Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 2:4
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me [was] love.
4. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love ] Such expressions as ‘banqueting house’ and ‘his banner’ suggest a regal magnificence which could not belong to any kindness or hospitality which a rustic lover could shew to his loved one. But the first expression is simply house of wine, which has no such necessary association with splendour as ‘banqueting house.’ The name might, as far as we know, be applied to any place where wine was hospitably set forth for guests, and some plausibly suggest that it means here some tent in the vineyard where the watchers refreshed and rested themselves. On the other hand, it is quite possible that Beth-hayyayin may be a proper name (cp. Beth-hakkerem, ‘house of the vineyard,’ Jer 6:1). Bruston renders it so, and suggests that it is the name of the village, near the Shulammite’s village, where the shepherd lover dwelt. Others think that it is to be taken figuratively, as meaning that his love intoxicates her. The word translated ‘banner’ is deghel, and it was supposed to be used of the banner which preceded the tribes in their march through the wilderness. But this has been disputed on plausible grounds by Gray in The Jewish Quarterly Review, Oct. 1898, who thinks the word means ‘company’ in Num 2:3; Num 10:14. Cheyne, however, Jew. Quart. Rev., Jan. 1899, would retain ‘banner’ as a possible meaning of the word, and if we do so the meaning of the phrase may be, as Gesen. Thes. suggests, “I follow the banner of love which my friend bears before me as soldiers follow the military standard and never desert it.” If the ‘house of wine’ be taken figuratively, as the tree with its shadow and its fruit in the previous verse must be, this gives quite a satisfactory meaning. The Shulammite was brought by her lover to the place where the wine of love was dispensed, and the standard he bore aloft was love. The best parallel to our passage is given in Lane’s Arabic Dictionary s.v. ‘uqab, where a saying of Abu Dhu-eyb describing wine is quoted. “It has a banner which guides the generous, like as the military banner guides and attracts warriors.” This gives an exact parallel and makes the simile clear. The lover is the possessor of the only wine she cares for. Cp. Ben Jonson’s Song to Celia,
“Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine,
Or leave a kiss but in the cup
And I’ll not look for wine.”
She comes to him for the ‘drink divine’ which she desires, and the flag which draws her and is a sign that it is there is his love. It was the custom in Arabia for the wine seller to hoist a flag and keep it flying so long as he had any wine to sell, but it may be doubted whether there is any reference to such a custom here.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Son 2:4
He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.
The Christians position of privilege
It is a great thing to be a Christian. It is a great thing in view of the personal change wrought in him who sustains this character. He was once lost, he now is found. It is a great thing, too, in view of the change which it brings over a mans relations to others, as well as that which it produces in his personal character. Once he lived for time, now he lives for eternity. Once he served Satan, now he serves God. Once, if his earthly possessions had been wrested from him he would have exclaimed, Ye have taken away my gods, and what is there more?–now, with St. Paul, he can endure the loss of all things, and account it a gain, that he may win Christ and be found in Him. Once the grave bounded all his prospects, and death was dreaded as the extinguisher of all his hopes; now he can look death calmly in the face, and go down to the grave with a hope full of immortality.
I. The action, of which all the Christians experience of his privilege is raised. He brought me. The agent referred to is God our Saviour. Salvation, in all its effectual influences, be longs to Him. Each truly converted soul, when telling how it was led to Christ, will feel constrained to look up to God with adoring gratitude and say, He brought me. He brought me, by Divine foreknowledge and sovereign choice, before the foundations of the world were laid. He brought me through His Spirit, working with me in due season, to make His own call effectual. He brought me by ordering and controlling all the outward circumstances of my condition so as to favour this blessed result of His purpose. He brought me by His preventing grace so working in my soul, that I should have a desire to know and love Him, and then, co-operating with that desire, in such a way as to bring it to good effect. He brought me by sweetly subduing my stubborn will,–taking away all the natural enmity of my heart to Him, and sending the sprat of adoption into my soul whereby I cry Abba Father.
II. The position in which this experience is realized. He brought me into the banqueting house. There are two ideas which we seem naturally to associate with the thought of a monarchs banqueting house.
1. It is a place where choice delicacies may be expected. It is not common fare, which the ,guests admitted to such a place look for. The richest and the rarest things that wealth can purchase, or skill prepare, are provided for such a banqueting hall. The products of every clime, the luxuries of every land are put in requisition there. And these are but faint figures of those spiritual good things with which Jesus regales the souls of His people in the banquet house of salvation.
2. It is a place where special favours are dispensed, and confidential communications made; and, on this account too, the language of the text applies to the believers condition of privilege in Christ. The treasury of heaven is put at the disposal of the believer in Jesus. He is fully assured that God will supply all his need from the riches of His grace in Christ.
III. The circumstances of the believer in occupying this position. His banner over me was love.
1. When a prince, a governor, or monarch unfurls his banner over a fortress or citadel, he means thereby to declare his determination to protect that place. As that flag waves in the breeze, it proclaims significantly, that all the power and resources of him whom it represents are pledged for the defence and safeguard of that fortress. And this is what Jesus means when He unfurls His banner of love over the believing soul. All the resources of omnipotence–all the perfections of an infinite God are enlisted for the safety of that soul.
2. The material of a banner, and the mottoes, or emblems upon it, are expressive of the thoughts and intentions of Him whom the banner represents. A white banner bespeaks a desire for peace. A red flag shows a determination to shed blood; a black flag is the signal that no quarter is to be expected. And then the military nations of the earth, whose lust has been for war and conquest, have generally adopted emblems expressive of their character. Thus the eagle was the emblem Imperial Rome bore on her conquering standards. But the Captain of our salvation has a banner woven out of the precious fabric of love, and the dove is the symbol which that banner bears. His thoughts towards His people are thoughts of peace; and love, unspeakable, everlasting, and past finding out, runs through all His purposes concerning them.
3. The banner of his country is to the true patriot an object of honourable regard, and of intense affection. And so, while the wise man glories in his wisdom, the rich man in his riches, and the mighty man in his might, the language of the Christian is: God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (R. Newton, D. D.)
Christs banqueting house for His spouse
1. Jesus Christ hath from the beginning of the world entertained His Church with various dispensations of providence, and doth so entertain every true believing soul.
2. Though all these dispensations be proper means in relation to the great end of the souls salvation, and profitable to the Church and the soul in reference to that end; yet, some are more sweet and pleasant than others, and so more fitly compared to Christs banquet.
3. The dispensation of the Gospel to the Church in general, and the enlightening, quickening, strengthening, consolatory influences of the Spirit of grace to patient souls, may be fitly compared to a banqueting, house or to a house of wine.
4. As Christ did of old entertain some of His people s souls, under the darker dispensations of the covenant of grace, with these refreshing dispensations, which were like a banquet of wine to them; so under the latter and more full dispensation of the Gospel, He doth still entertain some of His peoples souls with these gladdening dispensations.
5. It is Christ, and Christ alone, that can bring the soul into the house of wine. (John Collinges, D. D.)
His banner over me was love.
How Christs banner over a believing soul is love
1. The love of Christ is that which distinguishes the soul of a believer front another soul, and the Church of God from other companies.
(1) Let this be rooted in your hearts, that you may not glory in any other differences and distinctions.
(2) Let Christ have all the praise, and let it be our business to labour to be thus distinguished from others.
2. The exalting of Christs love directs and invites every soul whither to go (Joh 3:14-15; Joh 12:32).
3. The Church of God and the believing soul should move as the love of God doth guide them. All our actions are of no worth that flow not from this principle.
4. The love of Christ is that which unites the Churches of God and particular believers both unto Christ and unto one another.
5. The love of Christ is a sign of His protection to His people.
6. The love of Christ displayed to the world signifies His victory over His enemies, yea and the Churchs, and every true believing souls victory.
7. The love of Christ to His people is that which should make His Church and true believers terrible to all His and their enemies. (John Collinges, D. D.)
Christs banner over His Church
1. The use of banners, standards, or ensigns, is to gather and keep persons together: thus Christ Himself was lifted up on the cross, and is now lifted up in the Gospel, as an ensign to gather souls unto Him: and so His love, being displayed in the preaching of the Gospel, has a power and efficacy in it to draw souls after Him; for as a fruit and effect of everlasting love, with loving kindness He draws them: and in the same way and manner Christ here drew the Church unto Himself and held her fast; and constrained her to keep close to Him, and follow hard after Him; see 2Co 5:14.
2. A banner displayed, or a standard set up, is an indication of war; it is to prepare for it and to animate to it (Jer 51:12; Jer 51:27), the Church of Christ here on earth is militant, and therefore in Son 6:4, is represented as formidable and terrible as an army with banners: she has many enemies to engage with, as sin, Satan, and the world, and yet has the greatest encouragement to fight, for she is bannered under the Lord of hosts.
3. A banner displayed is also a sign of victory; sometimes when a town, city, or castle is taken, the flag is hung out as an indication of it; see Jer 50:2. Christ has gotten the victory over all His and our enemies.
4. A banner is for protection and defence; hence Moses built an altar, and called it Jehovah nissi, that is, The Lord is my banner; because the Lord had been on the side of him and the people of Israel, and defended them from the Amalekites.
5. It is to direct soldiers where to stand, when to march, and whom to follow; see Num 1:52; Num 2:2, which may teach us, who are enlisted in Christs service, not to fly from our colours, but adhere closely to Christ and His Gospel, His cause and interest, His Church and people, and to follow Him, the Standard-bearer, wherever He goes; and nothing can more strongly engage us to do so than love, which is the motto of His banner; this first drew us to Him, this animates us in His service, and keeps us close to His person and interest.
6. It is to distinguish one band from another (Num 2:2). As one band has one motto upon its banner or ensign, by which it is distinguished from another, so the motto on Christs banner is love, by which His band or company is distinguished from all others. The allusion may be to the names of generals being inscribed on the banners of their armies; so Vespasians name was inscribed on the banners throughout his armies. (John Gill, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. He brought me to the banqueting house] Literally, the house of wine. The ancients preserved their wine, not in barrels or dark cellars under ground, as we do, but in large pitchers, ranged against the wall in some upper apartment in the house, the place where they kept their most precious effects. We have a proof of this in HOMER: –
‘
, ,
‘ , ‘ .
, ,
‘
, .
‘ ,
‘, . . .. Od. lib. ii., ver. 337.
Meantime the lofty rooms the prince surveys,
Where lay the treasures of th’ Ithacian race.
Here, ruddy brass and gold refulgent blazed;
There, polished chests embroider’d vestures graced.
Here, pots of oil breathed forth a rich perfume;
There, jars of wine in rows adorn’d the dome.
(Pure flavorous wine, by gods in bounty given,
And worthy to exalt the feasts of heaven.)
Untouch’d they stood, till, his long labours o’er,
The great Ulysses reach’d his native shore.
A double strength of bars secured the gates;
Fast by the door wise Euryclea waits, &c.
POPE.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Banqueting-house, Heb. house of wine, or, by a common synecdoche, of feasting. By which he understands the places in which, or the means and instruments by which, believers receive the graces and blessings of Christ, to wit, the Holy Scriptures, ministers, and public assemblies, and all Christs institutions.
His banner over me; or, to or towards me; by the lifting up or displaying whereof I was invited and encouraged to come in to him, and to list myself under him, as soldiers are by the lifting up of a banner or ensign, of which see Isa 11:10; 49:22.
Was love; the love of Christ crucified, which, like a banner, is displayed in the gospel, whereby sinners are drawn and engaged to come to Christ: see Joh 3:14; 12:32; 2Co 5:14. The motto or device of Christs banner was not like those of other great generals, a lion, or leopard, or eagle, but love, by which alone Christ made all his conquests.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Historically fulfilled in thejoy of Simeon and Anna in the temple, over the infant Saviour (Lu2:25-38), and that of Mary, too (compare Lu1:53); typified (Ex24:9-11). Spiritually, the bride or beloved is led (So2:4) first into the King’s chambers, thence is drawnafter Him in answer to her prayer; is next received on a grassy couchunder a cedar kiosk; and at last in a “banqueting hall,”such as, JOSEPHUS says,Solomon had in his palace, “wherein all the vessels were ofgold” (Antiquities, 8:5,2). The transition is from holyretirement to public ordinances, church worship, and theLord’s Supper (Ps 36:8). Thebride, as the queen of Sheba, is given “all her desire”(1Ki 10:13; Psa 63:5;Eph 3:8; Eph 3:16-21;Phi 4:19); type of the heavenlyfeast hereafter (Isa 25:6;Isa 25:9).
his banner . . . loveAfterhaving rescued us from the enemy, our victorious captain (Heb2:10) seats us at the banquet under a banner inscribed with Hisname, “love” (1Jo4:8). His love conquered us to Himself; this banner rallies roundus the forces of Omnipotence, as our protection; it marks to whatcountry we belong, heaven, the abode of love, and in what we mostglory, the cross of Jesus Christ, through which we triumph (Rom 8:37;1Co 15:57; Rev 3:21).Compare with “over me,” “underneath arethe everlasting arms” (De33:27).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He brought me to the banqueting house,…. Or “into” it q. The “house of wine” r, as it is literally in the original; either the “wine cellar” s, as some, where stores of it were kept; or, the “place of fasting” t, as others, and, as we render it, a “banqueting house”; where it was distributed and drank; a banquet of wine being put for a feast, and here the nuptial feast; and may design the Gospel feast in the house of God, where there is plenty of the wine of Gospel truths, and provisions of rich food, with which believers are sweetly refreshed and delightfully regaled: and to be brought hither, under the drawings and influences of divine grace, is a special privilege, a distinguishing layout; and show a great condescension in Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, to take his people by the hand, as it were, and introduce them into his house, so well furnished, and to a table so well spread: and so the church relates it as an instance of divine favour, and as a fresh token of Christ’s love to her; which further appears by what follows: the covenant of grace and the Scriptures of truth may be thought of as a banqueting house, well stored with blessings, and promises, and rich provisions; which, to be led and let into, is a singular kindness;
and his banner over me [was] love; signifying, that she was brought into the banqueting house in a grand, stately, and majestic manner, with flying colours; the motto on which inscribed was “love”; the allusion may be to the names of generals being inscribed on the banners of their armies; so Vespasian’s name was inscribed on the banners throughout his armies u. Christ’s name, inscribed on his, was “love”, his church’s love; and by which his company or band was distinguished from all others, even by electing, redeeming, calling love. It may signify the security and protection of the saints, while in the house of God, and enjoying communion with him, being under the banner of love, with which they are encompassed as a shield; and it may denote the very manifest and visible displays of it, which the church now experienced.
q “in”, Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Marckius, Michaelis. r “domum vini”, Pagninus, Montanus, &c. s “Cellam vinariam”, Tigurine version. t “Locum convivii”, Junius & Tremellius. u Suetonii Vita Vespasian. c. 6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4 He has brought me into the wine-house,
And his banner over me is love.
After we have seen the ladies of the palace at the feast, in which wine is presented, and after Solomon, till now absent, has entered the banqueting-chamber (Arab. meglis ), by we are not to understand the vineyard, which would be called beth haggephanim or beth ha’anavim , as in Act 1:12, Pesh. the Mount of Olives, beth zaite .
(Note: In Heb. does not denote the vine as a plant, as the Aethiop. wain , whence asada wain , wine-court = vineyard, which Ewald compares; Dillmann, however, ineptly cites “vine-arbour,” and South-Germ. “ kamerte ” = vinea camerata; in Heb. is the house in which wine is drunk.)
He has introduced her to the place where he royally entertains his friends. Well knowing that she, the poor and sunburnt maiden, does not properly belong to such a place, and would rather escape away from it, he relieves her from her fear and bashfulness, for he covers her with his fear-inspiring, awful, and thus surely protecting, banner; and this banner, which he waves over her, and under which she is well concealed, is “love.” (from , to cover) is the name of the covering of the shaft or standard, i.e., pannus, the piece of cloth fastened to a shaft. Like a pennon, the love of the king hovers over her; and so powerful, so surpassing, is the delight of this love which pervades and transports her, that she cries out:
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Notes
Son. 2:4 : His banner over me was love.
His banner, (diglo), from (degel), a military standard. The SEPTUAGINT and VULGATE read the word as a verb; the former in the imperative: Marshal (), love against me; the latter in the indicative: He marshalled (ordinavit) love against me. WICKLIFE: He ordained me in charity. LUTHER: Love is his banner over me. DIODATI: The banner which he lifts up to me. MARTIN: Which I carry. THEODORET, expounding from the Septuagint: Teach me the manner of love. RASHI: My band who guide me to him is love. MUNSTER, MONTANUS, and PAGNINUS: His banner over me or about me. The expression, according to MENOCHIUS, equivalent toHe drew me with the cords of love. MERCER: He held love before me as a banner to attract me to himself. GROTIUS: He carries his love as an ensign before me,I serve under his banner, which is love. Similarly GESENIUS: I follow the banner of love which my Beloved presents to me, as soldiers follow a military standard and never desert it. TIRINUS: Love, that is, his love to me, by which he might subdue me to himself; and mine to him, that he might take me and all I have for his own. PISCATOR, JUNIUS, and MERCER: Having love towards me for a standard,by which to call or draw me to himself. SANCTIUS, expounding from the Vulgate: By his numerous kindnesses and sweetest blandishments he drew up all the array of his love against me. So Du VEIL: He subdued me entirely to himself under the banner of love: he caused that I should cleave to him alone in love, as soldiers follow their standard. PATRICK: I am enlisted under his banner whose motto is love: he has overcome my heart so as to submit entirely to his wonderful love. MICHAELIS: He attacked me under the banner of love. ROSENMLLER: His banner for me is love,his love to me is conspicuous as a banner in an army. EWALD: Love was as a protecting banner over my head. ZCKLER: Love waves as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I am near him. So DPKE, WORDSWORTH, and BURROUGHS. PERCY, and BOOTHROYD, reading the word as a verb in the imperative: Spread the banner of love over me. FRY, following one of Dr Kennicots manuscripts: They have set up their banner over me. FAUSSET: The banner inscribed with the name of the Captain who rescued us, Love. Some view the word as denoting the luminous standard carried before marriage processions. So PARKHURST; also HARMER: A cresset, or portable fiery standard. Others, perhaps still more correctly, as a flag or pendant, probably displayed on festive occasions. So WILLIAMS. A banner usually displayed on the festive tent or banqueting house; perhaps having on nuptial occasions the word Love inscribed on it. PERCY. A canopy, such as is carried over a Bride in the East. HUG.
SHULAMITES HAPPY EXERCISE
(Son. 2:4-6)
He brought me to the banqueting-house,
And his banner over me was love.
Stay me with flagons;
Comfort me with apples;
For I am sick of love.
His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand doth embrace me.
Shulamite describes her happy enjoyment of her Beloveds fellowship and love. Represents it under the figure of a banquet of wine. He brought (or hath brought) me into the banquet-house (or house of wine). Such a banquet among the highest of earthly enjoyments. Hence queen Esthers invitation to the king (Est. 5:4-6). The kings love already declared by Shulamite to be better than wine. She now realizes this to the full. Her longing desires after the enjoyment of his fellowship and love now fully gratified. She has found him whom her soul loved, and experienced intense delight in his presence. Observe
(1) The soul that earnestly seeks Jesus, and the enjoyment of His fellowship and love, will not seek in vain. Said I to the house of Jacob, seek ye me in vain? Then shall ye seek me and shall find me, when ye search for me with all your heart.
(2) The happiness in the enjoyment of Christs presence and love, such as infinitely to compensate for all the labour and pains in seeking Him. What it cost Shulamite to find her Beloved, forgotten in her happiness now that he is found. In Christ, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1Pe. 1:8). Notice, in regard to the
Banqueting House
I. The EXPERIENCE itself. The nature of the banqueting house or house of wine, indicated in the words that follow: His banner over me was love. Perhaps in allusion to some practice of suspending bannerets with suitable mottoes or devices over the heads of honoured guests at entertainments; or to the burning cressets carried at the head of a marriage procession, to light the party to the banquet-house. The happy experience of the banqueting-house is the enjoyment of the Kings presence, and of that love which is better than wine. The greatest earthly happiness experienced in the fellowship and love of one whom we ourselves greatly love. The poetry of every country full of this sentiment. Love, the poetry of life; the wine and cream of existence. Jacobs hard service of seven years for Rachael seemed to him but a few days, for the love he bare unto her. The banner that floats over the head of believers in the fellowship of Jesus, a banner of love. Its emblem a Lamb as it had been slain; and its mottoes: He loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; He loved me, and gave Himself for me. This love-banner manifestly suspended over the disciples at the Last Supper. The same banner waving over every Communion Table. Love, the ground of all the Lords dealings with His people. His love
(1) An electing love;
(2) A redeeming love;
(3) A covenanting or bridal love. The manifestation of Christs love, the believers feast. His loving presence a banquet of wine. The assurance of His love the believers strength and joy in the battle of life.
With Thee conversing, I forget
All time, and toil, and care;
Labour is rest, and pain is sweet,
If Thou, my Lord, art there.
Heaven but the full bloom of this enjoyment. Christs enjoyed presence and love the great attraction of Christian ordinances, especially of the Lords Supper. The keynote in the Song of Solomon. The Song, like Psalms 45, a Song of Loves. The happiness in the enjoyment of Christs love, and the language of the Song in describing it, perfectly natural. The naturalness of such language in the case of mere earthly love unquestioned. Why in the case of a Divine and spiritual one? Infinitely more in the God-man to fill the soul with delight in the enjoyment of His fellowship and love than in the loveliest, most loving, and most beloved creature. Mere creature love and creature loveliness, beside Christs, a taper beside the sun. The love of the Man that is Jehovahs fellow, revealed in His thorn-rent brow, His nail-pierced hands, and His spear-wounded side. The language of each scar in His sacred body, lovelove unspeakable, inconceivable; love of the most worthy to the most worthless; love of the Prince of the kings of the earth to a beggar on the dunghill; love of the all-glorious Creator to the degraded creature; love of God to a contemptible worm, though a worm originally made after His own image, and capable of loving Him with the ardour of the loftiest seraph. This love and loveliness able to be apprehended, realized, and felt by the human soul, made at the same time deeply conscious of its utter unworthiness of it. The soul capable both of enjoying that amazing love and of reciprocating it: and of experiencing, while so doing, a joy superior to that connected with any mere earthly lovea joy characterized by one who knew it as unspeakable and full of glory. Such joy in Divine fellowship and love, mans normal experience as a rational creature in an un-fallen state. The object of Redemption to restore man to its enjoyment; with the superadded element, that the Creator has, for mans sake, assumed his nature, and in that nature endured for his deliverance the awful curse incurred by his sin. Delight in the love and fellowship of a Divine Redeemer the experience even of Old Testement saints before that Redeemer became incarnate. Hence the impassioned language and longing of the sweet Psalmist of Israel: In His favour is life. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; Thy loving kindness is better than life; my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips, when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate upon Thee in the night watches. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee. O God. My soul longeth, yea, even faintech, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God (Psa. 30:5; Psa. 63:1; Psa. 63:3; Psa. 63:5-6; Psa. 42:1; Psa. 84:2). Isaiah sings: I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God (Isa. 61:10). Zephaniah exhibits the joy on both sides: Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord in the midst of thee is mighty: He will save; He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over Thee with singing (Zep. 3:14; Zep. 3:17). This joy in the Divine Redeemer and His love the experience of the early Christians. Raised them above the smiles and the frowns of the world, above the fear of torture and of death, of the lions and the stake. The experience of the Church in its times of greatest and spiritual prosperity, and of believers in their first-love and highest attainments in grace. Often specially realized by the Church and believers in times of suffering and persecution. The experience which gives such life, sweetness, and power to the hymns of Charles Wesley, the Moravian Brethren, and others. The banqueting-house not confined to time or place; but especially found in the ordinances of Gods house, and most of all in that of the Lords Supper.
II. The AUTHOR of the experience. He brought (or, hath brought) me, &c. The king recognized by Shulamite as not only preparing the banquet of love, but also bringing her to it. Her language that of amazement, admiration, gratitude, and joy. Our experience of the love and fellowship of Christ as our Bridegroom-Redeemer due entirely to Himself. Himself not only the Author of the bridal relation between Him and His people, but of their knowledge, acceptance, and enjoyment of it. The relation itself, with all the blessings connected with it, freely offered to men in the Gospel; but, apart from the grace of Christ, neither apprehended nor cared for. Who hath believed our report? Wisdom hath mingled her wine, and furnished her table, and sent out her maidens with the invitation to the feast; but men reject the counsel of God against themselves, and begin to make excuse (Pro. 9:1-3; Mat. 22:2-6; Luk. 7:30). Blindness, carnality, pride and unbelief, only overcome by the same royal grace that spreads the feast. Why was I made to hear Thy voice? &c. Christ brings to the banqueting-house
1. By His electing love. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. His love an everlasting love, which in time lays hold of its object (Jer. 31:3).
2. By His renewing grace. The carnal mind enmity against God, and so without any inclination to the banquet of His love. Its taste the swine-trough. Its enjoyment the creature, not the Creator.
3. By His gift of faith. Such amazing love to the worthless and undeserving not readily believed. Unbelief as to the freeness of the Gospel offer and the reality of Christs love, to be removed by divine grace. This done by Christ Himself through His Spirit. Christ the Author as well as Finisher of our faith. His to give as well as increase it. Exalted to give repentance, which includes it.
4. By His conquest of the heart. His people willing in the day of His power (Psa. 110:3). Loved with an everlasting love, and, therefore, drawn with lovingkindness (Jer. 31:3). Drawn with cords of a man, and with bands of love (Hos. 11:4). His free, forgiving love, apprehended by faith, breaks and conquers the heart. The case of the woman in Simons house. Her many sins freely forgiven. Hence she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little (Luk. 7:47, &c.)
5. By helping the soul over every discouragement in the way of its full enjoyment of Christs fellowship and love, and preparing it, both by His providence and grace, for such enjoyment. So the woman that was a sinner enabled to enjoy the banquet of love at Christs feet even in the Pharisees house.
6. By pouring His love into the heart, and affording the rich realization of it through His Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Christ able to speak comfortably (margin, to the heart) even in the wilderness. I will love them freely (Hos. 14:4; Hos. 2:14). So with the woman in Simons house: Thy sins are forgiven thee. Christ able to tell the soul, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; I have redeemed thee; thou art mine (Jer. 31:3; Isa. 43:1).
III. The EFFECT of the experience. Stay (or support) me with flagons (or cordialsperhaps raisin-cakes); comfort me (or surround mestrew my couch) with apples (or citronsfruits of reviving fragrance): for I am sick of (or faint with) love. His left hand is (or, let His left hand be) under my head, and His right hand embrace me. Shulamite, overpowered by a sense of the kings love, and the happiness she enjoyed in his fellowship, calls as if for aid in her fainting state, to the daughters of Jerusalem, or ladies of the Court, perhaps waiting at some distance; though probably intending only the king himself, as indicated in her concluding words: Let his left hand be under my head, &c. The effect of her present rapturous enjoyment a sense of fainting, which requires the application of reviving ordials and odours, and the support of the kings own loving arms. I am sick of (or faint with) love, implying
(1) Overpowering sense of present enjoyment in the kings love;
(2) Inability to sustain more of it in present circumstances;
(3) Need of support under it. The sense of Christs love sometimes attended with similar effects on the physical system. The human frame often unable to endure unusually powerful emotions without sensible weakness and derangement as the result. The language of one under the sense of Christs love: Stay Thy hand or the vessel will burst. Mr. Flaved, under a similar enjoyment while riding on horseback, felt himself at length so weak as scarcely to be able to retain his seat, and discovered that the blood had been oozing from his limbs, and flowing into his boots. Two of the writers own friends the subjects of a similar experience. Observe
(1) That love must be precious, and the experience of it desirable, which can cause the soul to faint under the sense of it.
(2) Such Divine love-sickness only relieved by more of that which is its cause. The fruit of the Apple-tree alone able to cure the sickness it makes. The Bridegrooms own arms must support the soul fainting under a sense of His love. Such sickness followed by a blessed healing, both here and in a better world.
(3) Sense of Christs love the highest enjoyment to be experienced on earth. Such sense, enjoyed in a high degree, next door to the felicity of heaven.
(4) The soul filled with, and fainting under, Christs love, languishes for the fuller enjoyment of His presence in heaven. Full satisfaction only found where Christ is seen face to face. Love-sickness only on earth. Sense of Christs love the most effectual means of weaning the affections from the world. The expulsive power of a new affection. The love-sick soul only longs the more for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
O Christ, He is the fountain,
That deep, sweet well of love;
On earth the streams Ive tasted:
More deep Ill drink above.
(5) Affecting contrast between sickness from Christs love and surfeit from the pleasures of the world. The former followed with a still richer manifestation of that love, but with an enlarged capacity for its enjoyment. The latter succeeded by an eternal thirst, with nothing to allay it (Luk. 16:19-25).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(4) Banqueting house.Marg., house of wine; not the cellar of the palace, nor the banqueting hall of Solomon, nor the vineyard, but simply the place of the delights of love. The comparison of love with wine Is still in the thought. (Comp. Tennysons The new strong wine of love.)
And his banner . . .i.e., and there I felt the sweet sense of a tender protecting love.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. He brought me Hebrew, He used to lead me to that home of gladness, that is, the shady bower where gladness dwelt. And his banner, etc. Better, and shaded me with love.
Banqueting house Better, house of wine; a Hebrew phrase for house of joy, or gladness. Such was the place of his companionship.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Son 2:4. He brought me to the banqueting-house O bring me into the banqueting-house: spread the banner of love over me. I rather choose, with the LXX, to translate the word in the imperative mood, because by this means the passage is rendered much more spirited, and corresponds more exactly with the following verse.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Various have been the opinions of pious men, what is meant by this banqueting house of Jesus. Some have supposed it to mean the scriptures, which are indeed full of wine on the lees, and of marrow, for the perpetual feast of God’s people. Others have conjectured, that it is meant to convey by the expression, the gospel of Christ, which is much the same amount. And others have formed an opinion that it refers to the several ordinances of Christ’s church, which also open stores of rich banqueting. And others have conceived, that it implies the covenant of grace, which, of consequence, includes all the rest. And perhaps, as this is most comprehensive of blessings, we may very safely accept this sense of the passage. But, what I particularly beg the Reader to remark with me, that under which sense soever the banqueting house of Jesus be accepted, it is Christ, and Christ himself alone, that it is here said to bring the church into it. Sweet and blessed thought this to the believer! No man, says Jesus, can come to me, except my Father who hath sent me draw him. Joh 6:41 . No Man says Jesus, cometh unto the Father but by me. Joh 14:6 . It is the spirit which quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. Joh 6:63 . Oh! how thrice blessed is it to behold all the Persons of the Godhead engaged in one and the same act, to bring souls unto Christ! And how truly delightful is it to the souls of the faithful, when, from the quickening, enlightening, leading, and strengthening influences of the Holy Ghost, a soul finds himself savingly brought to and acquainted with Jesus? The banner of love, was perhaps meant to intimate the warfare and conflict in a life of grace. Jesus’s name and love, are unfurled over the believing soul; but though in him we have peace, in the world we must have tribulation. Joh 16:33 ; Isa 11:12 . And yet perhaps in an higher sense than this of the battles of his people, the banner over the church in her Lord’s banqueting house, might be meant to set forth the victory which he hath obtained over death, hell, and the grave, in the blessings of which conquests the church hath her part: and hence in the after part of this song, the church is described to all her foes as terrible as an army with banners. Son 6:10Son 6:10 . Reader! let us each ask his own heart, hath Jesus indeed brought us into his banqueting house? Can we at this moment look up and behold his banner over us! If so, we may and must indeed read his love in letters of blood; for so hath Jesus marked his love to all his redeemed.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Son 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me [was] love.
Ver. 4. He brought me to the banqueting house. ] Heb., To the house of wine, where he giveth me that which is better than apple drink, as Son 2:3 . As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 2Co 1:5 The lower that ebb the higher this tide, as is to be seen in the martyrs, who went as merrily to die as ever they did to dine; sang in the flames, and felt no more pain than if they had lain upon beds of roses. This their persecutors counted stupidity and vainglory; but they knew not the power of the Spirit and the force of faith. As Mr Philpot told scoffing Morgan, who, coming to confer with him, asked him, “How know you that you have the Spirit of God?” Mr Philpot answered, “By the faith of Christ which is in me.” “Ah! by faith,” quoth Morgan: “do ye so? I think it is the spirit of the buttery which your fellows have had that have been burned before you, who were drunk the night before they went to their death, and I think went drunk unto it.” Whereunto Philpot replied, “It appears, by your communication, that you are better acquainted with the spirit of the buttery than of God. Methinks you are liker a scoffer in a play than a reasonable doctor to instruct one. Thou hast the spirit of illusion and sophistry, which is not able to countervail the spirit of truth. Thou art but an ass in the things of God, &c. God shall surely rain fire and brimstone upon such scorners of his word and blasphemers of his people as thou art.” a The like censure was passed upon Nicholas Burton, martyr, in Spain, who, because he went cheerfully to the stake, and embraced death with all gladness and patience, his tormentors and enemies said that the devil had his soul before he came to the fire, and therefore his sense of feeling was past. b These carnal creatures meddle not with the true Christian’s joy, neither know they the privy armour of proof, the joy of faith, that he hath as an aes triplex about his heart, making him insuperable, and “more than a conqueror.” Rom 8:37 True grace hath a fortifying, comforting virtue which the world knows not of; like as true gold comforts and strengthens the heart that alchemy gold doth not. And as a man that by good fare, and plenty of the best wines, hath his bones filled with marrow and his veins with good blood, and a fresh spring of spirits, can endure to go with less clothes than another, because he is well lined within, so it is with a heart that by oft feasting with Christ in his ordinances, and by much reading and ruminating upon the Scriptures, called here the banqueting house or wine cellar, as most are of the opinion, hath got a great deal of joy and peace, such a one will go through troubles and make nothing of them – yea, though outward comforts utterly fail. Hab 3:17-18
And his banner over me was love.
“ Nolo ego Caesar esse
Ambulare per Britannos
Rigidas pati pruinas, &c. ”
I do not wish to be Caesar,
To walk through the Britians
To endure the rigours of hoar frost,
The witty emperor replied upon him, as soon as he heard of it –
“ Nolo ego Florus esse
Ambulate per tabernas;
Latitare per popinas,
Pulices pati rotundos. ” c
I do not wish to be Florus
To walk through taverns;
To lie low through the bistro,
To endure round flees.
a Acts and Mon., fol. 1653.
b Ibid., 1866.
c Melanchthon in Chron. Carion.
banqueting house = vine-arbour or vineyard-bower.
his banner over me was love = he overshaded me with love; degel, from dagal, to shade; then an ensign because of the shade it gives and protection which it ensures.
love. Hebrew. ‘ahabah (feminine) See note on Son 2:7.
ADDRESSES ON THE SONG OF SOLOMON
by H. A. Ironside, LITT. D. Author of Notes on Hebrews, Lectures on Romans, Colossians, Revelation, etc., etc.
Loizeaux Brothers, Inc. Bible Truth Depot A Non-Profit Organization, Devoted to the Lords Work and to the spread of the Truth Copyright @ 1933 CHAPTER TWO SONG OF SOLOMON 2:4
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love (Song of Solomon 2:4).
THE figure of the bride and the bridegroom is used very frequently in Scripture. Isaiah in the Old Testament says, As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. It is used of the Church in the New Testament, Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. And when the apostle Paul speaks of the divine institution of marriage he says, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. And then writing to the Corinthian believers, he says, I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Therefore, this delightful figure of the sweet and intimate marriage relationship is used through-out Scripture to set forth our union and communion with the Eternal Lover of our souls.
I have said that the Song of Solomon is the Book of Communion. We have that beautifully set forth in the first seven verses of this second chapter. The bride and the bridegroom are conversing together.
We delight to speak with those whom we love. One of the wonderful things about love is that when someone has really filled the vision of your soul, you do not feel that any time that is taken up communing with him is wasted. Here then you have the lovers out in the country together and she exclaims, for it is evidently she who speaks in verse one, I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Generally we apply those words to the blessed Lord; we speak of Him as the Rose of Sharon. We sing sometimes, Hes the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star. It is perfectly right and proper to apply all of these delightful figures to Him, for we cannot find any figure that speaks of that which is beautiful and of good report that cannot properly be applied to the Lord. But the wonderful thing is that He has put His own beauty upon His people. And so here the bride is looking up into the face of the bridegroom saying, I am the rose (really, the narcissus, a blood-red flower) of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys-the lily that thrives in the hidden place, not in the town, not in the heat and bustle of the city, but out on the cool country-side, in the quiet field. Does it not speak of the souls separation to Christ Himself?
It is when we draw apart from the things of the world, apart to Himself, that we really thrive and grow in grace and become beautiful in His sight. I am afraid that many of us do not develop spiritually as we should, because of the fact that we know so little of this heart-separation to Himself. One of the great griefs that comes to the heart of many a one who is seeking to lead others on in the ways of Christ, is to know the influence that the world has upon them after they are converted to God. How often the question comes from dear young Christians, Must I give up this, and must I give up that, if I am going to live a consistent Christian life? And the things that they speak of with such apparent yearning are mere trifles after all as compared with communion with Him. Must I give up eating sawdust in order to enjoy a good dinner? Who would talk like that? Must I give up the pleasures of the world in order that I may have communion with Christ? It is easy to let them all go if the soul is enraptured with Him; and when you get to know Him better, when you learn to enjoy communion with Him, you will find your-self turning the question around; and when the world says, Wont you participate with us in this doubtful pleasure or in this unholy thing? Your answer will be, Must I give up so much to come down to that level? Must I give up communion with Him? Must I give up the enjoyment of His Word? Must I give up fellowship with His people in order to go in the ways of the world? That would be the giving up.
Dear young Christian, do not think of it as giving up anything to go apart with Him and enjoy His blessed fellowship. It is then the separated soul looks into His face and says, I am like the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys, and He at once responds, As the lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters. It is the heart-satisfaction that He has in His people.
See the contrast between the beautiful, fragile, lovely lily and the rough, unpleasant, disagreeable thorn. The thorn speaks of those who are still under the curse, walking in the ways of the world, and the lily sets forth His sanctified, devoted people, those who have turned from the world to Himself. This is His estimate of His saints, and as this little colloquy goes on-for it is just the soul speaking to Him and He responding, a beautiful holy dialogue -the bride looks up and says, As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is My Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste. He says to her, You are like a lily to Me in contrast to the thorns. And she says, And You to me are like a beautiful fruit-tree in contrast to the fruitless trees of the wood. Scholars have wondered just what word should be used here to translate the name of this tree. Is it the apple-tree that we know, or is it the citron, a tree of a beautiful, deep green shade, producing a lovely fruit, like a cross between our grapefruit and orange, a most refreshing fruit? But the thought that the bride expresses is this: You are so much more to me than any other can possibly be. I have shade and rest and refreshment in your presence. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.
How often the Spirit of God employs the figure of a shadow. To understand it aright you have to think of a hot eastern clime, the tropical sun shining down upon a wayfarer. Suddenly he sees before him a place of refuge, and exclaims as David does in the seventeenth Psalm, Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings. Again in Psa 36:7, How excellent is Thy loving-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. Isaiah speaks of the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The figure is used very frequently in the Bible in speaking of rest and of comfort found alone in communion with Christ.
There is no drudgery here. You married folk who are here today, do you remember when you first fell in love with the one who afterward became your life-companion? Did you find it hard to spend half-an-hour with him?
Did you try to find an excuse for staying away from that young lady? Did you always have some other engagement so that you would not be at home when that young man called on you? No; but you tried to put everything else out of the way so as to have the opportunity to became better acquainted with the person who had won your heart. So it is with the believer. The more we get to know of Christ the more we delight in His presence. So the bride says, I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste. Her bliss was complete.
Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. You cannot delight in Christ if you are going after the things of the world. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Mat 6:24). And so you cannot enjoy Christ and the world at the same time.
Then we go a step farther in this scene of communion. He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.
This is the place of the souls deep enjoyment when all else is shut out, and Christs all-satisfying love fills the spirits vision, and the entire being is taken up with Himself. This is indeed the house of wine, the rest of love.
In verses five and six you have the soul so completely enthralled by the one who has won her heart that she does not care to think of anything else. Then in verse seven we have his tender answer, for it is the bridegroom speaking now: I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till she please, not till he please. The word is in the feminine, and the point is this: He sees such joy in His people when they are in communion with Him that He says, Now do not bring in anything to spoil this until she herself please. We have that illustrated in the Gospels. Jesus had gone to the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and Martha served and was cumbered about her serving. But Mary took her place at the feet of Jesus and listened to His words. She was in the banqueting house and His banner over her was love. He was enjoying communion with her. But Martha said, I have something more important for Mary than that; it is more important that she put the dishes on the table and get the dinner ready. But Jesus said, as it were, Martha, Martha, I charge you that ye stir not up, nor awake my love till she please.
In other words, As long as she is content to sit at My feet and commune with Me, this means more to Me than the most enjoyable repast.
When the poor Samaritan woman came to Him at the well outside the city of Sychar, His disciples came and wondered if He were not hungry, but He said, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. It meant more to Him to have that poor sinner listening to His words, and drawing near to Him and entering into the love of His heart, than to enjoy the food that they had gone to the city to get. Service is a wonderful thing; it is a great thing to labor for so good a Master. But oh, there is something that comes before service, something that means more to Him and should mean more to us, and that is fellowship with Himself!
A husband and father was bereft of his precious wife and had just a darling daughter left to him. In those lonely days after the wife had passed away, he found his solace and his comfort in this beautiful girl she had left behind, and evening after evening when he came home from work, they would have their quiet little meal together, and then after the dishes had been put away they would go into the sitting-room, and talk or read, and enjoy each others company. But now it was getting on toward the holiday season, and one evening after doing up the dishes, the daughter said, Now, Father dear, you will excuse me tonight; I have something to occupy me upstairs. You can read while I go up. So he sat alone, and the next night the same thing happened, and night after night for about two weeks he sat alone each evening. On Christmas morning the girl came bounding into his room saying, Merry Christmas, Father dear, and handed him a beautiful pair of slippers she had made for him. He looked at them, and then kissed her and said, My darling, you made these yourself? Yes, Father. Is this why I have been denied your company the last two weeks? he asked. Yes, she said; this is my secret. Then he said, That is very lovely, but next time I would rather have you than anything you can make for me. Our blessed Lord wants ourselves. Our hearts affection means far more to Him than service. And yet there will be service, of course, but service that springs out of communion, and that accomplishes a great deal more than when we are too busy to enjoy fellowship with Him.
Another section of the chapter is from verse eight to thirteen, and that we may call Loves Expectation.
In this section he is absent from her and she is waiting for him to return. Suddenly she thinks she hears his voice, and she springs up saying, The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. You and I who know His grace realize something of what this means. He has saved us, won our hearts, as this shepherd lover won the heart of this shepherdess, and He has gone away, but He said, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, and when He comes, He will be the glorious King. – It was the shepherd who won her heart; – It was the King to whom she was wedded. And so Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has won us for Himself, but He will be the King when we sit with Him upon the throne.
Does it not stir your soul to think that at any moment we may hear His voice saying, Arise, My love, and come away? Listen to the way she depicts it here. My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, an come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtle [dove] is heard in our land the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and com away. It is not merely the singing of bird as you have it in the Authorized Version, but the time of singing, when He will sing and we shall sing, and we shall rejoice together, when earths long winter of sorrow and trial and perplexity is ended and the glorious spring will come with our blessed Lords return. You see this is just a little poem in itself, a complete love-lyric in anticipation of the bridegrooms return. How soon all this may be fulfilled for us, how soon He may come for whom our hearts are yearning, we do not know. We have waited for Him through the years; we have known the cold winters, the hard and difficult days; we have known the trying times, but oh, the joy, the gladness when He comes back! He has said, A little while and He that shall come will come and will not tarry.
A little while-the Lord shall come, And we shall wander here no more; Hell take us to His Fathers home, Where He for us is gone before- To dwell with Him, to see His face, And sing the glories of His grace.
We shall then share the glory that He went to prepare. What will that mean for us and for Him! He will have the joy of His heart when He has us with Him.
The closing verses speak of that which should be going on during all the time of His absence. In the first place, we ought to be enjoying Him anticipatively, and then there should be self-judgment, putting out of the life anything that would grieve or dishonor Him. The bridegroom speaks; may He speak to our souls. O My dove, that art in the clefts of the rock. That is where we are resting, in the cleft of the rock.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Grace hath hid me safe in Thee.
O My dove, that art in the clefts of that rock, in the secret places of the stairs, or in the hidden places of the going up. We are moving upward from day to day, soon to be with Himself. Let Me see thy countenance let Me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely. Have you heard Him saying that to you, and have you sometimes turned coldly away?
Probably when you arose in the morning you heard Him say, Let Me see thy countenance before you begin the work of the day; spend a little time with Me, let Me hear thy voice; talk with Me before you go out to speak to other people; let Me enjoy a little time with you, the one for whom I died, before you take up the affairs of the day. And you have just turned coldly away, looked at your watch, and said, I am sorry, but I cannot spare any time this morning; I must hasten to the office or the shop, and so all day He waited for you. When evening came, He spoke again and said, Let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice, and you said, Oh, I am so tired and weary tonight, I have to hurry off to bed. Have there not been many days like that? Are there going to be many more? Or will you seek by grace to respond to the love of His heart and let Him see your face and hear your voice a little oftener?
Then we have her response, Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. You see, her brothers had driven her out to be the vinedresser. Now she thinks of that, and sees a figure there, and says, I know how I had to watch the vines so carefully, and now I have to watch the growth of my own spiritual life. As I set traps for the little foxes, so now I have to judge in myself anything that would hinder fellowship with Him, that would hinder my spiritual growth.
What are the little foxes that spoil the vine? I can tell you a good many. There are the little foxes of vanity, of pride, of envy, of evil speaking, of impurity (I think this though is a wolf instead of a little fox). Then there are the little foxes of carelessness, of neglect of the Bible, of neglect of prayer, of neglect of fellowship with the people of God. These are the things that spoil the vine, that hinder spiritual growth. Deal with them in the light of the cross of Christ; put them to death before they
ruin your Christian experience, do not give them any place. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.
And now we have the closing words, My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. We need to be reminded of this again and again. The most intimate sweet, and unsullied spiritual relationship is brought before us here. And this is to continue, Until the day break, and the shadow flee away. When will that be? When our blessed Lord returns. Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether, that is, the mountain of separation. He is the object of her soul she abides upon the mountains of separation until he comes back.
Oh, that these things were more real with us all! We profess to hold the truth of our Lords near return. But does it hold us in such a way that we esteem all earthly things but loss for Him who is so soon to claim us wholly for Himself? Let us search and try our ways,” and make sure that we allow nothing in our lives that destroys the power of this blessed hope over our souls.
~ end of chapter 2 ~
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/
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brought: Son 1:4, Son 5:1, Psa 63:2-5, Psa 84:10, Joh 14:21-23, Rev 3:20
banqueting house: Heb. house of wine, Son 1:1, Son 1:4, Est 7:7
his banner: Son 6:4, Job 1:10, Psa 60:4, Isa 11:10, Joh 15:9-15, Rom 5:8-10, Rom 8:28-39
Reciprocal: Job 29:5 – the Almighty Psa 84:2 – soul Son 1:2 – thy love
Son 2:4-6. He brought me to the banqueting-house The places in which believers received the graces and blessings of Christ. His banner over me By the lifting up whereof I was invited to come to him, and to list myself under him; was love The love of Christ crucified, which, like a banner, is displayed in the gospel. Stay me Or, support me, keep me from fainting. The spouse speaks this to her bride-maids, the daughters of Jerusalem: or to the bridegroom himself: with flagons With wine, which is a good cordial: with apples With odoriferous apples, the smell whereof was grateful to persons ready to faint. By these metaphors understand the application of the promises, and the quickening influences of the Spirit. His left hand No sooner did I cry out for help, but he was at hand to succour me.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments