Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 5:14
His hands [are as] gold rings set with the beryl: his belly [is as] bright ivory overlaid [with] sapphires.
14. gold rings ] Rather, cylinders of gold. In Est 1:6, which is the only place in the O.T. besides this where the word occurs in a similar sense, it probably means ‘rods’ or ‘cylinders.’ Here it refers to the delicately rounded fingers forming the hand.
set ] Cp. Exo 28:17.
the beryl ] Better, chrysolite, i.e. topaz (R.V. marg.). His finger-nails are compared to transparent pink chrysolite.
his belly ] R.V. rightly, his body. This is a piece of ivory work. Budde suggests a sheet of ivory.
overlaid with sapphires ] R.V. margin, encrusted. What is meant is that his body was as beautiful as a piece of ivory work studded with sapphires. This is the only part of this description which might appear unmaidenly, but understood as above, it is quite compatible with the situation as supposed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
His hands … – Are golden rings or cylinders. The fingers of the bent or closed hand are compared to a massive ring or set of rings; or, if outstretched or straightened, to a row of golden rods or cylinders.
The beryl – The tarshish (compare Exo 28:20), probably the chrysolite of the ancients (so called from its gold color), the modern topaz.
His belly … – His body (the Hebrew term applies to the whole body, from the shoulders to the thighs) is a piece of ivory workmanship overlaid with sapphires. The sapphire of the ancients seems to have been the lapis lazuli.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. His hands – gold rings set with the beryl] This really seems to refer to gold rings set with precious stones on the fingers, and perhaps to circlets or bracelets about the wrists. Some suppose it to refer to the roundness and exquisite symmetry of the hand and fingers. tarshish, which we translate beryl, a gem of a sea-green tint, had better be translated chrysolite, which is of a gold colour.
His belly – bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.] This must refer to some garment set with precious stones which went round his waist, and was peculiarly remarkable. If we take it literally, the sense is plain enough. His belly was beautifully white, and the blue veins appearing under the skin resembled the sapphire stone. But one can hardly think that this was intended.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
His hands; the instruments of action and of distribution, which may design the actions of Christ, and particularly his distributing gifts and graces to his members.
As gold rings set with the beryl; beautiful and precious, and richly adorned, as it were with gold rings set with precious stones.
His belly; which seems to be here used, either,
1. Metonymically for the bowels, which are contained in the belly. Or rather,
2. Synecdochically, for the whole body, reaching from the neck, to the bottom of the belly, which is distinguished from the face and the joints, which are described in the other clauses. For he speaks here of those parts which are visible to the eye. And thus here is a complete description of Christs beauty in all parts, from his head to his feet.
As bright ivory overlaid with sapphires; of a pure and bright white colour, intermixed with blue veins; for some sapphires are of a bright blue colour.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. rings set with . . .berylHebrew, Tarshish, so called from the city. Theancient chrysolite, gold in color (Septuagint), our topaz, oneof the stones on the high priest’s breastplate, also in thefoundation of New Jerusalem (Rev 21:19;Rev 21:20; also Da10:6). “Are as,” is plainly to be supplied, see in So5:13 a similiar ellipsis; not as MOODYSTUART: “havegold rings.” The hands bent in are compared to beautiful rings,in which beryl is set, as the nails are in the fingers. BURROWESexplains the rings as cylinders used as signets, such as arefound in Nineveh, and which resemble fingers. A ring is the token ofsonship (Lu 15:22). A slavewas not allowed to wear a gold ring. He imparts His sonshipand freedom to us (Ga 4:7); alsoof authority (Ge 41:42; compareJoh 6:27). He seals us in thename of God with His signet (Re7:2-4), compare below, So 8:6,where she desires to be herself a signet-ring on His arms; so”graven on the palms,” c., that is, on the signet-ring inHis hand (Isa 49:16 contrastHag 2:23; Jer 22:24).
bellyBURROWESand MOODY STUARTtranslate, “body.” NEWTON,as it is elsewhere, “bowels”; namely, His compassion(Psa 22:14; Isa 63:15;Jer 31:20; Hos 11:8).
brightliterally,”elaborately wrought so as to shine,” so His “prepared”body (Heb 10:5); the “ivorypalace” of the king (Ps 45:8);spotless, pure, so the bride’s “neck is as to tower of ivory“(So 7:4).
sapphiresspangling inthe girdle around Him (Da 10:5).”To the pure all things are pure.” As in statuary to theartist the partly undraped figure is suggestive only of beauty, freefrom indelicacy, so to the saint the personal excellencies of JesusChrist, typified under the ideal of the noblest human form. As,however, the bride and bridegroom are in public, the usual robes onthe person, richly ornamented, are presupposed (Isa11:5). Sapphires indicate His heavenly nature (so Joh3:13, “is in heaven”), even in His humiliation,overlaying or cast “over” His ivory human body (Ex24:10). Sky-blue in color, the height and depth ofthe love of Jesus Christ (Eph3:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
His hands [are as] gold rings, set with the beryl,…. Beryl is with great propriety mentioned, because it was usual to wear it on the fingers z. This was one of the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest, a type of Christ, Ex 28:20; one of the pearl foundations of the New Jerusalem, Re 21:20; the appearance of the wheels in Ezekiel’s vision was like it, Eze 1:16; the body of the glorious person, seen by Daniel, is said to be as that, Da 10:6; so that it is no wonder the hands of Christ should be compared to gold rings set with it. The word “tarshish”, here rendered by “beryl”, is sometimes used for the “sea”; and naturalists a tell us, that the best beryl is that which most resembles the colour of the sea; so all the three Targums, on Ex 28:20; call it , from its sea colour; and some versions have it here, “the sea coloured beryl” b. Some think the chrysolite is meant, so called from Tarshish, a city in the Indian sea, from whence it was brought, 1Ki 10:22; which is a precious stone, of a golden colour. Others take it to be the “hyacinth”, or “jacinth”, which is of a violet or purple colour. Cocceius is of opinion that the “sardonyx” in intended, a composition of the “sardius” and “onyx” stones; and is of a white and ruddy colour, and much resembles the nail of a man’s hand; which it was usual to set in rings wore on the hand; and a hand adorned with a ring set with a sardonyx, Martial calls “sardonychata manus” c. Now Christ’s hands, which are the instruments of action, may be compared to “gold rings”, set with one or other of these stones; because of the variety of his works in nature, providence, and grace; and because of the preciousness and value of them; and because of their perfection and completeness; the circular form being reckoned the most perfect: and never do the hands of Christ appear as thus described, and look more beautiful and lovely, than when he is beheld as grasping, holding, and retaining his people in his hands, out of which they never be plucked; and who are as so many gold rings, jewels, pearls, and precious stories, in his esteem; and as holding the bright stars, the ministers of the word, in there, who sparkle in their gifts and graces, like so many gems there: and particularly this may be expressive of the munificence and liberality of Christ, in the distribution of his gifts and graces to his people, so freely and generously, so largely and plenteously, and so wisely and faithfully, as he does; and a beautiful sight it is, to the eye of faith, to behold him with his hands full of grace, and a heart ready to distribute it;
his belly [is as] bright ivory, overlaid [with] sapphires: which most of the ancient interpreters understand of the human nature of Christ, described by one part of it, because of its frailty and weakness in itself; and is compared to bright ivory, partly because of its firmness and constancy in suffering, and partly because of its purity, holiness, and innocence; and is said to be “overlaid with sapphires”, because of its exaltation and glory at the right hand of God. The words may be rendered, “his bowels are as bright ivory”, c. d as in So 5:4; and may express the love, grace, mercy, pity, compassion of Christ to the sons of men; compared to “ivory”, or the elephant’s teeth, for the excellency of it, Christ’s love being better than life itself; and for the purity and sincerity of it, there being no hypocrisy in it; and for the firmness, constancy, and duration of it, it being from everlasting to everlasting, without any change or variation; and to an overlay or enamel of “sapphires”, for the riches, worth and value of it, it being preferable to all precious stones, or that can be desired. Some interpreters are of opinion, that not any part of the body, the belly or bowels, are here meant, but rather some covering of the same; for seems not so agreeable with the rules of decency, nor consistent with the spouse’s modesty, to describe her beloved by those parts to the daughters of Jerusalem; nor with the scope of the narration, which is to give distinguishing marks and characters, by which they might know him from another. Aben Ezra thinks the girdle is meant; which either may be his royal girdle, the girdle of righteousness and faithfulness; or his priestly girdle, said to be of gold; see Isa 11:5; or his prophetic girdle, the girdle of truth. The allusion may be to the embroidered coat of the high priest: in the holes and incisures of which, as Jarchi says, were put jewels and precious stones: or rather to the ephod with the breastplate, in which were twelve precious stones, and among these the sapphire; and which may represent Christ, as the great High Priest, bearing all his elect upon his heart in heaven; having entered there, in their name, to take possession of it for them, until they are brought into the actual enjoyment of it.
z “Et solitum digito beryllum adederat ignis”, Propert. l. 4. Eleg. 7. v. 9. a Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 5. Solin. Polyhistor. c. 65. Ruaeus de Gemmis, l. 9. c. 8. De Boot Hist. Gemm. l. 2. c. 70.
i, Dionys. Perieg. v. 1012. b “beryllo thalassio”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. c Epigr. l. 2. Ep. 25. d “viscera ejus”, Marckius, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
14 a His hands golden cylinders,
Filled in with stones of Tarshish.
The figure, according to Gesen., Heb. Wrterbuch, and literally also Heilgst., is derived from the closed hand, and the stained nails are compared to precious stones. both statements are incorrect; for (1) although it is true that then Israelitish women, as at the present day Egyptian and Arabian women, stained their eyes with stibium ( vid., under Isa 54:11), yet it is nowhere shown that they, and particularly men, stained the nails of their feet and their toes with the orange-yellow of the Alhenna (Lane’s Egypt, I 33-35); and (2) the word used is not , but ; it is thus the outstretched hands that are meant; and only these, not the closed fist, could be compared to “lilies,” for signifies not a ring (Cocc., Dpke, Bttch., etc.), but that which is rolled up, a roller, cylinder (Est 1:6), from , which properly means not (Venet., after Gebhardt: ), but . The hands thus are meant in respect of the fingers, which on account of their noble and fine form, their full, round, fleshy mould, are compared to bars of gold formed like rollers, garnished ( , like , Exo 28:17) with stones of Tarshish, to which the nails are likened. The transparent horn-plates of the nails, with the lunula, the white segment of a circle at their roots, are certainly, when they are beautiful, an ornament to the hand, and, without our needing to think of their being stained, are worthily compared to the gold-yellow topaz. Tarshish is not the onyx, which derives its Heb. name from its likeness to the finger-nail, but the , by which the word in this passage before us is translated by the Quinta and the Sexta, and elsewhere also by the lxx and Aquila. But the chrysolite is the precious stone which is now called the topaz. It receives the name Tarshish from Spain, the place where it was found. Pliny, xxxviii. 42, describes it as aureo fulgore tralucens . Bredow erroneously interprets Tarshish of amber. There is a kind of chrysolite, indeed, which is called chryselectron, because in colorem electri declinans . The comparison of the nails to such a precious stone (Luther, influenced by the consonance, and apparently warranted by the plena hyacinthis of the Vulg., has substituted golden rings, vol Trkissen, whose blue-green colour is not suitable here), in spite of Hengst., who finds it insipid, is as true to nature as it is tender and pleasing. The description now proceeds from the uncovered to the covered parts of his body, the whiteness of which is compared to ivory and marble.
14 b His body an ivory work of art,
Covered with sapphires.
The plur. or , from or ( vid., under Psa 40:9), signifies properly the tender parts, and that the inward parts of the body, but is here, like the Chald. , Dan 2:32, and the , Son 7:3, which also properly signifies the inner part of the body, , transferred to the body in its outward appearance. To the question how Shulamith should in such a manner praise that which is for the most part covered with clothing, it is not only to be answered that it is the poet who speaks by her mouth, but also that it is not the bride or the beloved, but the wife, whom he represents as thus speaking. (from the peculiar Hebraeo-Chald. and Targ. , which, after Jer 5:28, like khalak , creare , appears to proceed from the fundamental idea of smoothing) designates an artistic figure. Such a figure was Solomon’s throne, made of , the teeth of elephants, ivory,
(Note: Ivory is fully designated by the name , Lat. ebur , from the Aegypt. ebu , the Aegypto-Indian ibha , elephant.)
1Ki 10:18. Here Solomon’s own person, without reference to a definite admired work of art, is praised as being like an artistic figure made of ivory, – like it in regard to its glancing smoothness and its fine symmetrical form. When, now, this word of art is described as covered with sapphires ( , referred to , as apparently gramm., or as ideal, fem.), a sapphire-coloured robe is not meant (Hitzig, Ginsburg); for , which only means to disguise, would not at all be used of such a robe (Gen 38:14; cf. Gen 24:65), nor would the one uniform colour of the robe be designated by sapphires in the plur. The choice of the verb (elsewhere used of veiling) indicates a covering shading the pure white, and in connection with , thought of as accus., a moderating of the bright glance by a soft blue. For (a genuine Semit. word, like the Chald. ; cf. regarding = , under Psa 16:6) is the sky-blue sapphire (Exo 24:10), including the Lasurstein ( lapis lazuli), sprinkled with golden, or rather with gold-like glistening points of pyrites, from which, with the l omitted, sky-blue is called azur ( azure) ( vid., under Job 28:6). The word of art formed of ivory is quite covered over with sapphires fixed in it. That which is here compared is nothing else than the branching blue veins under the white skin.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(14) His hands . . .Galil, translated ring, is more probably a cylinder (from galal, to roll), referring to the rounded arm, ending in a well-shaped hand with beautiful nails.
Beryl.Heb. tarshish; LXX. . Possibly stones of Tarshish, and if so, either chrysolite or topaz, both said to have been first found in Tartessus, an ancient city of Spain, between the two mouths of the Btis (Guadalquiver). Mentioned as one of the precious stones in the breastplate of the High Priest (Exo. 28:20; Exo. 39:13). The LXX. adopt the various renderings =, , , or, as here, keep the original word.
Bright ivory.Literally, a work of ivory, i.e., a chef-duvre in ivory.
Sapphires.It is doubtful whether the sapphire of Scripture is the stone so called now, or the lapis-lazuli. The former best suits Exo. 28:18 and Job. 28:6, because lapis-lazuli is too soft for engraving. The comparison in the text either alludes to the blue veins showing through the white skin or to the colour of some portion of dress.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. His hands, etc. The rings better as an adjective, smoothly rounded. The arms and fingers taper, preserving their fulness to the nails, which are like enamel of beryl, or chrysolite, (Hebrew, the stone of Tarshish,) now called topaz, of a clear brown yellow and of glassy lustre.
His belly This word may refer to the entire surface of the body, and the word body would more truly translate it. The sapphire of the ancients was both our true sapphire a sky-blue stone, nearly as valuable as the diamond and the lapis lazuli, a blue with yellow specks. Probably the former is here meant, and as it overlays the body, it refers to the tunic. The hue of the sapphire is admirable to relieve and vary the general picture; nor is there anything indelicate in allusion to such parts of the person as, being usually covered, keep their whiteness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Son 5:14. His hands are as gold rings His hands are as gold finely turned, beset with a chrysolite. New Translation. Michaelis renders it, His hands are golden cylinders, set with chrysolites. The chrysolite is of a gold colour.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Swift are the returns of prayer; the request is no sooner asked than granted: Lo! Christ is here. I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; he admits the garden to be his own, and willingly visits the soul that by faith waits for his coming; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; all the produce is his own, and he delights in the gifts and graces that he hath bestowed; I have eaten my honey-comb with my honey; the doctrines of his gospel, in the faithful dispensation of which he delights; I have drunk my wine with my milk; sitting at the table of his grace, and partaking of the banquet which his spouse, like Esther, hath provided; yet she can give him only of his own: nor doth he partake alone of the provision, but welcomes and invites all his friends, the faithful members of his church, to come and sup with him: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved; in the gospel there is grace abounding; and whosoever will may come and feast upon the wine and milk, the great and precious promises contained in the word of God, without money and without price.
2nd, After the sweet communion which had passed between Christ and his church, we have a sad account of the interruption which arose from her security and slothful Spirit: negligent of her mercies, she is punished by having them withdrawn.
1. Sleep froze upon her. I sleep; alas! unfaithfulness brought on a decay of grace; and, through the prevalence of corruption, her heart grew cold and careless in too great a degree: yet there was still a strong desire after the Bridegroom; my heart waketh: though temptation prevailed, there was still a struggle.
2. Christ will not leave the soul in a backsliding state without warning. It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh: he is still beloved in some measure; and his voice, though indistinctly heard, is known: he knocks at the door of the heart, by the calls of his word, the convictions of his Spirit, and the alarms of his providences; and he pleads hard for admittance, with every endearing appellation: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; nothing can engage our hearts, if his love doth not: this he pleads as the most constraining argument; and adds what he has suffered on her account: My head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night, particularly of that fatal night when he agonized in the garden, and when his head was crowned with thorns, and covered with clotted gore. How stupid must be the heart which remains unaffected by such amazing grace! how grievous to requite such dying love with coldness and neglect!
3. With frivolous excuses she wants to cover her sinful slothfulness; as a person undressed and in bed, whose feet are washed, fears to dirty them, and hates to be disturbed, so she cared not to expose herself to any inconveniences for his sake, and rather chose to sleep on still and take her rest. Note; (1.) They who want to turn away from Christ, have always some pretext for their conduct. (2.) When we have once given way to corruption, and grown negligent in the path of duty, we shall find the difficulties of returning to it exceedingly great.
4. Christ by his power and grace overcomes our corruption, when we return to him in prayer and faith. My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, to unbar it, and open himself a passage to her heart; and this effectually wrought upon her: for,
5. My bowels were moved for him; gracious relentings, and a sense of base ingratitude, began to work; love kindled afresh in her heart, and fire could no longer contain. I rose up to open to my beloved, shook off dull sloth, and ran to meet him, and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock, with tears of bitter and penitential sorrow for her unfaithfulness, which were to Christ a favour of a sweet smell; or when she put her hands on the lock, she found the sweet favour of his grace; for those who draw near to Christ will, by blessed experience, ever taste how good the Lord is.
6. To her bitter disappointment, when she expected to meet her beloved, he was withdrawn in displeasure at her slothfulness. I opened to my beloved to give him a welcome reception; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone, and left her to mourn her folly and negligence; or departed, to prove her sincerity and earnestness in searching after him; and with grief and eagerness she cries, He is gone, he is gone: my soul failed when he spake: either at his parting in displeasure, or at the kind language that he used, which served to upbraid her base ingratitude. Note; (1.) When we have been faithless, no wonder if, even after our return, the Lord punish us by leaving us comfortless for a time. (2.) A soul, that hath ever tasted the sweetness of communion with Jesus, must be hardened indeed by unfaithfulness, if she do not grieve at his absence. (3.) It is a gracious symptom of some remaining grace, when the heart possesses tender sensibility, and feels the evil and ingratitude of its departures from God.
7. She sets herself to seek him, but meets with sad discouragement. I sought him, in the ordinances of his service, and the courts of his house, but I could not find him: I called him aloud, in fervent prayer, but he gave me no answer, no sensible tokens of his regard. Nay, she was not only forsaken, but abused, while through the city she inquired as before after her beloved; the watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me: which may refer to the true ministers of God, who sometimes are too severe in their upbraidings, and harsh in their censures, and with the terrors of the law wound those who need the healing of the gospel. Or rather false teachers are intended, who persecute and afflict the true members of Christ, and with pernicious errors and heretics rend the peace of the church. The keepers of the walls took away my veil from me: they, who by office and profession should have been her comforters, expose her to shame, and do her the greatest injury; enemies often both to the doctrines and practice of true godliness, and most effectually undermining the interests of the church, which they pretend to serve. The treacherous watchmen of Zion have ever done her greater injuries than her most avowed enemies.
8. She earnestly beseeches the daughters of Jerusalem to befriend her. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, or adjure you: charges them on oath, which intimates her own eagerness and fervent affection; if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him that I am sick of love. The absence of Jesus is insupportable to truly penitent souls; and as the fainting hart thirsteth for the water-brooks, so eager are their longings after him their Saviour.
3rdly, In answer to the charge given,
1. The daughters of Jerusalem inquire after the description of the person whom the church so earnestly sought. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? Such is the title they give her, and most deserving of it she appears; for no beauty is like the beauty of holiness, wherein the saints are arrayed; and the image of Jesus, stamped on all his living members, makes them glorious in the eyes of God and all good men. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? which some take as a slighting question, as if he, whom she seemed so distressed about, was scarcely worthy such concern; and then these daughters of Jerusalem must be the formal professors, who are strangers to the warmth of a zealous heart; and, having never known the excellencies of the Lord Jesus themselves, wonder at, or deride, the eagerness and solicitude which others shew in seeking him. But it may also be the serious inquiry of young converts, desiring themselves to be more acquainted with Christ, his person, and offices, that they might know him better, and love him with more enlarged affection.
2. She launches out into a description of his excellencies, in images borrowed from the human form. My beloved is white and ruddy, the lily and rose unite in him; not so much respecting his human form while he abode upon earth in the flesh; but, as God incarnate, to save sinners he was full of grace and truth, fairer than the children of men, in the unsullied purity of the human nature, and infinitely exalted above them in the glory of the divine: the chiefest among ten thousand, nor earth beneath, nor heaven above, affords his fellow, neither angels nor men are to be compared with him; or a standard-bearer over ten thousand, under his banners his faithful people are collected, ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, and he exalted above them all, as an ensign on a hill. His head is as the most fine gold, which may refer to his divine nature, which gave value to all the sufferings of the humanity; or may signify his sovereign dominion and authority over his church, and the powerful influences that each member derives from him their glorious head: his locks are bushy, and black as a raven; the faithful, who spring from him, are thus numerous and beautiful; or it expresses his eternal youth, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. His eyes are as the eyes of doves, sharp-sighted, yea, all-seeing, withal full of gentleness and love, looking with tenderest sympathy on his poor afflicted people; by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set, appearing in their greatest beauty: his cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers, when manifesting his presence in the midst of his people, and shedding abroad his love in their hearts, they enjoy delightful communion with him, and rejoice in the light of his countenance: his lips are like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh, pure are all his words, precious all his promises, inestimably fragrant the doctrines of his grace, which speak pardon, righteousness, and salvation to the souls of believers. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl, all the works of his hands in providence and grace are exquisite, and to be admired: or his hands are full of the gifts of his munificence, the graces and consolations of his Spirit, which he liberally dispenses to all believers, whom, as a king, he is pleased to honour: his belly is, or his bowels are, as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires, which some understand of the human nature of Christ, as exalted by its union with the divine; others of that tenderness and pity, which lead him to yearn over the distresses of his saints. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold; he is Almighty, to sustain the weight of the sins of a world, which are laid upon him; and of the government of his church and kingdom; and also to trample under foot all his enemies and theirs. His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars; majestic, exalted higher than the kings of the earth. His mouth is most sweet, or sweetnesses; the very essence of delight, when speaking in his gospel the great and precious promises, the most reviving news that ever greeted sinners’ ears; or when sealing with the kisses of his love our pardon and peace. Yea, he is altogether lovely; description cannot paint his excellence; when fancy hath lavished all her stores, and imagination collected every beauty that the creatures ever yet possessed, the half of his glory is not told us.
3. She concludes with triumphant exultation in her beloved. This is my beloved; I love him; no wonder, since his beauty is so transcendant; and this is my friend, on whom I have placed all my dependence, whose kindness ten thousand times I have proved: know him therefore, love him, seek him, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
The Church again unites in one view two representations more of Jesus. The hands, which set forth his bounty, and the belly, which being the tenderest part of the body, represents his wonderful condescension to his people. And in both the Church aims to show how gracious the Lord is.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Son 5:14 His hands [are as] gold rings set with the beryl: his belly [is as] bright ivory overlaid [with] sapphires.
Ver. 14. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl. ] Or, Chrysolite; Heb., Tarshish, whence our word turkeis, as it may seem, a precious stone, of colour blue like the sky, or, as others say, green like the sea. Asher was graven upon this stone, who dwelt near the sea. Exo 28:20 Some write, that in former times this stone was most usually set in such rings as lovers did use to give one to another, or in marriage rings; because of the power that was thought to be in it to procure and continue love and liking one of them towards another. Whatsoever stone it is, whether a beryl, chrysolite, carbuncle, hyacinth, onyx (for all these ways it is rendered), the Church’s meaning is, that all the works of Christ, whether in the state of humiliation or of exaltation – for redemption we have by his abasement, application of it by his advancement – are most rare, dear, precious, and glorious, as numbers of rings filled with all manner of costly stones; they are acceptable and hononrable before God and man. And like as great men are known by their rings and rich jewels, so is Christ by his saints, the work of his hands. Isa 64:8
His belly is as bright ivory, overlaid with sapphires.
“ Ingemuit miserans graviter, dextramque tetendit. ” – Virg.
as gold rings = like golden cylinders.
set with the beryl = adorned with gems of Tarshish (alluding to the nails, of which great care was taken)
bright = polished.
hands: Exo 15:6, Psa 44:4-7, Psa 99:4, Isa 9:7, Isa 52:13
his belly: Son 7:2, Exo 24:10, Isa 54:11, Eze 1:26-28
Reciprocal: Exo 28:18 – sapphire Job 28:6 – sapphires Son 7:4 – ivory Isa 3:21 – rings
Son 5:14-16. His hands as gold rings set with beryl Beautiful and precious, and richly adorned, as it were, with gold rings set with precious stones; his belly as bright ivory Which seems to be here used for the whole body, reaching from the neck to the bottom of the belly; overlaid with sapphires Of a pure and bright white colour, intermixed with blue veins; for some sapphires are of a bright blue colour. His legs as pillars of marble White, and straight, and well shaped, and strong; set upon sockets of fine gold His feet are compared to gold, for their singular brightness, for which they are compared to fine brass, Rev 1:15; his countenance Hebrew, his aspect or appearance, his form or person; is as Lebanon, &c. In respect of its cedars, tall, and upright, and stately. He is altogether lovely Not to run out into more particulars. This is my beloved, O ye daughters, &c. And therefore you have no cause to wonder if I am transported with love to so excellent a personage.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments