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 ]
Song of Solomon 2:1-2. In Song of Solomon 2:1 the bride speaks, describing herself as a humble meadow flower unfit to be in such a luxurious place as that in which she now finds herself, and in Song of Solomon 2:2 Solomon replies. 1. Render, I AM A CROCUS OF SHARON, A LILY OF THE VALLEYS. _the rose... [ Continue Reading ]
Solomon replies, turning her modest comparison into an exaltation of her above the ladies of the palace by saying, "My friend is indeed a lily and she is out of place, but only because the palace ladies are as thistles in comparison." _Chôach_is perhaps a thistle here. Tristram, _Fauna and Flora of... [ Continue Reading ]
_the apple tree_ The Heb. word is _tappûach_. Tristram, _Fauna and Flora of Palestine_, p. 294, takes it to mean the apricot; while Delitzsch, in his commentary on Proverbs, suggests the citron or orange, but neither view has more than a slight support. As between _apple_, which is held to be the tr... [ Continue Reading ]
In these verses the Shulammite replies, but turns her thoughts away from her royal lover to her betrothed, and compares him as contrasted with other young men to a fruitful and shady _tappûach_tree among the other trees of the wood.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love_ Such expressions as -banqueting house" and -his banner" suggest a regal magnificence which could not belong to any kindness or hospitality which a rustic lover could shew to his loved one. But the first expression is simply HOU... [ Continue Reading ]
_flagons_ The Heb. _"ashîshôth_means RAISIN CAKES, cp. Hosea 3:1, and is connected possibly with Arab. _"assasa_, -to found" or -establish," and so -cakes of pressed fruit." The LXX translate ἐν μύροις and the Vulg. _floribus_, under the impression that the Shulammite calls for restoratives to preve... [ Continue Reading ]
The verb here should be taken as expressing a wish. _O that his left hand were under my head, and his right hand were embracing me_: or, _His left hand would be under my head_. Cp. Song of Solomon 8:3, where the same words recur in a kind of refrain, and where they must unmistakeably be taken to exp... [ Continue Reading ]
_I charge you_ I ADJURE YOU. _by the roes, and by the hinds of the field_ The _tsěbhî_, -roe," is according to Tristram (_Fauna and Flora of Palestine_, p. 5) the gazelle, _Gazella dorcas_. He says, "It is extremely common in every part of the country S. of Lebanon. I have seen it in the Mount of O... [ Continue Reading ]
Song of Solomon 2:8-17. The Beloved comes The scene is evidently changed from Jerusalem to some royal residence in the country. The lover, like the Shulammite herself, belongs to the northern hills; and as he appears here, it is more natural to suppose that the scene has been transferred thither th... [ Continue Reading ]
_The voice of my beloved_ This is the literal rendering of the Hebrew, but the word _qôl_, -sound" or -voice," is often used with a following genitive as an interjection, and then -Hark!" is the best equivalent. (See Ges. _Gramm_. § 146 _b_.) Thus in Genesis 4:10, "The voice of thy brother's blood c... [ Continue Reading ]
_My beloved_is _like a roe or a young hart_ Preferably, LIKE A GAZELLE OR A YOUNG HART. _our wall_ The possessive pronoun here must, on the hypothesis we have adopted, refer to the Shulammite and the court ladies among whom she is. She speaks of her lover as having now arrived, as standing outside... [ Continue Reading ]
_My beloved spake_ Lit. _has answered_or _answers_, but the word _"ânâh_is constantly used like its Greek equivalent ἀποκρίνεσθαι, of beginning to speak when occasion seems to demand it, though no word has been previously uttered (cp. the Gospels _passim_). This is the only instance of the introduct... [ Continue Reading ]
In this and the two following verses we have one of the loveliest descriptions of the spring in Syria that was ever penned. _the winter is past_ The word _sěthâw_, used for winter, does not occur elsewhere in the O.T., but is the same as the Arabic _shitâ_, which is also used in the vulgar language... [ Continue Reading ]
_the flowers appear on the earth_ The outburst of spring flowers in Palestine is wonderful. Stanley, _Sinai and Palestine_, p. 139, says: "The hills and valleys … glow with what is peculiar to Palestine, a profusion of wild flowers, daisies, the white flower called the Star of Bethlehem, but especia... [ Continue Reading ]
_the fig tree putteth forth her green figs_ The word for -green fig" is _paggâh_, which occurs in its Aramaic form in the name _Bethphage_. According to Riehm's _Handwörterbuch_, the fig bears two kinds of figs. (1) There is the early fig (Heb. _bikkûrâh_). These, when unripe, are called _paggîm_. T... [ Continue Reading ]
_clefts of the rock_ Rather, _hiding places of the rock_. The word _chaghwç_occurs only here and in the quotation from an older prophet which is found in Jeremiah 49:16 and Obadiah 1:3. There is no root known in Heb. from which the word can be derived, but its meaning is fixed by the Arab. _hagan_,... [ Continue Reading ]
In answer to her lover's request that she should let him hear her voice the bride sings a fragment of a vineyard-watcher's song. Probably, as Oettli suggests, he had heard her sing it before, and would recognise her by it, for she had not as yet revealed herself to him. He had been watching for her... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is addressed by the bride to her companions within the house, or is spoken in a loving rapture to herself. Some however think that it is sung to the lover. _he feedeth among the lilies_ Rather, as in R.V., HE FEEDETH _his flock_ AMONG THE LILIES. It may also be rendered, _the shepherd am... [ Continue Reading ]
Alarmed for his safety, she now exhorts her lover to depart till the evening when he might return with greater safety. _Until the day break_ R.V. UNTIL THE DAY BE COOL, lit. _until the day blow_, i.e. until the evening wind rises; cp. Genesis 3:8, where -at the wind of the day" is properly rendered... [ Continue Reading ]