By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. Ver. 1. _By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth._] She had not a name good enough for him, she therefore makes use of this powerful _periphrasis._ Before he had been "her beloved," but now "the love... [ Continue Reading ]
I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. Ver. 2. _I will rise now, and go about the city, &c._] The holy city Jerusalem, whither "the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimon... [ Continue Reading ]
The watchmen that go about the city found me: [to whom I said], Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? Ver. 3. _The watchmen that go about the city found me,_] _i.e., _ The angels, who are God's watchmen _a_ over the world, and are so called somewhere in Scripture, as also ministering spirits, guardians o... [ Continue Reading ]
Song of Solomon 3:4 [It was] but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. Ver. 4. _It was but a little that I passed from them._] It is... [ Continue Reading ]
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, till he please. Ver. 5. _I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem._] As a further fruit of her revived faith, she renews her contestation and charge of sanctification of... [ Continue Reading ]
Who [is] this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? Ver. 6. _Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness?_] "Who is this?" say the angels, those friends of the bridegroom, as some will have it, admiring the... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold his bed, which [is] Solomon's; threescore valiant men [are] about it, of the valiant of Israel. Ver. 7. Behold his bed, which is Solomon's, &c.] Or, Behold the bed of Solomon, as the Greek, explaining the Hebrew, hath it. Solomon was a famous figure of Christ; of his bed we read nothing, but... [ Continue Reading ]
They all hold swords, [being] expert in war: every man [hath] his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Ver. 8. _They all hold swords, being expert in war._] They not only bear arms, but can handle them. Young Jether wore a sword, but he durst not draw it, Jdg 8:20 or strike with it wh... [ Continue Reading ]
King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. Ver. 9. _King Solomon made himself a chariot._] _Hic locus lubricus est et difficilis._ This is a hard text, saith one. It had been easier, perhaps, if commentators had not made it so hard. The word rendered chariot, is by others rendered... [ Continue Reading ]
He made the pillars thereof [of] silver, the bottom thereof [of] gold, the covering of it [of] purple, the midst thereof being paved [with] love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. Ver. 10. _He made the pillars thereof,_] _i.e., _ The faithful ministers, called "pillars," Gal 2:9 and that, Atlas-like,... [ Continue Reading ]
Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. Ver. 11. _Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion,_] _i.e., _ All ye faithful souls which follow the Lord Christ, the Lamb tha... [ Continue Reading ]