Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 2:17
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
17. Alarmed for his safety, she now exhorts her lover to depart till the evening when he might return with greater safety.
Until the day break ] R.V. Until the day be cool, lit. until the day blow, i.e. until the evening wind rises; cp. Gen 3:8, where ‘at the wind of the day’ is properly rendered by the A.V. “in the cool of the day,” i.e. when the sun has lost its power. ‘When the shadows flee away,’ therefore, does not denote dispersion of the shades of night by the rising sun, but the disappearance of the shadows of rocks, trees, &c., when the sun sets.
be thou like, &c.] make thyself like a gazelle or a young hart on the cleft-riven mountains, i.e. flee swiftly away. The Heb. for the last clause is al hr bether. There are three possible ways of explaining the word bether. (1) It may be a proper name, as the A.V. takes it to be, following some of the Greek versions (cp. Hastings’ Bible Dict.). (2) It may mean a division or cleft. The analogy of the word bithrn, 2Sa 2:29, which appears to denote a mountain ravine, as the words there are, “they went through all the bithron ” or ravine, would support this. It may be that ‘the ravine’ had become a proper name, just as ‘the valley’ has become in some places; but it probably was originally a mere descriptive name. This is the view of the LXX, and if that analogy holds hr bether would mean cleft-riven mountains, as we have translated it. In the only other passages where bether occurs, Gen 15:10, Jer 34:18-19, it means the part of an animal cut in two at the making of a covenant. Reasoning from this, Ewald and others prefer to render mountains of separation, i.e. mountains that separate; but if the view of the situation which we have taken be correct, the Shulammite is not separated from her lover by mountains, for he is at her window. (3) Some authorities take bether to be a contraction of , Lat. malabathron, and hold it to be some aromatic plant. But there is a difficulty in finding out what malabathron was. If, as some maintain, it is the equivalent of the Sanscrit tamalapatra and means the betel plant, then our phrase would mean ‘hills planted with betel.’ But the betel palm which bears the betel nut grows only in S. India, Ceylon, Siam, the Malay Archipelago, and the Philippine Islands, and nothing is known of either it or the betel vine (the plant in the leaves of which the betel nut is eaten) having been grown in Palestine. Moreover, the betel nut and leaf are not used for their perfume, as most who take bether as betel seem to suppose. They are not aromatic to any great extent, and they are cultivated and collected only for use as a masticatory ( Enc. Brit. III. 616). There would appear, however, to have been another malabathron (cp. Field’s Hexapla, II. 416, quotations, and Horace, Carm. II. 8 with Macleane’s note), from which unguents were made. This was specially associated by the Romans with Syria, but it may have been so only because it was from traders of that country they obtained it. But if the plant grew in Syria, then mountains of bether would be parallel to mountains of spices (ch. Son 8:4). Some would actually read here hr besmm. Cheyne on the other hand would read hr b r thm, i.e. ‘mountains of cypresses.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Son 2:17
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away.
Darkness before the dawn
The spouse sings, Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, so that the beloved of the Lord may be in the dark. A child of God, who is a child of light, may be for a while in darkness; first, darkness comparatively, as compared with the light he has sometimes enjoyed, for days are not always equally bright. Yes, and he may be in positive darkness. It may be very black with him, and he may be obliged to cry, I see no signs of returning day, Sometimes, neither sun nor moon appears for a long season to cheer the believer in the dark. This may arise partly through sickness of body. But yet it can be only temporary darkness. The same text which suggests night promises dawn: Until the day break, etc.
I. First of all, let us consider our prospect. Our prospect is, that the day will break, and that the shadows will flee away. We may read this passage ill many ways, and apply it to different cases. Think, first, of the child of God wire is full of doubt. He is afraid that, after all, his supposed conversion was not a true one, and that he has proved it to be false by his own misbehaviour. He is afraid, I scarcely know of what, for so many fears crowd in upon him. His eyes are looking toward the cross, and somehow he has a hope, if not quite a persuasion, that he will find light in Christ, where so many others have found it. I would encourage that hone till it becomes a firm conviction and a full expectation. The day will break for you, dear mourner, the shadows will yet flee away. This expression is equally applicable when we come into some personal sorrow not exactly of a spiritual kind. I know that Gods children are not long without tribulation. As long as the wheat is on the threshing-floor, it must expect to feel the flail. Perhaps you have had a bereavement, or you may have had losses in business, or crosses in your family, or you have been sorely afflicted in your own body, and now you are crying to God for deliverance out of your temporal trouble. That deliverance will surely come. Yes, in the darkest of all human sorrows there is the glad prospect that the day will break, and the shadows will flee away. This is the case again, I believe on a grander scale, with reference to the depression of religion at the present time. We want–I cannot say how much we want–a revival of pure and undefiled religion in this our day. Will it come? Why should it not come? If we long for it, if we pray for it, if we believe for it, if we work for it, and prepare for it, it will certainly come. The day will break, and the shadows will flee away. I believe that this is to be the case also in this whole world. It is still the time of darkness, it is still the hour of shadows. I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, and I cannot foretell what is yet to happen in the earth; it may be that the darkness will deepen still more, and that the shadows will multiply and increase; but the Lord will come. That glorious advent shall end our weary waiting days, it shall end our conflicts with infidelity and priestcraft, it shall put an end to all our futile endeavours; and when the great Shepherd shall appear in His glory, then shall every faithful under-shepherd and all his flock appear with him, and then shall the day break, and the shadows flee away.
II. Now consider our posture, until the day break, and the shadows flee away. We are here, like soldiers on guard, waiting for the dawn. It is night, and the night is deepening; how shall we occupy ourselves until the day break, and the shadows flee away? Well, first, we will wait in the darkness with patient endurance as long as God appoints it. Whatever of shadow is yet to come, whatever of cold damp air and dews of the night is yet to fall upon us, we will bear it. What next are we to do until the day break? Why, let there be hopeful watching. Keep your eyes towards the East, and look for the first grey sign of the coming morning. Then, further, while we maintain patient endurance and hopeful watching, let us give each other mutual encouragement. What further should we do in the dark? Well, one of the best things to do in the dark is to stand still and keep our place. We are not going to plunge on in a reckless manner, we mean to look before we leap; and as it is too dark to look, we will not leap, but will just abide here hard by the cross, battling with every adversary of the truth as long as we have a right hand to move in the name of the Almighty God, until the day break, and the shadows flee away. What else ought we to do. Keep up a careful separateness from the works of darkness that are going on all around us. If it seems dark to you, gather up your skirts, and gird up your loins. The more sin abounds in the world, the more ought the Church of God to seek after the strictest holiness.
III. Now notice our petition: Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, etc. I am not going to preach about that part of our text, but only just to urge you to turn it into prayer. Turn to me, O my Beloved, for Thou hast turned away from me, or from Thy Church, Turn again, I beseech Thee, Pardon my lukewarmness, forgive my indifference. Turn to me again, my Beloved. O Thou Husband of my soul, if I have grieved Thee, and Thou hast hidden Thy face from me, turn again unto me! Smile Thou, for then shall the day break, and the shadows flee away. Come to me, my Lord, visit me once again. Put up that prayer, beloved. The prayer of the spouse is in this poetic form: Come over the mountains of division. As we look out into the darkness, what little light there is appears to reveal to us Alp upon Alp, mountain upon mountain, and our Beloved seems divided from us by all these hills. Now our prayer is, that He would come over the top of them; we cannot go over the top of them to Him, but He can come over the top of them to us, if He think fit to do so. Like the hinds feet, this blessed Hind of the morning can come skipping over the hills with utmost speed to visit and to deliver us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Things to be awaited
We can speak confidently of such things only as we now know in part, beginnings that here have no completion, germs that come to leaf and bud, but not to fruit, in the soil of this world; processes that have promise of great results but are cut short of them, desires and aspirations that now have no full satisfaction.
I. We wait for rest. If the question were raised: Is man made for toil or for rest? the answer would be a mixed and qualified one. He is appointed to toil, he is destined to rest; one is his condition, the other is his end. If man is made in Gods image, he is made to share in Gods condition; and both Christian revelation and heathen conjecture unite in conceiving of Deity as in repose, eternally acting yet in eternal rest. If it be said that man can never attain this repose because he can never reach the eternal perfection and power, it may be answered that it does not depend upon the proportions of the being, but upon the harmony of his powers and upon his adjustment to his external condition. One whose nature has been reduced to perfect harmony may have perfect peace within, and also without, if also he is in a world entirely adapted to him. But we have not this rest at present except in some foretaste of it in our spirit. Unceasing toil is the largest feature of human life. It is divinely appointed, but it is painful; it is a blessing, but also a suffering; an evil thing, but with a soul of goodness in it. It is wise, for, if remitted, vice creeps in, but it is no less a bond that chafes, a burden that weighs down, a trial that wearies the spirit. Some morning, this shadow will flee away. In the church of St. Nazaro in Florence is an epitaph upon the tomb of a soldier, as fit for the whole toiling race as for his own restless life: Johannes Divultius, who never rested, rests,–hush! We say of our dead, they rest from their labours. Whatever the future world may be to us or require of us, it is not clothed in the guise of toil, but offers seats of eternal rest; it is the contrast of earth, the other side of mortal existence as spirit is the other side of matter.
II. We wait for the renewal of lost powers. However we answer the question, if life is a process of loss or gain, it cannot be denied that real or apparent loss is one of its largest features, even when life is at its best. Is this loss absolute, or do we regain that which seems to pass? Shall I never,–so we are forced to ask ourselves,–shall I never have again the buoyancy of youth, the zest, the innocence, the unquestioning faith, the ardent desire and unconquerable will, the bounding vigour of body and mind, with which I began life? We do not get halt: way through our allotted years before these riches are gone from us. If they are gone for ever, one half of life, at least, is spent under an ever-deepening shadow. It is difficult to believe that existence is so ordered; that Gods increated gifts are annihilated; that the impress of His hands, the similitudes of Himself, are blotted out for ever. St. Paul speaks of the redemption of the body as something that is waited for. He means no narrow doctrine of a physical resurrection, but a renewal of existence,–a restoration of lost powers. It changes the whole colour of life, and its character also, if we take the one view or the other,–if we regard existence as a dying-out process, or as passing into temporary eclipse, to emerge with all its past glories when the shadows of death flee away.
III. We wait for the full perfecting of character. I do not mean, of course, that we are to wait in the sense of relaxing effort after perfection–such waiting may end in an eternal failure of character, but rather that the effort that now only partially succeeds will finally reach success. There is nothing that weighs more heavily upon a right-minded man than the slow progress he makes in overcoming his faults. There is nothing a right-minded man desires so much as entire right-mindedness. Will it never come? Yes–but it must be awaited. Entireness is nowhere a feature of present existence, else it could not be a world of hope and promise. On no thing can we lay our hand and say, Here is finality and perfection. The adamant is crumbling to dust; the orderly heavens oscillate towards final dissolution, and foretell new heavens; in every soul is weakness and fault. We are keyed not to attainment, but to the hope of it by struggle towards it. And it is this struggle, and not the attainment, that measures character and foreshadows destiny. Character is not determined by faults and weaknesses, and periodic phases of life, nor by the limitations and accidents of present existence, but by the central purpose, the inmost desire of the heart. If that be turned towards God and His righteousness, it must at last bring us thither.
IV. We await the renewal of sundered love. When love loses its object its charm is interrupted, for love is oneness and cannot brook separation. It is impossible to believe that God has organized into life an incurable sorrow; that He has made love, which is the best conceivable thing–being the substance of Himself,–the necessary condition of the greatest misery. Love may suffer an eclipse, but it is not sent wailing into eternal shadows. It is as sure as God Himself that human love shall again claim its own. But this eternal union must be awaited. It begins here, springing out of mysterious oneness; it grows up amidst unspeakable tenderness, rising from an instinctive thing to an intellectual and moral union, losing nothing, and weaving into itself every strand of human sympathy till it stands for the whole substance of life, and so vanishes from the scene. If this prime reality is an illusion, then all else is. If it does not outlast death, then all may go. But love is not a vain thing, and God does not mock Himself and us when tie makes us partakers of His nature.
V. We wait for the mystery to be taken off from life. The crucial test of a thoughtful mind is a sense of the mystery of life in this world. This highest order of mind is not antagonistic to faith; it is simply conscious of the incomprehensible range of truth. None but an inferior mind has a plan of the universe; it is to the thoughtless that all things are plain. What is life? What is matter! What is the relation between them? What is creation? Granting evolution, what started the evolving process? Assuming God, what is the relation of creation to Him? What the relation of man? What is this that thinks and wills and loves–this I? And then, what is it all for? Is there a final purpose and an order tending to it, or is it but the whirl of molecules, the dust of the universe circling for a moment in space, of which we are but some atoms? Is there a bridge between consciousness and the external world, or a gulf that cannot be spanned or fathomed? Is life a reality, or is it a dream from which we may awake in some world of reality to find that this world was but the vision of a night? It is useless to deny that this mystery carries with it a sense of pain. It is alien to mind, a condition foreign to our nature. And the more thoroughly mind is true to itself, the more painfully does it feel the darkness. When Goethe, dying, said, Let the light enter, he uttered, not the highest and best hope of the heart, but the dearest satisfaction of the intellect. He felt that lie was going where the shadows that hang over this world would flee away, and he could find some answer to the questions that had vexed him here. So, too, those commoner questions, Why does evil exist? Why do the innocent suffer? Why does one suffer on account of another? Why does life end untimely? Why is man so subject to nature? Why is the experience of life so long in ripening the fruit of wisdom? Why are the chances so against man that he spends his days in sorrow and evil? Why is there not more help from God? Why does life gradually assume the appearance of a doom, spent in vanity and ending in death? We get no full answer to these questions in this life. Shall these questions never be answered? It is not easy to believe that mind will for ever be harassed by an alien element; it may always require something other than itself to stand upon, or as a toil like that which the jewel-merchant puts under precious stones to reflect their colour, but it will not for ever wear this other as a clog and burden. The mystery of the present life is due to the fact that it is so heavily conditioned by its material environment; matter contends against spirit. But as existence goes on, if it is normal, it throws off these conditions and presses towards absolute action and full freedom. This is the eternal state, and this action is eternal life, and the world where it is achieved is the eternal world.
VI. We wait for full restoration to the presence of god. There are hours when the whole world, and all it contains, shrivels to nothingness, and God alone fills the mind; hours of human desolation, seasons of strange, mysterious exaltation, times of earthly despair, or of joy; the height and excess of any emotion bears us away into a region where God Himself dwells. But even if we have taught ourselves to make the impression of these hours constant, there is still an unsatisfied element in the knowledge. We long for more, for nearness, for sight or something that stands for sight, for the Father at hand, and the home of the soul. I know that in many and many of Gods children there is a longing for God that is not satisfied, because they are children and are away from the Fathers house. And I know still better that the unrest of this weary world is its unvoiced cry after God. This full, satisfying presence of God, must be awaited. It is contended against by sense, by the world of things, by the limits that shut out the infinite, and by our own slow and hesitating departure from the evil and the sensual–a muddy vesture of decay doth grossly close us in; hut when this falls off, and these earthly shadows flee away, we shall see face to face, and know as we are known. (T. T. Munger, D. D.)
The saints might and day
I. A soul once truly married to Christ, will from thenceforth look on the lifetime in this world as a night-time, a shadowy one, as indeed it is.
II. To those that are truly married to Christ, the day will break in the other world, and the shadows flee away; and they should live in the comfortable expectation of it. Consider the days breaking, and the shadows fleeing away thereupon. I am to speak of the days breaking in the other world to those that are married to Christ. And here I shall show what a day will break to them there. A clear and bright day (Isa 60:1-2). A fair day and calm. There are no storms nor tempests, no blustering winds nor rains in Immanuels land (Rev 21:4). A glad and joyful day (Psa 126:5). An eternal day. Let us next see how this day will break there to those who are married to Christ. As coming near their night-journeys end, they enter the passage betwixt the two worlds, the darkness and shadowiness of the night will come to a pitch. For as the darkest hour ordinarily goes before daybreak, so is it here, the hour of death is so in a signal manner, the valley of the shadow of death (Psa 23:4). As soon as they are got over to the other side, immediately the day breaks, and it is fair daylight to them. I proceed to consider the shadows, upon this breaking of the day, fleeing away. What is that fleeing away of the shadows? The utter removal of everything interposing betwixt God and them, and intercepting the light of His countenance (Rev 21:3). The removal of all dark, gloomy, and melancholy things out of their condition (Mat 25:23). The removal of all imperfection of light, and whatsoever gives but a faint and shadowy representation of Christ and the glories of the other world (1Co 13:12; Rev 22:4). What are the shadows that will flee away when that day breaks? The shadow of this world will then flee away (1Co 7:31). The shadow of sin (Heb 12:23). The shadow of temptations (Rom 16:20). The shadow of outward troubles will flee away, of troubles on your bodies, relations, names, affairs, etc. (Job 3:17). The shadow of inward spiritual troubles, through desertions, and hidings of the Lords face. The shadow of ordinances will flee away (Rev 21:23). The shadow of all manner of imperfections (1Co 13:12). I shall now confirm this point, That the day will break, and the shadows flee away, as to those who are married to Christ. It was so with their Head and Husband, and the procedure with them must be conformable to that with Him (Heb 12:2). The nature of Gods work of grace in them; it cannot be left unperfected (Psa 138:1-8.). The bounty and goodness of God to His people. God is essentially good, and He is good to them in Christ His Son. It is inconsistent with the goodness of His nature to keep them always in the darkness of the night, and horror of shadows. The nature of the covenant, which is everlasting, and cannot be broken. Consider believers living in the comfortable expectation of the days breaking to them in the other world and the shadows fleeing away. It implies these following things:
(1) Their looking on themselves as travellers only through this world, who are not to stay in it (Heb 11:13).
(2) Their laying their account with the continuance of the night and gloomy shades, while they are here.
(3) A contentedness to leave this world, and go to the other (Luk 2:29).
(4) A faith of the day, the clear and bright day that is in the other world (Heb 9:13).
(5) A desire to be there in the other world, where the day break, s and the shadows flee away (Php 1:23).
(6) A hope and expectation of the day s breaking to them there, and the shadows fleeing away (Rom 8:23-24).
(7) A comforting themselves in this world with the prospect of the other world (2Co 4:17-18).
III. It will be the great concern of those married to Christ during their night-journey in this world, that he may turn and come to them, till the day breaking and the shadows fleeing away, they get to him in the other world.
1. I am to show what is Christs turning and coming to those married to Him, that will be their great concern to have.
(1) His affording them His presence. That will be their great concern to enjoy during their night-journey; that if they must have a dark and shadowy night-journey of it through the world, He would not leave them, but be with them in it (Exo 33:15).
(a) His seen or sensible presence with them, of the want of which Job complains (Job 23:8-9), and in the enjoyment of which the Psalmist triumphs (Psa 23:4).
(b) His operative or efficacious presence in them (Php 3:8; Php 3:10).
(2) His affording them His countenance, the shining of His face, and the manifestation of His favour (Psa 6:6).
2. The import of this concern of those married to Christ, that He may turn and come to them, till the days breaking and the shadows fleeing away, they get to Him in the other world.
(1) That during the night-journey in this world, Christ sometimes turns away and withdraws from His people; so that seeking Him they cannot find Him (Son 3:1).
(2) The travellers to Zion, when Christ is away, though it be night, they readily miss Him (Son 3:3).
(3) A holy dissatisfaction with all things while He is away.
(4) A holy resolution to give Him a welcome reception, if He will turn and come again; then the doors should be cast wide open to receive Him (Son 8:1-2).
(5) Earnest outgoings of the heart after Him in desires for His return (Isa 62:1).
(6) A holy restlessness in the soul, till He turn and come again (Son 3:1).
3. The reasons of this concern in those married to Christ, that He may turn and come to them.
(1) Their superlative love to Christ (Son 1:3-4).
(2) Their comfort in their night-journey depends on it; without it they must go drooping, for nothing will make up the want thereof.
(3) Their experience of the desirableness of His presence and countenance in their night-journey (Psa 63:1-3).
(4) Their felt need of it; they know not how they will ever make out the night-journey without it (Exo 33:15).
(a) The sense of their liableness to mistake their way, that they need Him for their direction and guidance (Jer 10:23).
(b) The sense of their weakness for the journey, that they need to go leaning on Him, as a weak woman on her husband (Son 8:5).
(c) The sense of the great opposition and difficulty to be met with in the way (Eph 6:12-13).
4. We shall now confirm this point, That it will be the great concern of those married to Christ, during their night-journey in this world, that He may turn and come to them till the day breaking and the shadows fleeing away, they get to Him in the other world.
(1) Christ their Lord and Husband has got their heart above all other, and it rests in Him.
(2) They are partakers of the Divine nature (2Pe 1:4), partakers of Christ, of His Spirit, His grace, His image; and like draws to like; the carnal worldling to the world, and the Christian to Christ.
(3) All believers may be observed to be great miscounters of time, when Christ is turned away from them in their night-journey (Isa 54:7).
(4) When they are themselves, they are resolute for His presence and countenance (Eph 6:15.) (T. Boston, D. D.)
In the shadow
To all the light is very dear, and more so perhaps because this life is a twilight season to all of us, we are all in the shadow. It is not all dark, neither is it all light, but it is full of shadows, shadows of sin, shadows of sorrow, shadows of sickness, of want, of disappointment, of death. The brightest life cannot be all sunshine, over rich and poor alike the shadows fall. The brightest eyes must be dim with tears sometimes, the gayest voices must turn to mourning sometimes, the merriest Church bell must toll sometimes.
1. The Church on earth has ever been in the shadow of trouble, its holiest members have had to suffer many things. In the Jewish Church there was the shadow of idolatry and unbelief, the shadow of self-will and bad government, ending in the darker shadow of captivity and exile. In the Christian Church there have been shadows of persecution, of division, of false doctrine, of lukewarmness, of tyranny.
2. So with ourselves, the individual members of the Church, we are all more or less in the shadow.
(1) Some of us perhaps are under the shadow of a great sin, repented of, and so pardoned, but not forgotten.
(2) Some of us perhaps are under the shadow of worldly loss.
(3) It may be the shadow of a great bereavement which has fallen upon us.
(4) Over some of us again the shadow of a great illness may have fallen.
3. We cannot make the darkness light, or scatter the shadows, or hasten the daybreak, Jesus alone can do that. He who once said Let there be light, will say so again in answer to our prayers. (H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, M. A.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. Until the day break] Literally, until the day breathe; until the first dawn, which is usually accompanied with the most refreshing breezes.
The shadows flee away] Referring to the evening or setting of the sun, at which all shadows vanish.
The mountains of Bether.] Translated also mountains of division, supposed to mean the mountains of Beth-horon.
There was a place called Bithron, 2Sa 2:29, on the other side of Jordan; and as the name signifies PARTITION, it might have had its name from the circumstance of its being divided or separated from Judea by the river Jordan.
With this chapter the second night is supposed to end.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away; until the morning of that great and blessed day of the general resurrection and judgment, when all the shadows, not only of ignorance, and sin, and calamity, but even of all ordinances and outward administrations, shall cease, and make way for the immediate enjoyment of my Beloved. And this clause may be joined either,
1. With the foregoing words; and so the sense is, Christ doth and will abide with his church as long as this life and world lasts; which agrees with Christs promises of being with his church to the end of the world, Mat 28:20. But neither that nor this place imply that Christ will then forsake his people, but only secures Gods people against that which was the chief, if not only, matter of their fear, to wit, lest Christ should leave them, and cast them off in this life, which, if he did not, they were assured that hereafter they should be
ever with the Lord, 1Th 4:17. For it is well known, and hath been oft observed already, that the word until doth not always exclude the time to come. Or,
2. With the following words,
Turn thou, my Beloved, until the day break, & c.
Turn; return to me. For although Christ had come to her, and she had gladly received and embraced him, yet he was gone again, as is here implied, and evidently appears from the next following verse; which sudden change is very agreeable both to the nature and method of such dramatical writings and amatorious transactions, and to the state of Gods people in this world, where they are subject to frequent changes and vicissitudes of Christs withdrawing from them, and returning to them again.
Like a roe or a young hart, in swiftness; make haste to help me, for I am ready to faint.
Bether; a place in the Land of Promise, possibly the same called Bithron, 2Sa 2:29, where it seems those creatures were in great abundance, or where they were commonly hunted, and so being pursued, they made all possible haste to escape.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. Nightis the image of thepresent world (Ro 13:12).”Behold men as if dwelling in subterranean cavern” [PLATO,Republic, 7.1].
Untilthat is, “Beforethat,” c.
breakrather, “breathe”referring to the refreshing breeze of dawn in the East; or to the airof life, which distinguishes morning from the death-likestillness of night. MAURERtakes this verse of the approach of night, when the breezearises after the heat of day (compare Ge3:8, Margin, with Ge18:1), and the “shadows” are lost in night (Ps102:11); thus our life will be the day; death, the night(Joh 9:4). The EnglishVersion better accords with (So3:1). “By night” (Ro13:12).
turnto me.
BetherMountains ofBithron, separated from the rest of Israel by the Jordan (2Sa2:29), not far from Bethabara, where John baptized and Jesus wasfirst manifested. Rather, as Margin, “of divisions,”and Septuagint, mountains intersected with deep gaps, hard topass over, separating the bride and Jesus Christ. In So8:14 the mountains are of spices, on which the roe feeds,not of separation; for at His first coming He had to overpassthe gulf made by sin between Him and us (Zec 4:6;Zec 4:7); in His second, He willonly have to come down from the fragrant hill above to take home Hisprepared bride. Historically, in the ministry of John the Baptist,Christ’s call to the bride was not, as later (So4:8), “Come with me,” but “Come away,”namely, to meet Me (Son 2:2;Son 2:10; Son 2:13).Sitting in darkness (Mt 4:16),she “waited” and “looked” eagerly for Him, the”great light” (Luk 1:79;Luk 2:25; Luk 2:38);at His rising, the shadows of the law (Col 2:16;Col 2:17; Heb 10:1)were to “flee away.” So we wait for the second coming, whenmeans of grace, so precious now, shall be superseded by the Sun ofrighteousness (1Co 13:10; 1Co 13:12;Rev 21:22; Rev 21:23).The Word is our light until then (2Pe1:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,…. Which may be connected with So 2:16; either with the former part, “my beloved is mine”, c. So 2:16 and then the sense is, as long as night and day continue, and God’s covenant with both stands sure; so long union to Christ, and covenant interest in him, will abide: or with the latter part, “he feedeth among the lilies until”, c. even until his second coming: or with the next clause in this verse,
turn, my beloved and so is a prayer for Christ’s speedy coming to her, and continued presence with her, until the day should break: which may be understood either of the Gospel day made by the rising of Christ, the sun of righteousness, at his first coming in the flesh; when the shadows of the ceremonial law disappeared, Christ, the body and substance of them, being come, and the darkness of the Gentile world was scattered, through the light of the Gospel being sent into it: the words may be rendered, “until the day breathe”, or “blow” b; and naturalists observe c, that, upon the sun’s rising, an air or wind has been excited, and which ceases before the middle of the day, and never lasts so long as that; and on Christ’s, the sun of righteousness, arising with healing in his wings, some cool, gentle, and refreshing breezes of divine grace and consolation were raised, which were very desirable and grateful: or this may be understood of Christ’s second coming; which will make the great day of the Lord, so often spoken of in Scripture: and which suits as well with the Hebrew text, and the philosophy of it, as the former; for, as the same naturalists d observe, the wind often blows fresh, and fine breezes of air spring up at the setting as well as at the rising of the sun; see Ge 3:8; and may very well be applied to Christ’s second coming, at the evening of the world; which will be a time of refreshing to the saints, and very desirable by them; and though it will be an evening to the world, which will then come to an end, with them there will be no more night of darkness, desertion, affliction, and persecution; the shadows of ignorance, infidelity, doubts, and fears, will be dispersed, and there will be one pure, clear, unbeclouded, and everlasting day; and till then the church prays, as follows:
turn, my beloved; that is, to her; who seemed to be ready to depart from her, or was gone; and therefore she desires he would turn again, and continue with her, until the time was come before mentioned: or, “turn about” e; surround me with thy favour and lovingkindness, and secure me from all enemies, until the glorious and wished for day comes, when I shall be out of fear and danger; or, “embrace me” f; as in So 2:6; during the present dispensation, which was as a night in comparison of the everlasting day;
and be thou like a roe, or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether; the same with Bethel, according to Adrichomius g; where were mountains, woody, set with trees, full of grass and aromatic plants; and so may be the same with the mountains of spices, So 8:14; where the Ethiopic version has Bethel; and so that and the Septuagint version, in an addition to So 2:9; here; see 2Ki 2:23; unless Bithron is meant, 2Sa 2:29; a place in Gilead, beyond Jordan, so called, because it was parted from Judea by the river Jordan: and the words are by some rendered, “the mountains of division or separation” h; which, if referred to Christ’s first coming, may regard the ceremonial law, the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, broke down by Christ, and the two people divided by it, which were reconciled by him; if to his spiritual coming, the same things may be intended by them as on So 2:9; but if to his second coming, the spacious heavens may be meant, in which Christ will appear, and which now interpose and separate from his bodily presence; and therefore the church importunately desires his coming with speed and swiftness, like a roe or a young hart, and be seen in them; see Re 22:10.
b , Sept. “donec, vel dum spiret”, Mercerus, Cocceius; “aspirat”, Marckius; “spiraverit”, Michaelis. c Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 47. Senecae Nat. Quaest. l. 5. c. 8. d lbid. Aristot. Problem. s. 25. c. 4. “Adspirant aurae in noctem”, Virgil. Aeneid. 7. v. 8. e “circui”, Montanus, Sanctius; “circumito”; some in Michaelis. f “Complectere”, Marckius. g Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 16. h “in montibus divisionis”, Vatablus, Piscator; “scissionis”, Cocceius; “dissectionis”, Marckius; “sectionis vel separationis”, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shulamith now further relates, in a dramatic, lively manner, what she said to her beloved after she had saluted him in a song:
17 Till the day cools and the shadows flee away,
Turn; make haste, my beloved,
Like a gazelle or a young one of the hinds
On the craggy mountains.
With the perf., (cf. , Gen 24:33) signifies, till something is done; with the fut., till something will be done. Thus: till the evening comes – and, therefore, before it comes – may he do what she requires of him. Most interpreters explain , verte te, with the supplement ad me; according to which Jerome, Castell., and others translate by revertere. But Psa 71:21 does not warrant this rendering; and if Shulamith has her beloved before her, then by she can only point him away from herself; the parall. Son 8:14 has instead of , which consequently means, “turn thyself from here away.” Rather we may suppose, as I explained in 1851, that she holds him in her embrace, as she says, and inseparable from him, will wander with him upon the mountains. But neither that ad me nor this mecum should have been here (cf. on the contrary Son 8:14) unexpressed. We hold by what is written. Solomon surprises Shulamith, and invites her to enjoy with him the spring-time; not alone, because he is on a hunting expedition, and – as denoted by “catch us” (v. 15) – with a retinue of followers. She knows that the king has not now time to wander at leisure with her; and therefore she asks him to set forward his work for the day, and to make haste on the mountains till “the day cools and the shadows flee.” Then she will expect him back; then in the evening she will spend the time with him as he promised her. The verb , with the guttural letter Hheth and the labial Pe, signifies spirare, here of being able to be breathed, i.e., cool, like the expression ha’ , Gen 3:8 (where the guttural Hheth is connected with Resh). The shadows flee away, when they become longer and longer, as if on a flight, when they stretch out (Psa 109:23; Psa 102:12) and gradually disappear. Till that takes place – or, as we say, will be done – he shall hasten with the swiftness of a gazelle on the mountains, and that on the mountains of separation, i.e., the riven mountains, which thus present hindrances, but which he, the “swift as the gazelle” ( vid., Son 2:9), easily overcomes. Rightly, Bochart: montes scissionis, ita dicti propter , et . Also, Luther’s “ Scheideberge ” are “mountains with peaks, from one of which to the other one must spring.” We must not here think of Bithron (2Sa 2:29), for that is a mountain ravine on the east of Jordan; nor of Bar-Cochba’s (Kirschbau, Landau), because this mountain (whether it be sought for to the south of Jerusalem or to be north of Antipatris) ought properly to be named ( vid., Aruch). It is worthy of observation, that in an Assyrian list of the names of animals, along with sbi (gazelle) and apparu (the young of the gazelle or of the hind), the name bitru occurs, perhaps the name of the rupicapra . At the close of the song, the expression “mountain of spices” occurs instead of “mountain of separation,” as here. There no more hindrances to be overcome lie in view, the rock-cliffs have become fragrant flowers. The request here made by Shulamith breathes self-denying humility, patient modesty, inward joy in the joy of her beloved. She will not claim him for herself till he has accomplished his work. But when he associates with her in the evening, as with the Emmaus disciples, she will rejoice if he becomes her guide through the new-born world of spring. The whole scene permits, yea, moves us to think of this, that the Lord already even now visits the church which loves Him, and reveals Himself to her; but that not till the evening of the world is His parousia to be expected.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(17) Until the day break.Heb., breathe, i.e., becomes cool, as it does when the evening breeze sets in. The time indicated is therefore evening, the breathing blushing hour (Campbell). (Comp. Gen. 3:8, The cool of the daymargin, wind. This interpretation is also fixed by the mention of the flying, i.e., lengthening shadows. Comp. Virg. Ecl. i. 84: Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbr; and Tennyson, The Brook
We turned our foreheads from the falling sun,
And followed our own shadows, thrice as long
As when they followed us.)
Bether.Marg., of division; LXX., of ravines or hollows, either as separating the lovers or as intersected by valleys. Gesenius compares Bethron (2Sa. 2:29).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Until the day, etc. Hebrew, Until the day breathe cool and the shadows stretch themselves. The first clause might apply to evening or morning, either being the time of cool breezes, but the second clause fixes the sense to be “at evening.”
Be thou like a hart That is, “Return quickly.”
Upon the mountains of Bether Hebrews Over the mountains of separation. “The separating hills.” The speed of the Beloved has already been compared to that of a deer on its mountains.
At evening the Beloved did not return.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Son 2:17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
Son 2:17
[138] Duane Garrett, Song of Songs, in Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 23B (Dallas, Texas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), comments on Song of Solomon 2:17.
[139] Duane Garrett, Song of Songs, in Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 23B (Dallas, Texas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), comments on Song of Solomon 2:17.
Figurative Interpretation Christ will guide us through the darkness and lead us into the light.
Son 2:17 “turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether” Word Study on “turn” Strong says the Hebrew “turn” “ cabab ” ( ) (H5437) means, “to revolve, surround, border.” The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 154 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “(stood, turned, etc…) about 54, compass 41, turn 34, turn away 4, remove 3, returned 2, round 2, side 2, turn aside 2, turn back 2, beset 2, driven 2, compass in 2, misc 8.” Garrett says the Hebrew word “turn” can be translated “turn” or “return.” [140]
[140] Duane Garrett, Song of Songs, in Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 23B (Dallas, Texas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), comments on Song of Solomon 2:17.
Word Study on “a roe” Strong says the Hebrew word “roe” “ tseb-ee’ ” ( ) (H6643) means, “prominence; splendor (as conspicuous); also a gazelle (as beautiful).” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 39 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “roe 9, roebuck 5, glory 8, glorious 6, beautiful 1, beauty 1, goodly 1, pleasant 1.” This Hebrew word is used 5 times in the Song of Songs (Son 2:7; Son 2:9; Son 2:17; Son 3:5; Son 8:14). Of all the animals in the ancient Orient, the deer symbolized grace and beauty. In Son 2:9; Son 2:17; Son 8:14 this word is used metaphorically of the Lover, who figuratively represents Christ. It may refer to Christ in Son 2:17; Son 8:14.
Word Study on “a hart” Strong says the Hebrew word “hart” “ ah-yawl’ ” ( ) (H354) means, “a stag or male deer, hart.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 11 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “hart(s).” This Hebrew word is used 3 times in the Song of Songs (Son 2:9; Son 2:17; Son 8:14). Of all the animals in the ancient Orient, the deer symbolized grace and beauty. In Songs this word is possibly used metaphorically of the Lover, who figuratively represents Christ.
Word Study on “mountains” Strong says the Hebrew word “mountain” “ har ” ( ) (H2022) means, “a mountain or range of hills.” The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 546 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “mountain 261, mount 224, hill 59, hill country 1, promotion 1.” This word is used 5 times in the Song of Solomon (Son 2:8; Son 2:17; Son 4:1; Son 4:6; Son 8:14).
Comments – The Song of Solomon describes the mountains metaphorically as “the mountains of Bether” (Son 2:17), “mount Gilead” (Son 4:1), “the mountain of myrrh” (Son 4:6), “the mountains of the leopards” (Son 4:8), “the mountain of spices” (Son 8:14). The hills are referred to as “the hill of frankincense” (Son 4:6). Watchman Nee says the phrase “the mountains of spices” refers to “the new millennial world of fragrance and beauty.” [141] The mountains and hills seem to refer to the heavenly, spiritual realm of eternity that the believer partakes of in a limited measure along his earthly journey.
[141] Watchman Nee, Song of Songs (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: CLC Publications, c1965, 2001), 157.
Word Study on “of Bether” Gesenius says the Hebrew word “bether” “beh’-ther” ( ) (H1336) means, “a section, a dividing.” Strong says it means, “a section,” and was “a (craggy) place in Palestine.” For this reason, some translations allow “rugged mountains” ( NIV, RSV), or “mountains of separation” ( ASV, YLT). This Hebrew word is found only one time in the Old Testament.
AmpBible, “mountains which separate us ”
ASV, “mountains of Bether,” or “mountains of separation”
LXX, “mountains of ravines”
NIV, “rugged mountains”
Rotherham, “cleft mountains”
RSV, “rugged mountains”
RWebster, “mountains of Bether,” or “mountains of divisions”
YLT, “mountains of separation”
John Gill tells us that according to Christianus Adrichomius (1533-1585) “Bether” is the same as “Bethel.” [142] He says the Ethiopic version and the LXX both read “Bethel.” Gill says this name may refer to the place called Bethron (2Sa 2:29), a place in Gilead, beyond Jordan. [143] JFB calls it the mountains of Bethron. [144]
[142] John Gill cites Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 16. See 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 2:17.
[143] 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 2:17.
[144] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Song of Solomon, in A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Song of Solomon 2:17.
Comments – In contrast to domesticated animals, the deer is free to move at its own will and desire. Frances Roberts understands this call in Son 2:17 to mean that we are to sit at the Master’s feet and be ready to move when the Spirit tells us to move, and not be subject to the call of man.
“ There is no virtue in activity as such neither in inactivity. I minister to thee in solitude that ye may minister of Me to others as a spontaneous overflow of our communion. Never labor to serve, nor force opportunities. Set thy heart to be at peace and to sit at My feet. Learn to be ready, but not to be anxious. Learn to say ‘no’ to the demands of men and to say ‘yes’ to the call of the Spirit… Come away, My beloved , and be as the doe upon the mountains; yea, we shall go down together to the gardens.” [145]
[145] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 145-6.
Son 2:17 Literal Interpretation Son 2:17 appears to be the words of the Love replying to the previous verse (Son 2:16), because this statement serves as a summary of Son 2:8-15.
Figurative Interpretation The phrase “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away” may refer to a believer’s walk in this life prior to the first resurrection. This would be a reference to living in the natural realm, which is considered dark compared to walking in the realm of the Spirit of God. The mountains refer to the spiritual realm. The Shulamite is asking her beloved to return, so that she can walk in the divine realm. She will say in the next verse , “By night on my bed I sought him” These statements together suggest that she is pursuing him, longing for him to continually knock on her lattice each night. Son 2:17 could then be interpreted to mean that as long as we are in this mortal body God has ordained that we be led through the darkness of this world by coming apart and spending time with the Holy Spirit in order to find directions, as well as be strengthened by this blessed communion with God. We find similar statements in Son 4:6 a and Son 8:14 b.
Son 4:6, “ Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.”
Son 8:14, “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Son 2:17. Until the day break, &c. Until the day breathe, or, till the day blow fresh, for this is the literal meaning of the original. This is a local beauty; for in those hot countries the dawn of the day is attended with a fine refreshing breeze, which is exceedingly grateful. See Vatablus, and the New Translation. As in this verse, so in that preceding, the bride considers the bridegroom under the metaphor of a roe or young hart. Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that the rock which parted David from Saul was one of those mountains which Solomon here calls harei bather, the mountains of Bether, interpreted in the margin of our English Bibles the mountains of division: others have thought that Bather was a strong town in the country of Bithron, not far from Trachonitis; probably the same which Adrian besieged in the 17th year of his reign, and is named Badr by Abu-Giafar in his history of the Saracens. See Capellus and Le Clerc.
REFLECTIONS.1st, We have here,
1. The heavenly bridegroom describing his own excellence, and the beauty of his bride: I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys; all perfections center in him; his person adorned with that fulness of the spirit, which God without measure gave unto him; his humanity white as the lily, without spot of sin; blushing as the rose, when on the bloody tree he made the atonement; in the purity of his life, and in the sacrifice of his death, diffusing a fragrance well-pleasing, yea, most acceptable to God; and from which we derive all the sweetness of the great and precious promises which grow in the garden of God. As the lily among thorns, so it my love among the daughters; she resembles him, therefore is beloved by him; he sees in her his own image, and delights therein. Among the thorns of evil men, and a world lying in wickedness, does this lily grow, and as infinitely preferable to them as that sweet flower in look and smell exceeds the briars of the field.
2. The spouse returns the commendations on her Beloved, and professes her joy in him, her dependance upon him, her solicitude to please him.
(1.) She prefers him before all others. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons; none of the sons of men on earth, none of the sons of the mighty in heaven, are to be compared with the Lord; when he stands forth in his transcendent beauty, they hide their diminished heads.
(2.) She declares the delight that she had in his presence and company. I sat down under his shadow with great delight; Christ is the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; the sinful soul, scorched with the fire of wrath, flies thither, and finds a happy resting-place: under his shadow are pardon, peace, and joy, protection from danger, and possession of every desire of the soul. Blessed and happy are they who there take up their abode. And his fruit was sweet to my taste: they who by faith feed on Christ, will find the promises of his word, the gifts of his grace, and the manifestations of his love most delightful, sweeter than honey and the honey-comb. He brought me to the banqueting-house; led me thither by the hand of his grace, where the richest provision of every blessing that a miserable sinner can need, was provided; and his banner over me was love; love boundless and infinite contrived and executed the plan of man’s salvation: love reared the banner of the Gospel, inviting lost souls to Jesus, the captain of their salvation; love sweetly, powerfully, engages them to list under his colours; love constrains, emboldens, enables them to fight under his standard, and be more than conquerors. Lord, over me display this banner of thy love!
(3.) She professes the fervency of her love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love; overcome with the sense of the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ; and, like the spirit of Jacob, fainting with joy at the glad tidings; or sick with the vehement desires, which nothing but a sense of Christ’s presence and love could satisfy; and therefore desiring a manifestation of his favour, to revive the drooping soul, as wine restores the fainting spirits.
(4.) She acknowledges the ready answer vouchsafed, to her request. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me; though for a while dejected, and destitute of spiritual delight, the praying soul shall certainly experience divine supports.
(5.) She expresses her solicitude to preserve her communion with the Lord. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, all the members of the church of Christ, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, by every thing that is dear and desirable, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please, by any quarrels and unchristian disputes among yourselves, or by your sins provoking him to depart. We should be watchful against every thing that would cause him to arise and leave us. The way to keep our peace and comfort abiding is, to be careful and jealous over our own hearts.
2nd, It should seem as if, notwithstanding the charge given, the Lord had been disturbed, and had withdrawn; but now returning in mercy the church with rapture hears his voice, and welcomes his approach.
1. She triumphs in her Beloved. The voice of my beloved! how pleasing, how delightful, the well-known voice; the sound of which makes the heart leap for joy: behold, with wonder, his amazing grace, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills: thus the Old Testament church beheld him descending from the everlasting hills to be incarnate; thus the church of Christ and every true believer, now behold him hasting to their relief, when mountains of inbred sin seem to separate them from him; and thus all his devout followers are looking for him, when the second time he shall bow the heavens and come down, his voice awake the dead, and his saints be finally triumphant in glory. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart; so amiable in himself, so swift to fly to the relief of his believing people: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice; so they beheld him before his incarnation, behind the wall of ceremonies, at the windows of his promises, and through the lattice of sacrifices, types, and figures: and we still see him through the glass of faith, but darkly when compared with what we hope for: the vail of flesh is between us; we get now and then a glimpse of him at the windows of his grace and promises, and through the lattice of his ordinances maintain some near communion with him; but we expect to see him shortly face to face, and to know no more those separations which the body of flesh now occasions. Hasten, Lord, that happy day.
2. She relates the gracious invitation which her beloved had given her. My beloved spake and said unto me, with infinite condescension and tenderness, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away; appellations expressive of the endearing affection of Jesus, whose love indeed passeth knowledge; and the call, Rise up, intimates the slumbering frame into which she had fallen, and the need that she had to be awakened. The argument which he uses to prevail with her, is the beauty of the returning spring, when, winter’s lowering clouds blown over, the vernal sun decks in its gayest livery the earth with flowers, and every grove resounds with feathered songsters; the turtle cooes, the fig-tree buds, the grape shoots forth her tendrils, and all around breathes fragrance. This description may be applied,
(1.) To the state of the sinner’s soul, when Christ in the word of his gospel comes to awaken him from the sleep of spiritual death: frozen, dark, barren, and unprofitable is the natural heart, incapable of producing blossoms or fruits of holiness, till Christ the sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings: by his mighty agency a glorious and universal change ensues; the soul is softened to sensibility; impregnated by his bright beams of love, it teems with life, the flowers of heavenly dispositions appear, the heart sings for joy in the good ways of God, and the fruits of grace bud forth to the glory of God.
(2.) To the state of believers under temptations, when storms of inward corruption, or despondent thoughts, beat against their souls: but when the Lord comes to their relief, they bud and blossom as the rose, the tears are wiped from their eyes, the voice of joy is heard, they sing as the birds, and bring forth fruit abundantly. Hear then this hour, thou tossed with tempest, and not comforted, hear this sweet voice of Jesus reiterating the call, Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
3rdly, We have,
1. The same gracious invitation continued: O my dove; to which creature the believer’s soul may be compared; often timorous, through conscious weakness; beautiful in the feathers of silver, the graces of the Spirit; meek and inoffensive; chaste and faithful to Jesus as the turtle to her mate: In the clefts of the rock; fled to the shelter of a Saviour’s side, opened by the spear, a small but sure retreat: In the secret places of the stairs; hid in Christ, and maintaining an intercourse with him which the world knoweth not of: or these expressions may intimate her guilty fears which led her to hide her head, and seek, like Adam in the garden, a covert from her conscious shame; from which retirement, therefore, Christ would draw her forth: Let me see thy countenance, be not afraid or ashamed to come with open face into the assembly of the saints, where Jesus manifests his presence; let me hear thy voice in prayer and praise; for sweet is thy voice; inharmonious as to us it may appear, and unworthy as we think ourselves to open our polluted lips before him, he graciously condescends well-pleased to accept our lispings; and thy countenance is comely; loathsome as we seem in our own eyes, and covering our faces with confusion in the dust, he wipes away the defilement, and, transforming us into his own image, delights in the beauties which he bestows.
2. A charge is given to seize and remove what was hurtful to the vineyard. Take us the foxes; by foxes are meant false teachers, who with many fair speeches deceive the hearts of the unwary, and introduce errors, heresies, and schisms into the church; even the little foxes, which must be crushed in their nest; that spoil the vines; corrupting the faith, debauching the morals, and debating the discipline of the church: for our vines have tender grapes; young converts, whose tender years, or weak attainments, need an especial guard against the wiles of deceivers. Notes; Every corruption in the heart is a little fox, which would rob us of our comfort, and threatens to root up the vine of grace; we must watch over them therefore, and check the motions of evil in the birth.
3. The church exults in her interest in her Lord. My beloved is mine; mine as the gift of God; the faithful bride-groom united in bonds of divine love; mine in possession and enjoyment, all his things are mine; his merit and grace are mine, the property of the faithful soul, and I am his, the creature of his hand, the purchase of his blood; renewed by his Spirit, by choice devoted to him, subservient to his will, zealous for his interest, and living in love and duty for him alone: he feedeth among the lilies, manifesting himself in the midst of his people, beautiful as the lilies; or, as a shepherd crowned with wreaths of this sweet flower; he watches over the flock of his pasture, and feeds them with his divine consolations.
4. She expresses her expectation of his speedy coming: Until the day break and the shadows flee away; or, connected with the following clause, the words are a prayer for Christ’s appearing, either incarnate to his Old Testament saints, or in the manifestation of his love to praying souls labouring under darkness and desertion, or in his glory at the great day of final consummation, when all the shadows of remaining ignorance, infirmity, affliction, will be for ever fled away, and one eternal day of light, joy, and blessedness unutterable, succeed: turn, my beloved, unto me, be thou like a roe, or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether, or of separation; swift as the bounding roe, fly to relieve me from the pains of absence, and let no mountains separate my soul from thee; come with the comforts of thy love below, or take me to the enjoyment of thy blessed Self above! Amen.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
The church in this verse is looking to her beloved with great confidence and joy, that he will be to her all she needs, for the support of her faith in him, and dependence upon him; until the gospel-day shall fully break in upon the church at large, and Jesus will appear in the open display of himself both to Jew and Gentile. This was the longing expectation of the Old Testament Saints, when the law of ceremonies, and types, and shadows of good things to come should be done away and lost in the substance. Hence, we read in the opening of the Evangelists of those who departed not night and day from the temple, waiting for the consolation of Israel. Luk 2:37 . And what is the cry of the soul now Christ is come, and all the Jewish ordinances as the shades of night are done away, but for Jesus to be like the roe or the hart for swiftness, in flying to his people’s need in seasons of darkness and temptation, upon the mountains of Bether? And is not the holy expectation of the soul going out also, for the last coming of Jesus, when he will finally appear to gather his people to himself in glory? Surely the cry of each believing heart is, Come, Lord Jesus come quickly. Amen.
REFLECTIONS
BLESSED Lord Jesus, while reading this chapter of thy love, do thou, I beseech thee, gracious Lord, lead out my heart, and the heart of every Reader of it on whom thy grace hath shined, to behold thy loveliness in all the several parts of it, which so beautifully holds thee forth to thy church. Methinks I hear my beloved say as to the church of old I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the vallies. To which my soul replies, Yes! thou dear Lord! thou art indeed in thy bloody vesture, and thy spotless humanity, red as the rose, and whiter than the lily. And oh! how infinitely precious in both, beholding thee as I do through these similitudes in thy blood and righteousness, as the sure tokens of thy great redemption. And if thy church, Lord, is as the lily among thorns, is it not from thee that she derives all her beauty while living in the midst of a sinful world, the children of whom by nature in their best performances, are but as a briar, and the most upright as thorn hedge. But thou, Lord, art the chiefest among ten thousand sons, as the apple-tree transcends the trees of the forest. And oh! for grace, dear Lord, like the dumb, to sit down under thy shadow with increasing rapture and delight, and to eat freely and fully of all the precious fruits of thy great salvation. Do thou, blessed Spirit, by thy sweet influences both provide the food and give the appetite, and cause me to enjoy all the good things in the everlasting covenant of God my Father, purchased by the blood of Jesus, and brought home to my soul by thy divine power. And, as for thy banqueting house, my rich bountiful Lord, I know that thou wilt bring me there, and spread thy banner of love over me there. I do know it, Lord, that thou wilt do this for me, and a thousand other blessed things of thy love; for never should I have known thee or thy house, much less delighted in it, or desired to have been brought into it, unless thou hadst first shown it to me, and opened for me a new and living way in thy blood. Reader! I break off for a moment from addressing my Lord, to ask you whether such views, and such desires of Christ are in your heart also?
But, Lord, I turn to thee again, and in the language of the church, would beg of thee to stay me with flaggons, and comfort me with apples, even the enjoyment of all thy rich covenant-promises, manifestations, and the unceasing communion of thyself to my soul; for without thee I am sick and sorrowful. And, Lord, the more thou givest, the more I need; the more of thee I know, the more I desire to know; for in thee alone I find comfort. Embrace my soul, O Lord, and let all my stay and support be in thee!
Ye daughters of Jerusalem! I mean all ye that love my Lord, (for one church is my beloved’s and his Jerusalem, which is above, is the mother of us all); I charge you as I charge myself, let nothing be said or done to wound or disturb our Lord. Let us seek together his grace, his Spirit, his manifestations; and by everything that is interesting, as the roes or hinds of the field, let us be very cautious of grieving his Holy Spirit. Hark! do you not hear Jesus speak? Yes! it is his well-known voice; and he cometh to us notwithstanding all our sins, like mountains and hills, which might obstruct, for he is, and he will be Jesus. He looketh in upon us through the windows of ordinances, and, ere long, when this wall of our mortality is taken down, we shall see him as he is, and dwell with him forever!
But I leave the church to listen to my Lord, inviting me to come forth to him in this spring-season of grace. Yea, Lord, I will rise, for the voice of the Holy Ghost, like the voice of the turtle after the winter, of life, is heard in mine heart. Yea, I would follow thee whithersoever thou goest; and, as like the dove, thou hast sheltered me, and hidden me in the clefts of thy pierced side, and desirest to hear my voice and behold my countenance, thou shalt hear, Lord, my voice betimes in the morning; early will I direct my prayer unto thee, and I will look up: and do thou, Lord, take away the foxes of the desert; yea, even both the greater and the lesser hindrances to my soul, which, in the tender buildings of grace by thy bringing forth in me, my sins and corruptions joined with the temptations of sin, too often nip, and would destroy. Haste, Lord, to me, and to my rescue, for I am thine, and thou art mine. Make all intervening shadows flee away, and be thou to my poor soul as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Son 2:17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
Ver. 17. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away. ] Until that day dawn, a that last and glorious day, when Christ the Sun of righteousness shall appear, and chase away the shadows of sin and misery wherewith I am here benighted.
Turn about, my beloved.
Yea, be thou like a roe or a young hart.
a Umbra terrae noctem facit. The shadow of earth makes the night. – Isidor. Etym., lib. v. cap. 13.
b Dr Hall Epist., v. dec. 3.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Until the day break = When the day cools. This is clear from the words which follow.
turn = return.
Bether = separation. See note on Son 8:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the day: Son 4:6, Luk 1:78, Rom 13:12, 2Pe 1:19
the shadows: Heb 8:5, Heb 10:1
beloved: Son 2:9, Son 8:14
Bether: or, division
Reciprocal: Gen 32:24 – breaking of the day 2Sa 2:18 – a wild roe 2Sa 2:29 – Bithron Jer 6:4 – shadows
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Son 2:17. Until the day-break Until the morning of that blessed day of the general resurrection, when all the shadows, not only of ignorance, and sin, and calamity, but even of all ordinances, and outward administrations, shall cease. Turn, my beloved Return to me. For although Christ had come to her, and she had gladly received him, yet he was gone again, as is here implied, and evidently appears from the following verse. Which sudden change is very agreeable to the state of Gods people in this world, where they are subject to frequent changes; be thou like a roe In swiftness; make haste to help me; upon the mountains of Bether A place in the land of promise, where it seems those creatures were in great abundance.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:17 Until the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a {k} roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
(k) The church desires Christ to be most ready to help her in all dangers.