Song of Solomon 1:1 1. _The song of songs, which_is _Solomon's_ For the superscription, which probably comes from a later hand than that of the author, see Introduction, § 1, p. ix. Chap. Song of Solomon 1:2-8. In the King's Household The first scene from the life of the heroine called the Shulam... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth_ It may be doubted whether this is spoken by the Shulammite of her absent lover, or by one of the ladies of the court, of Solomon, In favour of the former view, there is the likelihood that the heroine would first speak, and the change of pronoun in Song... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because of the savour of thy good ointments_ Lit. -For fragrance thy ointments are good," i.e. as R.V. THINE OINTMENTS HAVE A GOODLY FRAGRANCE. This clause is a continuance of the praise begun in Song of Solomon 1:2, not the reason for it. The particle translated _because of_in the A.V. stands here... [ Continue Reading ]
_Draw me, we will run after thee_ Better, DRAW ME AFTER THEE, THAT WE MAY RUN. This rendering is contrary to the Heb. accents, which connect _after thee_with _RUN_, but in that case it is difficult to see who are meant by _we_. By taking the words as suggested we get the maiden and her deliverer as... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the Shulammite, under the inquisitive glances of the court ladies, who probably desire to see whether they have in any degree accomplished their purpose of rousing her admiration for the king, remembers her rustic appearance, and explains that the swarthy colour which is so different from their... [ Continue Reading ]
_because I_am _black_ The word for black here is a diminutive of the former word, and would be better translated SWARTHY. _the sun hath looked upon me_ Rather, HATH SCORCHED ME (R.V.). _my mother's children_ Lit. SONS. These are not, as Ewald and others conjecture, her step-brothers. They are rath... [ Continue Reading ]
_where thou feedest_, &c. Rather, _where thou wilt pasture_(thy flock), _where thou wilt make_(them) _rest at noon_. -Feedest" is in English ambiguous, but the Heb. word is not. Cp. Genesis 37:16, "Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed (their flocks)." _as one that turneth aside_ Vulg. _ne vagari in... [ Continue Reading ]
Song of Solomon 1:7 is spoken by the Shulammite, asking her lover where she will find him at noon, and Song of Solomon 1:8 is the mocking comment of the daughters of Jerusalem. Martineau, indeed, supposes that the lover actually appears here, at the king's residence in Jerusalem, and she asks him wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_by the footsteps of the flock_ i.e. hard on the footsteps, in the very tracks of the sheep, until she reaches the place where the shepherds" tents are set up, and there she will find him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Song of Solomon 1:9 Chap. Song of Solomon 2:7. A King's Love despised In this scene Solomon presses his love upon the Shulammite for the first time; but in reply to his endeavours to win her she always utters praises of her absent lover. She contrasts their humble woodland resting-place with the ro... [ Continue Reading ]
_O my love_ Rather, O MY FRIEND; cp. the use of _ami_in French between lovers. This word _ra‛yâh_is found only in the Song of Solomon, except once in the plural in Judges 11:37, where Jephthah's daughter says "I and my companions," and in that case there is an alternative reading. It is used in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy cheeks are comely_ The LXX have τί ὡραιώθησαν σιαγόνες σου, -How comely are thy cheeks," which would be a very good reading. _with rows_of jewels] Most probably these are strings, either of beads formed of the precious metals, or of precious stones, hanging down over the cheeks in loops. R.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
_We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver_ Rather, STRINGS OF GOLDEN BEADS _will we make thee, with_ POINTS _of silver_. These more splendid adornments will be substituted for her modest country ornaments.... [ Continue Reading ]
_While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof_ R.V. SAT … SENT FORTH. So long she says as the king was on his divan her spikenard gave forth its perfume. _his table_ Heb. _mçsabh_or _mçsçbh_, probably a divan or seat set round a room. Ewald and Delitzsch, followi... [ Continue Reading ]
The Shulammite replies to Solomon's wooing.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A bundle_ From Isaiah 3:20 we learn that Israelite women were accustomed to carry perfume boxes. The bundle of myrrh here would seem to be something of that kind, probably a small bag with myrrh resin in it. _myrrh_ Heb. _môr_. It is the _Balsamodendron myrrha_of botanists, a low, thorny, ragged-l... [ Continue Reading ]
_camphire_ R.V. HENNA-FLOWERS, the _Lawsonia inermis_or henna plant, from which Eastern women get the reddish yellow colour with which they stain their hands and feet (Tristram, _op. cit_. p. 340). It has a strongly perfumed flower which takes the form of yellowish white clusters. It is found to-day... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou_hast _doves" eyes_ Rather, as R.V., THINE EYES ARE (AS) DOVES, i.e. are dove-like. As a rule in such comparisons the particle of comparison _ke_= as stands before the predicate (see Ges. _Gramm_. 141 _d_, note). But this form is more emphatic. The absence of the particle does not consequently... [ Continue Reading ]
In these verses the king continues his praises of the Shulammite, while she continues to think only of her absent lover. In Song of Solomon 1:15 the pronouns and the corresponding adjectives are feminine, while in Song of Solomon 1:16 they are masculine. Consequently in Song of Solomon 1:15 Solomon... [ Continue Reading ]
_our bed_is _green_ R.V. rightly, OUR COUCH. She recalls the green sward of the meadows, or possibly some leafy arbour where she had reclined with her beloved. Siegfried would understand the words of the marriage bed, sprinkled with sweet smelling substances; but that is incompatible with the follow... [ Continue Reading ]
Render, THE BEAMS OF OUR HOUSES ARE CEDARS, AND OUR RAFTERS ARE CYPRESSES. The meaning is not that their houses are built of cedar, but that the cedar trees and fir trees form the roof over their heads as they seek shelter under them. Perhaps the plural _houses_may be significant. They have not one,... [ Continue Reading ]