Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 6:5
Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
Son 6:5
Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me.
Overcoming Christ
This is the language of the heavenly Bridegroom to His spouse. In great condescension He speaks to her, and bids her take note that her eyes have overcome Him. Now, it must not be supposed, because of the language of the text, that there is any opposition between Christ and His people which has to be overcome. He loves His bride far too well to allow any division of feeling to separate them in heart from one another. Nor is it to be imagined that the spouse had to gain some blessing from an unwilling hand, and therefore pleaded with her eyes as well as with her lips. Oh, no! There is a holy discipline in Christs house that sometimes withholds the coveted blessing till we have learned to pray in downright earnest; but the power that wins the victory in prayer has its real basis in the love of Christ Himself.
I. First, notice that looking on his Church has already overcome the heart of our heavenly Bridegroom. It was so in the far-distant past, not when she looked at Him, but when He looked at her, that she overcame Him. You know, too, when He lived down here among men, how often His inmost heart was stirred as He looked upon the people whom He loved. And, now that our Lord is risen from the dead, He still feels the power of the sight of His redeemed. He looks down to the saints on earth, and sees the myriads who are all trusting in Him, all conquering sin by His might, and all spared from going down to the pit by the merit of His precious blood; and He seems again to say, Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me; as if Christ felt that a glance at His people brought almost too much joy for Him. What a day will that be when He shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; when all His people, raised from the dead, or changed in the twinkling of an eye, shall admire Him, and He shall be admired in them! I can well conceive of Him saying in that day, Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me. The joy that Christ will feel in His own sight of His people, and in the glances of the multitudes that He has saved, must be a delight beyond anything we can even imagine.
II. The eyes of Christs chosen ones still overcome Him. And, first, the eyes of His chosen overcome Him, when they look up in deep repentance, glancing at Him hopefully through their tears. There is a wondrous power in the penitent eye, in the full confession that makes a clean breast of every sin before the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that when we have once repented, we do not leave off repenting, for penitence is a grace that is as long-lived as faith; and as long as we are capable of believing, we shall also necessarily need to repent, for we shall be always sinning. So, whenever the child of God feels that he has gone astray in any way, that, though he did live near to God, he has gone back, and grown cold in heart, he has only to come to Christ again, and cry after Him, and confess his folly in having left Him, and his ingratitude in having been so indifferent to Him, and Christ will receive him back again. Another kind of glance that has great power with the Lord Jesus is when the soul looks to Christ for salvation. Then it is that the eyes vanquish the Saviour. Many times since then, you and I have looked to Jesus Christ when a sense of sin has been very heavy upon us. While the eyes of faith are thus resting upon Jesus, He is overcome by them, and He darts inexpressible joy into our hearts as He says to us, Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me. His heart is carried by storm by the faith-looks of His children. We also give another overcoming glance when we look to the Lord Jesus Christ for all things. When thine eyes are full of submission, full of hope, full of trust, it cannot be long before the Lord will, somehow or other, deliver thee, for He will say, I cannot hold out against thee any longer. Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. Again, there are the eyes of prayer which often overcome the Lord Jesus Christ, and this victory comes, sometimes, when we are praying for ourselves. You cannot look steadily to God and say, Lord, I am sure about Thy faithfulness, I am sure about Thy promise, and I cannot and will not doubt it, but before long you shall see the hand of the Lord made bare for your deliverance, and you also shall be among the happy number who have to bear witness that, verily, there is a God in Israel. Thus does prayer prevail with God when we present it for ourselves. So does it also overcome Him when we pray on behalf of others. Once again, there is another time when the eyes of the believer seem to overcome the heart of Christ, and that is, when we have turned right away from the world, and looked to Him alone. I have known it so again and again; have not you? At such seasons my soul has felt ready to swoon away in His presence. You remember how John in Parinos, when Jesus appeared to him, said, When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead; and well he might, for he had a brighter vision of his Lord than you and I can have at present. But even faiths view of Him is enough to transport us straight away into heaven itself. Well, whenever we are thus happily engaged in contemplation of our Lord, not only is He very near to us, but He is greatly moved by our love, and He says to us, Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me. And, meanwhile, to prove how overcome He is, He begins to reveal Himself more fully to us. Last of all, sometimes the eyes of Christians have great power in overcoming Christ when they long for His appearing. Have you never seen the saints lie dying with such language as this on their lips, Why are His chariots so long in coming Why tarrieth He? I have heard them say, with evident regret, I thought to have been in heaven long ere now. Why not let me go? And they have been like a poor thrush which I have sometimes seen a boy try to keep upon a little bit of turf; it longed for the broad fields, and beat itself against the wires of its cage. So is it with Our dear suffering friends, at times; yet they have learned patiently to wait till their change came; but often, their eyes have been so fixed upon their Lord that they have said to Him, Wilt Thou never come? And, at last, Christ has looked out of heaven so sweetly on those sick ones, and He has said, Your eyes have overcome Me, come up higher; and they have leaped out of their body into His bosom, and the pierced hands have received their blood-washed spirits, and they have been for ever with the Lord.(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Turn away thine eyes] As the sight of so many fires after night was extremely dazzling, and the eye could not bear the sight, so the look of the bride was such as pierced the heart, and quite overwhelmed the person who met it. Hence the bridegroom naturally cries out, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.”
Thy hair is as a flock of goats] See on So 4:1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Turn away thine eyes from me, for I can scarce bear the lustre of them. It is a poetical and amatorious expression, signifying how beautiful the church was in Christs eyes, and how passionately he loved her.
Thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead: this clause, and the whole following verse, are repeated from Son 4:1,2. And this repetition is not vain nor absurd, but very agreeable to the nature of a pastoral and song of love, as being an effect and testimony of vehement affection, and besides it confirms what was said before, and showeth that the churchs miscarriages, and Christs desertion of her upon it, had not made him change his opinion of her, or affection to her.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. (Son 4:9;Gen 32:28; Exo 32:9-14;Hos 12:4). This is the way “thearmy” (So 6:4) “overcomes”not only enemies, but Jesus Christ Himself, with eyes fixed on Him(Psa 25:15; Mat 11:12).Historically, So 6:3-5,represent the restoration of Jesus Christ to His Church at theresurrection; His sending her forth as an army, with new powers(Mar 16:15-18; Mar 16:20);His rehearsing the same instructions (see on So6:6) as when with them (Lu24:44).
overcomeliterally,”have taken me by storm.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Turn away thine eyes from me,…. Her eyes of faith and love; not through dislike of them, but as ravished with them; his passions were so struck by them, and his heart pierced with them, that he could stand it out no longer against her; see So 4:9. Some render the words, “turn about thine eyes over against me” b; this being the first time of meeting, after her ungrateful treatment of him, she might be filled with shame and confusion for it, and therefore hung down her head, or looked on one side; wherefore he encourages her to look him full in the face, with a holy confidence; for such looks of faith are very agreeable to Christ; see So 2:14;
for they have overcome me; that is, her eyes, they had made a conquest of his heart; which does not imply weakness in Christ, but condescending grace, that he should suffer himself, as it were, to be overpowered by the faith and love of his people, who has conquered them and all their enemies. This clause is very differently rendered: by some, “they have strengthened me” c; his desire towards his church, and the enjoyment of her company: by others, the reverse, “are stronger than me”, or “have taken away my strength” d; so that he was spiritless, and as one dead, or in an ecstasy: by others, “they have made me fly away” e; that is, out of himself; so that he was not master of himself, could not bear the force and brightness of her eyes: by others, “they have lifted me up” f; revived, cheered, and comforted him, through sympathy with her, in virtue of their near union: by others, “they have made me proud”, or “prouder” g; see Isa 3:5. Christ has a kind of pride as well as pleasure in his church; he is proud of the beauty he has put upon her, of the graces he has wrought in her; and especially of her faith, when in exercise; see Mt 8:10; and by others, “they have made me fiercer” h; not with anger and indignation, but with love; there is a force, a fierceness in love, as well as in wrath: “love [is] strong as death, [and] jealousy [is] cruel as the grave”, So 8:6; it is so in the church, much more in Christ. All which shows the power of faith, to which mighty things are ascribed, Heb 11:1; and here the conquest of Christ himself;
thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead; from Mount Gilead, [See comments on So 4:1].
b , Sept. “ex adverso mei”; Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Marckius so Montanus and Ainsworth. c “corroborant me”, Marckius; so Kimchi, and Ben Melech. d “Fortiores fuerunt me”, Pagninus; so Aben Ezra. e So the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions. f Mercerus, Ainsworth. g Tigurine version, Piscator; so Jarchi. h Montanus, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5 a Turn away thine eyes from me,
For overpoweringly they assail me.
Dpke translates, ferocire me faciunt ; Hengst.: they make me proud; but although , after Psa 138:3, may be thus used, yet that would be an effect produced by the eyes, which certainly would suggest the very opposite of the request to turn them away. The verb means to be impetuous, and to press impetuously against any one; the Hiph. is the intens. of this trans. signification of the Kal: to press overpoweringly against one, to infuse terror, terrorem incutere . The lxx translates it by , which is also used of the effect of terror (“to make to start up”), and the Syr. by afred , to put to flight, because arheb signifies to put in fear, as also arhab = khawwaf , terrefacere ; but here the meaning of the verb corresponds more with the sense of Arab. r”b , to be placed in the state of ro’b , i.e., of paralyzing terror. If she directed her large, clear, penetrating eyes to him, he must sink his own: their glance is unbearable by him. This peculiar form the praise of her eyes here assume; but then the description proceeds as at Son 4:1, Son 2:3. The words used there in praise of her hair, her teeth, and her cheeks, are here repeated.
5 b Thy hair is like a flock of goats
Which repose downwards on Giliad.
6 Thy teeth like a flock of lambs
Which come up from the washing,
All of them bearing twins,
And a bereaved one is not among them.
7 Like a piece of pomegranate thy temples
Behind thy veil.
The repetition is literal, but yet not without change in the expression, – there, , here, ; there, , tonsarum , here, , agnarum (Symm., Venet. ); for , in its proper signification, is like the Arab. rachil , richl , richleh , the female lamb, and particularly the ewe. Hitzig imagines that Solomon here repeats to Shulamith what he had said to another donna chosen for marriage, and that the flattery becomes insipid by repetition to Shulamith, as well as also to the reader. But the romance which he finds in the Song is not this itself, but his own palimpsest, in the style of Lucian’s transformed ass. The repetition has a morally better reason, and not one so subtle. Shulamith appears to Solomon yet more beautiful than on the day when she was brought to him as his bride. His love is still the same, unchanged; and this both she and the reader or hearer must conclude from these words of praise, repeated now as they were then. There is no one among the ladies of the court whom he prefers to her, – these must themselves acknowledge her superiority.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(5) Overcome.Marg., puffed up; Heb. hirbun, from the verb rahab, a word whose root-idea seems to be to show spirit against oppression or prejudice. (See Isa. 3:5; Pro. 6:3.) The Hiphil therefore = make me spirited, or bold. (Comp. Psa. 138:3.) The LXX. and Vulg., however, followed by many moderns, take it in the sense of scare or dazzle.
For the rest of the description, see Note, Son. 4:1, seqq.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Thine eyes have overcome me Better, Have unmanned me; as if he could not bear the full blaze of her charms.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Son 6:5. Thy hair is a flock of goats See on chap. Son 4:1 and the Explication des Textes Difficiles, p. 323.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
Some have translated these words, Turn thine eyes to me, and they say it means the call of Jesus to his church to be always looking to him. Isa 45:22 . And, indeed, there is but too much reason for the perpetual call of Jesus to the church to this effect: but the more general opinion is that Christ expresseth himself as is here said, intimating that such is his love of his church, that when her faith is in lively actings, it compels him to comply with her request. Thus in the case of Lot: Haste thee; escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou become thither. Gen 32:26Gen 32:26 . And in the case of the woman of Canaan, Mat 15:28 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Son 6:5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
Ver. 5. Turn away thine eyes from me. ] Or, Turn thine eyes right upon me; so Son 6:13 he calls, “Return, return, O Shulamite”; and then the sense is, Look up unto me by faith. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isa 45:22 ; Isa 31:1 ; Isa 42:18 But to keep to our translation. Christ had before confessed himself ravished with one of her eyes; and here he saith the same in effect. Stupenda sane dignatio, a wonderful condescension. We use to say, Majesty and love cannot meet or cohabit: a because love is the abasing of the soul to all services. But it is otherwise in Christ: majesty and love, even unto ravishment, meet in his holy heart. If the Church be sick of love toward him, he would she should know that he is overcome with love towards her, and that there is no love lost between them.
Thy hair is as a flock of goats, &c.
a Non bene conveniunt nec in una sede morantur, maiestas et amor.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
overcome me = taken me by storm (as we say). This is the force of the Hiphil.
as = like.
that appear = springing down. Compare Son 4:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
away: Gen 32:26-28, Exo 32:10, Jer 15:1, Mat 15:27, Mat 15:28
overcome me: or, puffed me up, Son 4:1-3
Reciprocal: Son 4:9 – with one of Son 7:4 – thine eyes Jer 50:19 – Gilead
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Son 6:5. Turn away thine eyes from me It is a poetical expression, signifying how beautiful the church was in Christs eyes. Thy hair, &c. This clause and the whole following verse are repeated from Son 4:1-2. And this repetition is not vain, but confirms what was said before, that the churchs miscarriage had not alienated Christs affection from her.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:5 {c} Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
(c) This declares the exceeding love of Christ toward his Church.