_In this chapter, after the title of the book,_ ver. 1 _we have Christ and his church, Christ and a believer, expressing their esteem for each other._ (1.) _The bride, the church, speaks to the bridegroom,_ Song of Solomon 1:2 _to the daughters of Jerusalem,_ Song of Solomon 1:5 _and then to the Bri... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SONG OF SONGS, WHICH IS SOLOMON'S— This is a Hebraism, which signifies _the most excellent song:_ the latter part of the title ought perhaps to have been rendered, _which is concerning Solomon._ The first day's eclogue commences at this chapter, and is continued to ch. Song of Solomon 2:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HIM KISS ME WITH THE KISSES OF HIS MOUTH— The Hebrew idiom delights in redundancies of this kind; so in Psalms 17:10. _With their mouth they speak:_ Psalms 66:17. _I cried with my mouth:_ and in ch. Song of Solomon 8:7 of this song, _would be utterly contemned_ is in the original, _contemning th... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE OF THE SAVOUR, &C.— The eastern nations, and indeed the ancients in general, dealt much in unguents, which in the hot countries are necessary to brace and close up the pores of the body: fragrant ointments were especially used on nuptial and other festival occasions. See Psalms 45:8.; Prover... [ Continue Reading ]
DRAW ME, &C.— The author of the New Translation renders this verse thus; SPOUSE: _O draw me after thee:_ VIRGINS: _We will run to the fragrance of thy perfumes._ SPOUSE: _The king hath brought me into his apartments._ VIRGINS: _We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will celebrate thy love more tha... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM BLACK, BUT COMELY— The word שׁחורה _shechorah,_ rendered _black,_ signifies brown, swarthy, or dark-complexioned, and denotes such a duskiness as that of the morning, when some little light begins to appear. The appellation of _fair,_ which is given to the bride in the sequel, is only meant in... [ Continue Reading ]
LOOK NOT UPON ME, &C.— _Look not down upon me, because I am brown; for the sun hath discoloured me. My mother's children were severe unto me: they made me keeper of the vineyards: mine own vineyard have I not kept._ There is a peculiar emphasis in the original of the last clause; _mine own vineyard,... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE THOU MAKEST THY FLOCK TO REST AT NOON— In the hot countries, the shepherds and their flocks are always forced to retire to shelter during the burning heats of noon. _One that turneth aside_ is rendered by Houbigant and the New Translation, _a wanderer._ This verse contains a fine apostrophe, a... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU KNOW NOT, &C.— This is the reply of the virgins, and it breathes all the simplicity of pastoral life.... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE COMPARED THEE—TO A COMPANY OF HORSES— This, says the author of the New Translation, is the speech of the bridegroom, who, meeting the bride and her virgin companions, says, _I have compared thee, O my love, to my well-trained steed in Pharaoh's chariots._ We ought not to think the comparison... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE THE KING SITTETH AT HIS TABLE— _While the king shall be in his tent,_ or _pavilion,_ Houbigant. The New Translation has it, _While the king sitteth in the circle of his friends;_ namely, at the nuptial banquet. The tables of the ancients were so framed that the guests formed a circle.... [ Continue Reading ]
A BUNDLE OF MYRRH— The orientals were accustomed to tie up myrrh in bundles, and to put them into the bosom to exhilarate the spirits. Some interpret the words המר צרור _tserror hammor, a wreath,_ or _nosegay of flowery myrrh._ See Bishop Patrick and Castalio.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS A CLUSTER OF CAMPHIRE— _As a cluster of cypress flowers;_ the New Translation. By _cypress_ here, is not meant the trees so called, but an aromatic plant which, Sir Thomas Brown tells us, produces a sweet and odoriferous bush of flowers; out of which was made the _oleum cyprinum._ See his "Observ... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST DOVES' EYES— To conceive the force of this expression, we must not refer it to our common pigeons, but to the large and beautiful eyes of the doves of Syria. They who have seen that fine eastern bird, the _carrier-pigeon,_ will need no commentary on this place. See Brown's Observations.... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, PLEASANT: ALSO, &C.— The author of the New Translation puts a full stop at _beloved;_ and renders the next clause thus; _and how pleasant, how green, is our flowery bed!_ remarking, that the generality of versions seem not to have attended to the beautiful force of the original, where the parti... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OUR RAFTERS OF FIR— _And our carved-works of cypresses._ Hiller. Our ceilings of cypress. Houbigant, and New Translation. ברותים _berothim,_ are a peculiar kind of trees, which might be called after the original, _brutine trees._ They resemble the cypress in form, and the cedar in smell. See Ain... [ Continue Reading ]