is used by her twenty-five times-each time in reference to her shepherd-lover (Clarke). This is a beautiful metaphor-but what does it mean? Are we to believe she is treasuring the bundle of myrrh left with her by her beloved? To keep his presence near, does she often lift his sachet of fragrance from her bosom to overpower the scent of the spikenard? It is interesting to contemplate-especially when we know that myrrh carries a bitter-sweet association. It is sweet in fragrance but bitter to the taste. We do associate certain persons with certain fragrances. She can turn in her sleep and catch a breath of myrrh and smile as she thinks not of Solomon, but of her shepherd.
Henna flowers were sometimes white and sometimes of pastel color of very light brown to beige. They were fragrant and most popular as flowers for the hair. In the far-off oasis of En-gedi in the desert by the Dead Sea has my love gathered the most beautiful and fragrant of these lovely blooms-he left a cluster of them with me just before I was stolen away by Solomon. More precious to me are his flowers than all the riches of Solomon.
Marriage Son 1:13-14
If we have not fairly represented the captive of Solomons chambers we do hope there is somewhere a girl like this-what a wife she would make! If we have given the girl we married the same care and devotion as the shepherd-lover we could expect the same response-but not until, and only when we do. What keepsakes have we left with our wives? Something distinctively personal and full of fragrant beauty. In the midst of the multiplied tasks of the day and the sometimes overpowering pressures of life this dear girl we married wants, needs and deserves an oft given remembrance or two from you and me.
Communion Son 1:13-14
Has our Lord left us anything by which we can remember Him? To ask is to answer. We could easily suggest His bread and His cup-or His external words of love recorded in the gospels, or the Other Comforter. But we pause to contemplate how very lightly such dear sweet remembrances can be treated. It is our love, yea our deep, personal love for the One who gave them that impregnates His gifts with beauty and fragrance for us.
Would we overtax the figure to suggest that we could once again enter into a courtship with our Lord? Would you read again His love letters to you-sometimes called the Gospels?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
5.
Sitting with the King at his table
Son 1:12-17
While the king sitteth 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 unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes. 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.
Do you know this King? Is Jesus Christ your Lord, your Savior, your King? Do you know the sweet taste of his saving grace? Have you experienced the blessedness of sins forgiven? Do you trust Christ? Are you washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness, and born of his Spirit? If you are, if you are a sinner saved by the grace of God, saved through the blood of Christ, saved by the power of his Spirit, I am certain that your very soul longs, thirsts, pants, and hungers for him, like a love sick young bride longs, thirsts, pants, and hungers for her husband. You want nothing like you want the embrace of his arms and the kisses of his mouth. That which we need and, I trust, desire above all things is communion with our all-glorious Christ.
The object of public worship
The object of public worship is that we may meet with and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may sit with him at his table, have communion with him, and be fed by him. It is the presence of Christ which gives life and meaning to our worship. Our gatherings for worship without the fellowship of Christ are dreary business. It is like a brook without water, a cloud without rain, a sky without a sun, a night without a star. We need Christ! Without him all is vain! The doctrine of Christ without the presence of Christ is a lifeless corpse. The ordinances of Christ without the presence of Christ are meaningless rituals. Our songs of praise without the presence of Christ are but sorrowful groans. The Word of God without the presence of Christ is a sealed Book. The preaching of the gospel without the presence of Christ is only an exercise in futility.
We must have Christ, or we have nothing! We cannot live without him. Without him we have no light. Without him we have no comfort. Without him we have no strength. Without him we are nothing. Without him we can do nothing.
We have before us a picture of King Jesus sitting at his table, a table spread with the rich morsels of the gospel, manifesting himself to his people. We have here a picture of communion and fellowship with Christ himself.
Nothing so precious
There is nothing so precious to the true believer as Christ himself (Son 1:12-14). Here, the bride speaks about her Beloved. While the king sitteth 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 unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
What a picture this is! The King is sitting at his table in his palace with his beloved Bride. She is so overcome by his beauty and goodness that her heart must speak. In tender affection she tells him how precious he is to her. The picture, of course, is of our Lord Jesus Christ, sitting in the midst of his church in precious fellowship. Truly, our meetings are blessed when he meets with us. The gospel is truly a feast for our souls when he spreads the table. Christ is precious to believing hearts; and he is never more precious than at those times when he reveals and manifests himself in sweet, intimate, and real fellowship with his people (1Pe 2:7).
Here is the Lord Jesus Christ, the King (Our King!), revealing himself in the blessedness of fellowship with his people (Son 1:12). While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. This is the thing we most greatly desire at all times when we come together for worship. If Christ meets with us, all is well. It matters not where we meet, or even how many of us there are. If Christ is present, we have all that our hearts can desire.
All true believers reverence Christ as their sovereign King, bowing to him with willing, loving hearts. What bride would object to her loving and beloved husband being her king? Christ the King has his royal table spread in the gospel. The gospel of the grace of God is a feast of fat things prepared for all nations. It is a table furnished, by which the souls of men are fed. Our Lord has promised to be present with two or three who gather in his name. He comes, by his Spirit through the ministry of his Word, to sup with us, and he allows us to sup with him.
When Christ himself meets with us, our meetings are truly blessed, because his presence draws out the grace he has created in our hearts. That is what is meant by the words, My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. As Mary broke open the box of precious spikenard and the sweet fragrance of it filled the room, so when the Lord Jesus meets with his people in the house of God, as the preacher breaks open the Word, the sweet fragrance of Christ crucified fills the room (Joh 12:1-3). When he withdraws and hides himself from us our spirits languish like tender plants in the hot sun. But when our Lord reveals himself our souls are renewed and made fruitful.
Nothing gives believing souls so much joy and satisfaction as fellowship with Christ. The children of God are not morbid people. We know how to enjoy the good things of life. But the greatest joys known to men in this world are mixed with a measure of bitterness and sorrow. The blessed fellowship of Christ is pure joy. There are no bitter dregs in this sweet wine.
A bundle of myrrh
The Lord Jesus Christ is unutterably precious to every believer (Son 1:13-14). A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
Here we have a picture of our Lords beauty, his value, and his love to a believing soul. The language is the language of intimate love. It is altogether spiritual. Christ is well beloved, the choice object of our hearts affections. He is not merely beloved, but well-beloved. He is chosen and preferred above all others. In our innermost souls his is uppermost. None can rival him. None can be compared with him.
The Lord Jesus is like a bundle of myrrh to us. Myrrh was a very costly and rare plant, greatly valued in ancient times for many reasons. It serves very well as a picture of Christ in this passage. Here are five ways in which myrrh fitly represents our Savior
First, Christ may be compared to myrrh, because of its preciousness. It was a very expensive thing. It is always represented in Scripture as being rare and costly. Jacob sent some myrrh down into Egypt as a choice gift. But no myrrh could ever compare with our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the precious gift of God to us. When God gave us his Son, he gave us his all. What a precious gift Christ is to us! Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!
Second, Christ may be compared to myrrh, because it was a very pleasant perfume. It was sweet to the smell. In the Old Testament, myrrh was mingled with the sacrifices, so that when the fat of the kidneys of rams and beasts were burned, the smoke that ascended up to heaven had the sweet fragrance of myrrh. Do you see the picture? That which makes us acceptable to God is the sweet perfume of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Pe 2:5). We are accepted in the Beloved. (2Co 2:15-16; Php 4:18; Mal 1:11).
Third, Christ may be compared to myrrh, because it was a preservative. The Egyptians used myrrh to embalm the dead. Nicodemus and those holy women who came to bury the Savior brought myrrh and aloes to wrap his body. Myrrh was used to prevent decay and corruption. Even so, Christ, like a bundle of myrrh, preserves us.
Fourth, Christ may be compared to myrrh, because it was used for purification. In ancient times people thought that myrrh had certain medicinal qualities. In times of pestilence and plague they would carry a little bag of myrrh around their necks, hanging between their breasts, to serve as a disinfectant. They were not correct in their ideas. But this is certain: The Lord Jesus Christ has infinitely great medicinal value for our souls. His name is Jehovah-rophi.. He declares, I am the Lord that healeth thee. He heals the hearts of chosen sinners of the deadly plague of sin. He makes every believer pure and perfect before God.
Fifth, Christ may be compared to myrrh, because women in ancient times used it as a beautifier. Before Esther was presented to Ahasuerus she prepared herself with myrrh. Oriental women thought that myrrh would remove wrinkles and soften the skin. I have no knowledge about such things. But I do know that nothing makes a believer beautiful except Christ. He removes every spot and blemish and wrinkle from all his people (Eph 5:25-27).
Women in ancient times would very carefully take precious, costly, rare sprigs of myrrh, tie them together, and hang them in a bag between their breasts for all of these reasons. And for all of these reasons, we will cling to Christ. His presence, his fellowship is like a bundle of myrrh between our breasts. When we have him all is well. Child of God, cling to Christ. Keep him near you. Bind him to your heart.
He shall lie all night between my breasts. This is an expression of intense desire. These are the words of confident faith. He said he would! This is a firm resolve. Throughout the long night of my pilgrimage through this world, I want his fellowship. If Christ will be with me, I want no more! He shall lie all night between my breasts.
A cluster of camphire
Christ is our only acceptance before God (Son 1:14). My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. The word translated camphire is most commonly translated atonement, covering, or propitiation. The Lord Jesus Christ is a cluster of merit and righteousness to all believers. He is precious to us, because he is our propitiation before God.
I do not suggest that Christ is so fully precious to all people. He is not. Multitudes see nothing in him. But, no matter what he is or is not to another, every heaven born soul speaks like this about Christ. My Beloved is unto me all that is needful, all that is lovely, all that is precious. He loved me and gave himself for me. He is my Lord and my God.Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious!
Nothing so precious to Christ
As there is nothing in all the world so precious to the believer as Christ, so nothing in all the world is so precious to the Lord Jesus Christ as his church (Son 1:15). Here the Lord Jesus speaks to us about us. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes. So precious are the chosen to the Lord God that he will sacrifice nations for them (Isa 43:4).
It is one thing for us to speak of Christ with great delight and satisfaction. But here is something that would be utterly unbelievable, were it not written in the Book of God. The Son of God, our all-glorious Christ, speaks of all who are united to him by faith, with delight and satisfaction! Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ has great delight in his church. Every true believer is beautiful in his eyes! Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair: thou hast doves eyes.
In his eyes we are perfectly beautiful! There is no cause for pride, or for arrogance on our part. We have no beauty of our own. But his beauty is upon us, and he delights in that which he has made us to be in himself. The beauty Christ beholds in us is the real beauty of all true believers. Yet, the only beauty Christ looks upon with delight is the beauty he has created. We must never cease to be humbled by our own blackness, and never cease to rejoice in the beauty which Christ has given us. The Son of God looks upon us as we really are in him (1Co 1:30; 1Co 6:11). And he looks upon us as we shall one day be (Eph 5:27).
Our Lord also here assures us of his special, peculiar love for us My love. The Lord Jesus Christ holds his own elect near to his heart as the objects of his special love and favor. He speaks not to the world, but to his own chosen and beloved companion, his bride, his church, when he says, My love. The love of Christ for our souls truly is special. It is a sovereign, selective, sacrificial, saving, and satisfying love, and more. Christs love for his own is an immutable, indestructible, everlasting love!
The one aspect of beauty, which our Lord mentions is that his people have the eyes of a dove. They have eyes that are enlightened and guided by the Dove of heaven, God the Holy Spirit. They have eyes that are loyal and faithful Eyes for Christ alone. They have weeping eyes that mourn as a dove (Eze 7:16).
Blessed pleasantness
When the Lord Jesus makes himself known to us and reveals his love to our hearts, all is pleasant (Son 1:16-17). 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.
It is really impossible for me to say who is speaking here, Christ or the bride; but it really makes no difference. The message is the same whether coming from the bride or the Bridegroom. Yet, recognizing his beauty, and recognizing that whatever beauty we may have he has given us, we would turn all attention and praise to our beloved Lord. He is fair in himself. We are fair only in him.
Our marriage to Christ is a blessed, happy, fruitful union (Rom 7:4). Our bed is green. Our union with Christ is a firm and lasting union. The beams of our house are cedar. It is both an ancient and durable union, a union which shall never be broken. And our fellowship with Christ is most delightful – Our rafters of fir.
The word rafters literally means galleries or balconies, the porches that extend out from the bedroom, where the bride and groom sit and walk together in intimate fellowship. These galleries were made of fir, a fragrant and durable wood. Perhaps, these galleries have reference to the Word of God and the ordinances of divine worship in the assembly of the saints. Perhaps, they refer to our times of private prayer, worship, and meditation. Perhaps, they refer to all the blessed doctrines of the gospel and all the blessings the grace of God revealed in it. The galleries, wherein we walk with our Savior in sweet, intimate communion, include all these and more. They are all those things wherein the Son of God makes himself known to our hearts, all those things which cause our hearts to say with Peter, He is precious!
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
the king: Son 7:5, Psa 45:1, Mat 22:11, Mat 25:34
sitteth: Son 4:16, Mat 22:4, Mat 26:26-28, Luk 24:30-32, Rev 3:20
my: Son 4:13-16, Joh 12:3, Phi 4:18, Rev 8:3, Rev 8:4
Reciprocal: Psa 45:11 – So shall Son 4:10 – the smell Eze 41:22 – This is Mat 26:20 – he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Son 1:12. While the king My royal husband; sitteth at the table With me in his ordinances. My spikenard The graces of his Spirit conferred upon me, here compared to those sweet ointments, which the master of the feast caused to be poured out upon the heads of the guests, (Luk 7:38,) in which ointments spikenard was a chief ingredient; sendeth forth the smell thereof This denotes the exercise and manifestation of her graces, which are a sweet-smelling savour in the nostrils of her husband, and of her companions.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:12 {r} While the king [sitteth] at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth its fragrance.
(r) The Church rejoices that she is admitted to the company of Christ.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Shulammite girl (Son 6:3) described the effect that seeing Solomon had on her as he reclined at his banquet "table." She wore nard (spikenard, "perfume" NASB, NIV; cf. Mar 14:3; Joh 12:3), which was an ointment that came from a plant grown in northern and eastern India. He was as sweet to her as the fragrant myrrh sachet that hung around her neck.
"Hebrew women often wore small bags of myrrh between their breasts." [Note: Woudstra, p. 597.]
He was as attractive as henna at the refreshing Engedi oasis that lay on the west coast of the Dead Sea. Henna plants bore white blossoms, but their leaves produced a reddish-orange cosmetic dye. [Note: Kinlaw, p. 1220.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. Mutual admiration 1:12-2:7
In this section, the love of Solomon and his beloved continues to intensify.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Praise of one another 1:12-2:6
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
B. The Growth of Love 1:12-3:5
If there is indeed a chronological progression in the telling of this love story, as seems likely, this section relates the development of the love that Solomon and his loved one experienced before their wedding.