_In this chapter,_ (1.) _Jesus Christ having espoused his church to himself,_ (chap. Song of Solomon 4:11.) _highly commends her beauty in the several instances of it, concluding her fair, all fair,_ Song of Solomon 4:1 _and again,_ Song of Solomon 4:7. (2.) _He retires himself, and invites her with... [ Continue Reading ]
THY HAIR IS AS A FLOCK, &C.— _Thy hair is_ fine _as that of a flock of goats, which come up_ sleek _from mount Gilead._ Bochart refers the comparison to the hair of the eastern goats, which is of the most delicate silky softness. Le Clerc observes, that the hair of the goats in Palestine is generall... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREOF EVERY ONE BEAR TWINS— _Which are all of them twins, and none hath lost its fellow._ New Translation.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY LIPS ARE LIKE A THREAD OF SCARLET— _Thy lips are like a braid of scarlet,_ &c. _Thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate—like the section of a pomegranate,_ &c. See New Translation, and Bishop Lowth's Prelections.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY NECK IS LIKE THE TOWER OF DAVID— _Thy neck is like the tower of David, built upon an eminence._ This _tower of David_ was probably remarkable for the elegance and nice proportion of its structure. This is Houbigant's interpretation. But some render the clause, _built with battlements,_ or runnin... [ Continue Reading ]
MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH, &C.— Myrrh and frankincense were among the most valuable perfumes of the East: the bridegroom therefore concludes his encomium on the bride's person, by comparing her to an entire heap of those precious essences, and observing that she is completely fair and excellent. In this day... [ Continue Reading ]
COME, &C.— Here begins the fourth day's eclogue, in which the bridegroom professes himself the bride's protector, &c. Song of Solomon 4:8, &c. In the first place, he gives the bride to understand that she is now under the cover of his protection, and is to apply to him only for relief under all dang... [ Continue Reading ]
THY LIPS—DROP AS THE HONEY-COMB— Expressing her sweet, her divine, words; a metaphor common with the Greek as well as the Oriental writers. See Theocritus's 20th Idyllium. _THE SMELL OF THY GARMENTS_— In the East, where perfumes are exceedingly common, the garments on nuptial occasions were remarka... [ Continue Reading ]
A GARDEN INCLOSED, &C.— See the note on Song of Solomon 4:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY PLANTS ARE AN ORCHARD OF POMEGRANATES— _Thy predications are a paradise of pomegranates, with delicious fruits, cypress, and spikenard._ The bridegroom, having in a former sentence called the bride an inclosed garden, here carries on the metaphor, and compares her virtues and accomplishments to... [ Continue Reading ]
CALAMUS, &C.— _Sweet cane, and cinnamon, with all kinds of trees of incense, myrrh, and cedar-oil,_ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
A FOUNTAIN OF GARDENS, &C.— Houbigant reads it, _A living fountain, a fountain of living waters, flowing as it were from Lebanon._... [ Continue Reading ]
AWAKE, O NORTH WIND— The bride here takes up the metaphor, and wishes that she could produce any thing to invite or please him. The author of the _Observations,_ remarking that the south wind is extremely hot and troublesome in Palestine, gives a very different interpretation of this text from the u... [ Continue Reading ]