Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 5:19
[Let her be as] the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
19. Let her be as] These words, which are not in the Hebrew, are not wanted. Read “A loving hind &c.” The imagery again, which is thoroughly Oriental, reappears in the Song of Solomon (Pro 2:9; Pro 2:17, Pro 7:3, Pro 8:14).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Better, A loving hind (is she) and pleasant roe. As in the whole circle of Arab and Persian poetry the antelope and the gazelle are the chosen images of beauty, so they served with equal fitness for the masculine and feminine types of it. (Compare the names Tabitha and Dorcas Act 9:36.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. The loving hind and pleasant roe] By aiyeleth, the deer; by yaalah, the ibex or mountain goat, may be meant.
Let her breasts satisfy thee] As the infant is satisfied with the breasts of its mother; so shouldst thou be with the wife of thy youth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As the loving hind, or, as the beloved hind, Heb. the hind of loves; as amiable and delightful as the hinds are, either,
1. To their males, the harts; or,
2. To princes and great men, who used to make them tame and familiar, and to take great delight in them, as hath been noted by many writers; of which see my Latin Synopsis.
Her breasts, i.e. her loves and embraces, expressed by lying between the breasts, Son 1:13; Compare Eze 23:3,8,21.
At all times; at all convenient times; for that there may be excess in the use of the marriage bed is manifest, not only from many scriptures, but from the light of nature, and the consent of wise and sober heathens, who have laid restraints upon men in this particular. A man may be drunk with his own wine, and intemperate with his own wife. Or, in all ages and conditions. Do not only love her when she is young and beautiful, but also when she is old and deformed.
Be thou ravished; love her fervently. It is an hyperbolical expression.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. loving . . . roeotherfigures for a wife from the well-known beauty of these animals.
breasts(CompareSon 1:13; Eze 23:3;Eze 23:8).
ravishedliterally,”intoxicated,” that is, fully satisfied.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[Let her be as] the loving hind and pleasant roe,…. That is, the wife of youth; let her always appear to thee as amiable and lovely as these creatures are; or let her be loved by thee as these are by princes and great men w, who used to keep them tame, keep them clean, wash, comb them, and adorn them, and play with them; or rather, as these creatures are loving to their mates, let thy love be single, chaste, pure, and fervent, as theirs; see So 2:9. The pure church of Christ is very different from the apostate church of Rome; the one is compared to a loving and lovely creature, innocent and chaste; the other to a cruel and savage beast, Re 13:1;
let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; even as it were to be inebriated therewith, and so as not to seek out elsewhere to strange women for satisfaction; see So 1:13. The church’s breasts are the ordinances of the Gospel, which are said to be like young roes, and afford great pleasure, satisfaction, and refreshment to true believers, So 4:5;
and be thou ravished always with her love; greatly delighted with it, both in loving her and being loved by her; and let this always continue in old age as well as in youth; or now as well as formerly, and not for a short time, but for continuance: or, “err thou always in her love” x; if any error is committed by thee, let it be on the side of love, in loving her too much; better err in loving her than in loving a strange woman.
w “Cervus erat forma praestanti”, c. Virgil. Aeneid l. 7. x “errabis”, Montanus, Raynus, Cocceius “hallucinaberis”, Vatablus; “errato”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(19) Loving hind and pleasant roe.The deer and chamois, from their grace and speed and lustrous eyes, have always been chosen by the Oriental poets as figures of human strength and beauty. (Comp. Son. 2:9; Son. 2:17; Son. 7:3; Son. 8:14; Psa. 18:33.) Both these animals are said to be remarkable for their affection to their young.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. The loving hind and pleasant roe Animals which were much prized and petted on account of their beauty and affectionate dispositions. They were kept in palaces and courts, and adorned with chains and garlands, and highly esteemed for their graceful playfulness. This seems to indicate the characteristics of a good wife, and also the endearing fondness with which she should be treated. The latter part of the verse may express this sentiment, If thou art entranced with love, let it be with thine own wife. This is not to be understood as a license to excess, but as a prohibition of unlawful indulgence. Zockler translates: “The lovely hind, the graceful gazelle, let her bosom charm thee always. In her love delight thyself evermore. Fitly chosen images,” he remarks, “to illustrate the graceful, lively, facinating nature of a young wife.” Stuart: “A lovely hind and a graceful doe,” etc. There are numerous passages from Eastern poets which show the popularity of this figure in Oriental poetry. “These pretty animals,” says Thomson, “are amiable, affectionate, and loving by universal testimony, and no sweeter comparison can be found.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 5:19. Let her be as the loving hind Bishop Patrick observes, that the wise man describes allegorically the felicities of the nuptial state under the comparison of a domestic fountain, where a man may quench his natural thirst, and from whence streams, that is, children, may be derived to serve the public good; and, secondly, under the comparison of a young hind, and a roe, which naturalists have observed to be very fond creatures, and which were usually kept by the greater persons in their palaces, who diverted themselves with them, and adorned them with chains and garlands. See Scheuchzer on the place. Bochart hath shewn, that the iangalath, which we translate roe, is a creature which lived in mountainous places, and could climb the steepest rocks. Instead of her breasts, Houbigant reads, her loves; let her loves, or love, always inebriate, or satisfy thee. See Pro 7:18 and Virgil, AEneid, vii. ver. 483.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 5:19 [Let her be as] the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
Ver. 19. Let her be as the loving hind, &c. ] The hind and the roe are the females of the hart and roebuck, of which creatures it is noted that of all other beasts they are most enamoured, a as I may so speak, with their mates, and even mate again in their heat, and desire after them. This being taken in a good sense, may set forth the ardent affections that husbands should bear to the wives of their bosoms; so they are called, too, because they should be as dear to them as the hearts in their bosoms. A wife is the most proper object of love, Col 3:18 above parent, friend, child, or any other, though never so dear to us.
And be thou ravished always.
a Inter utrumque ardor amoris summus, ut Oppianus de cervis agens scribit.
b Mercer.
c Ovid.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as the: Son 2:9, Son 4:5, Son 7:3, Son 8:14
satisfy thee: Heb. water thee, Pro 5:15
be thou ravished always with her love: Heb. err thou always in her love, 2Sa 12:4
Reciprocal: Gen 26:8 – sporting 2Sa 12:3 – one little 2Ki 21:1 – Hephzibah 1Ch 14:3 – took Ecc 9:9 – with the wife Son 2:7 – by the roes Son 4:9 – thou hast Eze 24:16 – the desire Mal 2:14 – the wife Act 9:36 – Dorcas 1Co 7:2 – to avoid Eph 5:25 – love Col 3:19 – love
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 5:19. Let her be as the loving hind Hebrew, as the hind of loves; as amiable and delightful as the hinds are to princes and great men, who used to make them tame and familiar, and to take great delight in them, as has been observed by many writers. The wise man, says Bishop Patrick, describes allegorically the felicities of the nuptial state, first under the comparison of a domestic fountain, where a man may quench his natural thirst, and from whence streams, that is, children, may be derived, to serve the public good; and, secondly, under the comparisons, of a young hind and pleasant roe, which naturalists have observed to be very fond creatures, which were usually kept by the greatest persons in their palaces, who diverted themselves with them, and adorned them with chains and garlands. Let her breasts Rather, her loves, as Houbigant renders , at all times, in all ages and conditions; not only love her when she is young and beautiful, but when she is old, or even deformed; and be thou always ravished with her love Love her fervently. It is a hyperbolical expression.